HV Ken

I don't think IRS cares about whether you are harmed (or whether I am).

Your original quote was "I don't see where anyone is being harmed by this, even though it may not be permissible." which is what I was replying to. I would agree that they don't care whether I am being harmed, but if they have a regulation on this, they should either enforce it across the board or drop it so everyone can swim in the same pool.

We use the Fee Collect service for this. Works great and we get paid right out of their refund. Highly recommend it.

I don't see where anyone is being harmed by this, even though it may not be permissible.

My business is harmed by this practice. I prepare W2s and am not allowed to include a coupon, so they have an unfair competitive edge.

I recall seeing something last season that this is a violation to some IRS regulation to do that.

Here's the reference:

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/IRS-Advertise-Services-W2-Form-65965-1.html?ET=webcpa:e6788:210568a:&st=email

You need to be a registered user to view it. but it is free to do so.

Here is the contents of that article:

The Internal Revenue Service reminded practitioners that they should not include advertisements for their services when sending out W-2 forms.

“A recent inquiry sent to the Issue Management Resolution System concerned restrictions on including practitioner advertising with Forms W-2 and other information returns,” the IRS said in an email to payroll professionals Wednesday. “As a reminder, no additional enclosures, advertising, promotional material, or a quarterly or annual report are permitted.”

The IRS then linked to IMRS Issue 12-0001531 for more information.

“Even a sentence or two on the year-end statement describing new services offered by the payer is not permitted,” the IRS noted. “Logos, slogans and advertising may be used on any permissible enclosure such as a check or account statement, other than information returns and payee copies. See the general instructions of the information return for a list of permissible enclosures.”

I had sort of a time out yesterday because I had three clients in here picking up who apparently needed to chat, I mean spill their guts, with somebody. I was completely worn to a frazzle from this nodding and listening and not saying anything. But, evidently, that's what they all needed. When it got quiet in here, I just looked around, told myself, "I'll think about this tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day," got my purse, went home, ate Bojangles chicken like there was no tomorrow. But there was, so I'm back.

We always joke about creating a two-sided sign. One side says tax preparation, and the other side says counseling. Somewhere during the appointment, it is obvious when it is the right time to flip it over. The worst part is, they would object profusely to paying $150/hour for accounting time, but wouldn't think twice about paying $150/hour for counseling....

I second all the above! My carpal tunnel is killing me at this point!

Check out http://www.mousemitt.com/. I wear mine all the time when working on the computer. Best preventative money I have spent!

Create 1st return joint. Duplicate twice, one for each person. In 1st duplicate return, remove all data for the other person. Repeat for 2nd duplicate return. 3 returns. Use 1st return to file Federal joint, use other 2 returns to file State separate. What am I missing?

The article says 5 returns. Really? I understand 3, and I find that process pretty easy to do in ATX. Sounds like there are practitioners out there looking to take advantage of people. Does that really happen?

I HATE financial advisors who don't inform their customers that when they take money out of their retirement account it is taxable; or they don't advise them on withholding options; etc. Then when we do their tax return and break the bad news to them, they get mad at us like it is our fault.

I did advise him that if he wanted to pay with a credit card there would be an addtional charge of $30.00 to cover the cost of this transaction. So, we will see how it goes.

Unless something has changed, it is illegal a violation of the credit card agreement to charge more for a credit card transaction. Instead, raise the price by $30 and offer a $30 discount for cash/check.

I will take a look at my fee structure, and I adjust when necessary. I had one client that balked when I raised their fee from $85 to $125, and I hand delivered their returns to them after work. They complained, but have come back every year.

You have a hard earned credential after your name - CPA. That is worth something!!

I don't have any complainers, and that tells me that I am probably undercharging on some.

One of the best pieces of advice we feel we have received when we were developing our pricing structure was: "If none of your clients are complaining about your fees, then you are not charging enough."

You need to let your clients know that its not the tax prep they are only paying for, its the knowledge, experience, your review of their lives, and suggestions that are worth your fee.

The problem with the tax prep part of our industry is that the box stores make tax prep seem like merely a commodity. As Michael points out, we are not dealing in transactions, but rather relationships. This is what differentiates us from the box stores and is our value proposition and should be a major part of whatever our marketing is.

Thank you!

I just wish it took up about 1/3 of the screen space it does or would at least remember the size I resize to. I usually only need two lines.

Agreed!

Can someone please supply the EIN for North Carolina for a 1099-G for their previous year's refund? I tried to google it without success. Thanks!

It would be great if there was a database with all the state's EINs for this purpose....

I agree completely with the extra charge. We tell people we work in FIFO order, so if you want to cut in line there is a fee for that.

Question for the community: Do you just show them the final number on the invoice, or show them the normal fee and clearly identify the rush charge fee?

Was he grossly ripped off or am I way undercharging? I do this out of my house, so no overhead, and the only real costs that I have are the software and some office supplies (Paper, envelopes, folders etc).

Point 1: I think the answer to your question is BOTH! You undercharged yourself and the other firm overcharged.

Point 2: We do an entire seminar for small business owners on pricing strategies and considerations. From our studies, in general entrepreneurs will undercharge for their services (not taking into account ALL the costs, expenses, and other issues of operating their business), and female entrepreneurs tend to undercharge even more than males.

I consider it a vacation when I have a day with no or few appointments scheduled and the phone isn't ringing every fifteen minutes. I actually get some work done. Today is such a day. Tomorrow, back to Nuttsville!

This year, we hired a virtual admin to answer our phones. BEST DECISION EVER.

I am glad to hear that we can make that change. Now, can we delete some of the payors?

Tools -> Payer Manager

Gang:

How do you track your efiles?

Since MD went to waiting till the Fed is accepted to file with them, it takes two cracks at each return...

So, I was wondering, how do you make sure your Fed and state returns are efiled in ATX?

I have completed the clients return, printed it, and maybe waiting to get the 8879.

I would prepare a little worksheet with Name, Done, Sent, Accept, Final at the top, and then add each client going down, and fill in the dates as it happened.

But its turning into a PITA.

Thoughts? Making ATX do more of the work? Am I missing a subsystem or process internally?

Rich

Finally have a moment to reply to the initial question.

Here is our process:

I physically use the paper 8879 and state signature pages.

Once we have them signed by client, they go in the "to e-file" folder and I change the status in the Return Manager to e-file (usually from assembled).

I then e-file the Federal and move that paper to the "currently e-filing" folder.

After the Federal is accepted, I write the accepted date on the 8879 and I then e-file the state(s).

Once the state(s) is/are accepted, I write the accepted date on the state e-file paper(s).

I then mark all the e-file complete boxes in the E-File Manager, and change the status in the Return Manager to complete and mark the complete box in the Return Manager, and file the 8879 and state pages in the client folder.

We also use Fee Collect, so there is an extra step for those returns to track until we receive the payment from SBTPG.

Following this process, we have never mistakenly/prematurely e-filed a return, not have we missed e-filing one.

I really do like the enhancement ATX made this year to include the E-file information at the bottom of the Return Manager.

Another new client from HRB. This time, HRB included an itemized list of their charges per form. Holy Cow do they charge a lot! Really need to think about our pricing moving forward.

I try very hard to charge more than HRB, because I'm worth it.

We have a private entrance home office and not nearly the overhead of a franchise, which allows us to pass superior service and competitive pricing on to our clients.

You may have this option turned off. Under preferences, return manager, there's a check box "show e-file status information for selected return"

What Jmovich said.... Nice addition this year.

I have always asked ATX why they can't put an extra column for efile status in the return manager that would automatically show the efile status in the return manager.

They have added e-file information into the return manager this year. I see it at the bottom of my return manager. When I click on a return, the e-file status appears in the bottom window. Love it!

Thanks Jack. So far I have updated to 13.4 on the clients and don't see any issues. Have done nothing on the server. Very convoluted the procedure for updating the server.