Catherine

And congratulations. I also agree that there *should* be official designations aside from EA or CPA - such as RTRP. I'd just rather see the IRS spend the funds on "required" new licensing on cracking down on crooks. I don't care if the crooks are CPA's, EA's, RTRP's, or have no designation whatsoever.

There ARE still blacksmiths - one of our family friends is one. No licensing. Just fyi and my own amusement at the example you picked.

Even MORE dangerous if read on April1st as all the last-minute details come pouring in.

#1. Absolutely. #2. Double absolutely! #3. Yeah, but: I would rather see them spend the money on an aggressive public-education campaign coupled with very aggressive prosecution of crooked preparers. Anyone with the intent to commit tax fraud will have no quibbles about lying on exams, giving the "right" answers on ethics CPE tests without any intention of acting ethically, and generally being cheaters and criminals. Those people need to be forcibly removed from the profession (and possibly society, by incarceration), and anyone needing a little bit of a goose to tread the straight and narrow will fear prosecution more than some one-time licensing exam.

In general I agree but if the wife is dead-set against this (even after the 4506-T explanation), you will rapidly find yourself persona non grata and she will refuse to provide new tax documents the following year. So you will either lose both clients, or have picked the one to remain your client post-divorce. Yes, we all know clients can be that unreasonable, and it is way easier to blame the tax preparer (or other professional) rather than duke it out with the spouse.

Beautiful and bittersweet.

File share portal for me. If they want paper, it's a $30 up-front charge to print and mail to the client and NO ONE ELSE. Once the client has it, for all I care they can make paper airplanes with it or burn it to send smoke signals. It's theirs.

A short article, whose advice we should all consider. The Onion

I provide NOTHING to banks. The pushiest one once called me directly and I told the woman that without a signed Section 7216 disclosure I could not even confirm or deny that the person was my client. Gave her all the details on how to get one to me and she went away never to be heard from again. The best you can do is give another copy to the client -- or tell them to go look for the one you already gave them. However, at the point you give a new copy to the husband you are picking which client you keep in the conflict of interest case they stuck on you.

Really clever!

Remember - heck @kcjenkins - my card SAYS so right on its face.

Saw this earlier today; amazing strength, flexibility, and control.

One-write on paper; that's where we are all heading. Sheesh!

The software is a desktop, NOT a cloud, application. It uses YOUR login information, that you put in during setup. That's how it keeps "the bad guys" from using it. The company never finds out your login credentials.

I just installed the TaxHelpSoftware and used it for the first time. I think I'm in love. It installed with NO problems. Setup was trivial. It logged me in to e-services and got three years' worth of transcripts and other information on one client in less time than it takes me to log in. Then it generated easy-to-read reports that gave me *just* what I was looking for clearly and plainly; no digging through reams of downloaded crap hoping to find what I wanted. Next to tax software itself, this is one of the best tools I have found to use.

And some of the new features are terrific!

Starting with a bath in a cereal bowl... Baby Owls

I saw a demo of it at the NE IRS Rep Conference in CT a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed. I find getting transcripts on e-services time consuming, laborious, and annoying. This program logs you in, retrieves ALL information on e-services for your client (again assuming CAF check goes through), downloads it to spreadsheets, indexes yearly transactions by DATE (not the hodge-podge you get through e-services) , gives you a summation history of all the years you have POA for - filing status, extensions, liens, collections, examinations (and THAT tidbit shows up here up to six months before the first letter goes to your clients so you can get early warning and amend!), and more. I am buying it - today; it has been on my to do list since I got back from the conference. taxhelpsoftware.com or 404-910-3605 for more info

Here it is, @Margaret CPA in OH - enjoy! snowman.pps

Papers, please... not a nice phrase. Grrr.

E-services yes; account transcripts no. Or not reliably. I get gobbledygook when printing (to pdf) from Chrome, and Adobe seizing up when printing (again, to pdf) from Firefox.

This one is mine - but in white, not black. http://www.amazon.com/Gibraltar-MSK00000-Lockable-Security-Mailbox/dp/B000CSK2EY/ref=sr_1_13?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1449029008&sr=1-13&keywords=locking+mailbox

ALL THE TIME!!!!! And it's not even my picture...

At one point I had a whole powerpoint slide show of those strips. I should put it back on my web site.

I got a locking USPS mailbox and installed it on the wall outside my office. Installation access is from inside the open box, so once it is closed and locked it is a secure as the fastenings.