Catherine

In addition to what Judy says I'll just chime in about the tax folders. When I switched, I had a SLEW of ATX-specific folders (from Tenenz) left and the standard Drake cover page did not quite fit. So I made a Word document that DID fit (took me about 5 minutes) and used that. Open the doc, insert client name, print, close it again without saving changes. Boom/done. Yes it was a tiny extra step - but only until I had used up the ATX folders since I bought the new ones sized for Drake.

Still on rotary dial - or can't be trusted with it?

I have a lady whose trustee contacted me a year or two ago to do her tax returns. Disabled, and a little "weird" shall we say? Trustees send me all the financial stuff, but she sends me medical expenses, which are substantial. MULTIPLE phone calls that always get shunted to voice mail, "Hi Mrs White this is (name name name - always the FULL name) calling. I wanted you to know that I'm working and I hope to have things in the mail to you by March 21st will that be OK?" "Hi Mrs White this is (name name name) I'm still working on it and just wanted you to know." "Hi Mrs White this is (name name name) did I send you my information yet? I don't remember." Dear Lord have mercy. I know she has "issues" and the trustees pay promptly and *very* well and understand why the bill is as high as it is. The time she called my HOME number (not home office: home) at FOUR IN THE MORNING I read her the riot act. Sent her a letter the next day saying if I got ONE more call outside of office hours she would be an immediate EX-client. Got profuse apologies by letter and several more phone calls... But yeah, that little fit inside whenever I see the caller ID. Oy!

It really helps, when dealing with annoying clients, to be able to roll your eyes or make faces at the phone!

I gave up on "trying to stay current" and instead go for "trying to stay pertinent." There are features of my tablet that I will never use (because they have CRAP security) so I don't bother to learn them. There are features in my computer that I will never bother with (editing pdf's, for one example) so again I don't bother. Making a reasoned decision on what areas to ignore and discard off-loads a slew of work for me. I do want to edit videos, so I will take the time to learn basic editing techniques and expand as I have need. In addition, I have a long-standing habit of letting other people be the "beta testers" of new technology. I'll jump on after someone else finds the bugs and they get (mostly) worked out. But stuff that makes *my* life easier I jump on -- like using Gruntworx Organize to turn those disjointed pdf's into beautifully indexed source documents.

You won't need most of Schedule HC. Tell it taxpayer, full-year coverage. TIN of the insurance company is either available online or from me; I've accumulated a database of a LOT of them over the years! Subscriber number is on her insurance card. You don't need the 1095-B for this. If she was covered all year, ALL the rest of the schedule should be completely ignored. Call my office if you want a walk-through. 781-899-2200

In addition to what Judy said, you can also add a custom paragraph to the bottom of a standard letter quite easily -- also to the bottom of any bill. I use that one a lot, with little notes when something is very different. Example: "Bill higher this year due to two state returns needed." That staves off many of the questions, I've found.

My letter says somewhere that extra copies at pickup are free; after that $30 up-front. BOY did that stop the calls for copies when they want to refinance and "I can't find the one you gave me." I remind them of the fee and all of a sudden it's "Let me take another look and get back to you if I can't find it" which of course means they couldn't be bothered to look until it was going to cost them money.

The trick to NOT letting things slide is to use binder clips to hold the stack while you staple them.

But they do not have the courtesy to reciprocate.

Ah, but some people (not tax accountants!) retire *years* before it becomes official!

And businesses do transmogrify over time. I used to do far more bookkeeping than taxes -- now it's over 80% taxes. And one lady I knew years ago started trying financial planning and turned out to have a strong affinity for selling annuities -- so she dropped everything else.

I wish I could count the number of joint accounts in existence YEARS after one spouse passes. Utility bills, too. When we lost my mother-in-law last fall, one of the big obstacles to getting house bills put in the estate's name was having to prove that the name still on the bill(s) actually belonged to someone who had passed in 2002 - twelve years ago. Had to find copies of *his* death certificate, real fast.

I had that day yesterday. EVERY single thing I did was either bolluxed up, took fifteen times longer than it should, or went horribly awry. Or all of the above. If I were Rodney Dangerfield, I would have been afraid to use the bathroom! I was ready to scream or cry or both.

My cousin sends me stuff ALL the time, and it used to be just a link. I have taught her to include *words* to me such as "Hi Catherine yes I've been to this link it's OK - Norma" and then I'll trust it.

Years ago, the Readers Digest published a list of funny doctors' names. Surgeons named Dr. Botchit, gerontologists named Dr. Eld, and such like. It was *very* funny - and apparently there are lots of these folks out there!

I will also chime in on stairs. In our house, we needed to replace the existing wall-to-wall carpet on the basement stairs as it was utterly worn out. Once it was off, though, we found that ten of the twelve steps had cracks running the entire length of the step. So that turned into a replace the treads and level the risers first, then paint it all. and *then* put down the new runner. If Eric's stairs are needed to get into the house and/or up to the home office, then the original scenario would be maintenance/repair (new runner) and what actually happened would be improvement (new treads, leveled risers, paint, then finally the carpet runner). Luckily, I neither take a home office deduction nor commonly use those stairs to get clients to the office - so it's a moot point for me.

A friend of mine used to have a phone number that was two-digits-reversed from the local pizza joint. Folks would call for delivery and she'd tell them they had mis-dialed. But some who called - usually late - and drunk (because it was late) refused to believe her. So she would take the order.... they never called back. If they called an hour later to gripe about the non-arrival of their pizza, the pizza place got the call.

Oh, @BHoffman my sympathies! It's SO hard to lose a pet at any time; even worse now.

True but they were changing the value of the coins. $20/oz to $35/oz. But if you're worried, buy hi-carat jewelry. Jewelry was exempt; they went after coins.

What amuses (and annoys!) me is that our letter clearly states ALL documents in-house by 3/20 or extension -- and yet every year we get a slew of people desperate to get ONE document in by 3/20 as if that will magically give me all the time needed to finish. READ IT. It's clear! ALL does not mean "some" or "one" it means all. Sheesh!

Very true -- but they are deluded and do NOT believe this fact!

There are also splitting issues where you can expense the portion that - for example - fixes holes and leaks, and then capitalize the rest. Of course, figuring out where those costs split is left as an exercise for the accountant. The IRS does *not* provide the dart board for making that determination! (Hey, IRS - that last sentence was a JOKE. We don't actually use dart boards.)

The first thing to find out is separation agreement or not. If not, then they either have to file MFJ or MFS (or MFS and HOH). I have had divorcing clients willing to work together on a joint return once they are told that filing separately is likely to cost them thousands of dollars extra tax. Always the last thing either needs with lawyer bills to pay! If they really are legally separated, you will almost invariably have to pick (or be picked by) one or the other.