samingeorgia

Glad you're back! Your posts always give me a laugh.

Forty-Five dollars an hour? Are you kidding? Have you hired a plumber or an electrician lately? Your fees are too low! If you haven't sent the letter yet change that to at least $ 75.00. $ 90.00 would be even better. This clown doesn't treat you like a professional because you don't charge a professional-level fee.

Thanks!!!

Glad that worked out so well. How much will they pay to start?

Considering the hard sell they are putting forth in their sales calls, I'd say there's no love lost between TRX and ATX. Those people who bought ATX through TRX may get what they paid for in the upcoming season, but I'd say they will really get hammered by sales calls. The sales reps keep asking me what I paid for ATX (as if they didn't know).

I'm putting this on here because there was a big flurry of activity earlier this year about TRX. Evidently, I filled out one of their cards at the IRS Tax Forum and they are calling to try to get me to dump ATX and go with their (evidently) proprietary software. They keep touting some kind of card they have that people can load the refunds and other money on (such as paychecks) and that these people can get advances on the cards. I'm going to load the program later this week and look at it, but I'm not expecting much. They are quoting their software at $ 699, and say that it will do anything. Has anybody here looked at it? First "Michael and Lynn", now this.

Good points, all! KC, great idea about electronic delivery of content. I swear I don't see why magazines with serious content (JofA, for example) don't offer an "archive" CD at the end of each year with indexed articles. I'd pay extra for that!

The title says it all. I get several professional and hobby magazines. They have accumulated like crazy; I'm trying to get this place under control. Should I hire one of those "organizing" consultants? My office is in my home. What used to be confined to a spare bedroom has now spilled over into another bedroom and the dining room. I use the bed in the "spare" bedroom for Work-in-Process and the dining room table for completed work. I'm getting sick of this clutter! If I had a wife she would have killed me by now.

I've gotten the same, right after attending the IRS Tax Forum in Atlanta. Which was very good, by the way.

Thanks for the info, Joel! Last year I input some forms, etc. into ATX and let the program compute the fee. In about 80% of the cases, I discounted the fees from 20 - 50% (long-time clients, having a hard time, etc.) -- new clients and PITA's no discounts. My fees are closest to B & C in your spreadsheet. A & E are way too low, and I don't think the traffic will bear D rates. The ones at the bottom ("Fee Structure") -- in my dreams! I wish I had started doing this 20 years ago.

OK, one last update. The price is $ 495 for 1,000. However, the printer put some small dots where the "score" is (i.e., where you fold the paper in two so it looks like a book) on some of the covers and so he's he's gonna discount it some. So, the price is right and they look comparable to what I used to buy from ASH. Happiness at last!

KC, the last price I was quoted was $ 495, which I thought was for 500. That's why I thought they would be a dollar apiece. I haven't seen an invoice, but if it's still $ 495, and I got 1,000, I'm a happy boy. It may be that they had to order more paper and so printed 1,000. The size, quality, texture, weight, and color of the paper was a big issue with all these folks. If they charge $ 990, I'm OK with it; that's a lot of dough to have tied up and it is more than I would have spent with Tenenz or CFS, but I will use them and won't have to go through this hassle for about 4 years. And I didn't have to pay shipping. I'll let you know when I see an official invoice. I should add that I went through a client who is in the advertising/promotion/internet business. I did this because he's always ordering printing for other customers (brochures, etc.) so I figured that he could do better dealing with printers than I had done from April 16 though about mid-June. I talked to three on my own before I appealed to him for help, they were no help.

And now -- the rest of the story! I picked the covers up Saturday. I may have misunderstood the price because I'm sure I was quoted $ 495.00; however there are 1,000 in the box. I didn't count 'em, but it sure was heavy enough to be 1,000. The guy was in a big hurry to go camping, so I just grabbed 'em and off I went. In the sunlight, they looked gray, not blue. "Oh well". I thought, "as long as they aren't Holly Hobby pink, they're OK in my book!" When I got them home they were blue, just a lighter shade than what I thought they'd be. Happiness is having tax return covers! Yes, I'm working on Labor Day; for me it's like Christmas to an atheist.

Please be aware that IRS is looking at S Corps which show profit and zero officer compensation. They want to be sure that compensation is subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes; even though from an income tax standpoint, it's a wash. This is a real "facts and circumstances" issue - does the shareholder of the S corp. perform services through the corp. which cause the LLC to pay this money? If so, I think you may want to add most if not all of the $ 45K to the shareholder's salary. At one of our meetings, some people who I trust said that you would be OK with about 50% salary and 50% S Corp. profits. So if the total profit was $ 60K, they want to see about $ 30K as officer salary and $ 30K as S Corp. profit. Of course, once again, this presumes that the corp. profits come from labor and capital; I think you could rebut this if the owner does little or no work. If you find a deal like that, let me know how it's done. :lol:

It seems from the replies here that people fall into two main camps: some people use generic folders and put labels on them, and some use the folders with cutouts for the taxpayers names and year and for the preparer. I realize that ATX produces this sheet, but I haven't been in the habit using the client letters which I think is where this sheet comes from. I've been at this a long time, and long ago got in the habit of using a cover with a space for me to write in only the taxpayers names and the year. The covers I like have my name printed on them and lines for the data I write in. I can do this in my sleep -- I have used the client letter feature in the past, but it seems to me that it's another step in the already tedious printing routine. I care more about saving time during tax season. Just today, I delivered three corp. and one individual return to a client. I told them my tale of woe and why I had to go to the office supply store to get a generic report cover. My client's wife said, "Oh no, we are used to your blue covers -- I know just where they are when I go into my file cabinet." Well, I told her, these will stick out like a sore thumb. So far, the covers from Tenenz look most like what ASH had -- unless the printers come though for me. ASH, as I recall, charged between 50 cents and a dollar each, in line with Tenenz. The quote I have now is a dollar a pop. If I get 'em. Again, thanks to all who have replied. I still want to know why big companies buy out little guys and don't even try to accomodate the customers they just paid big bucks for -- how many times have we seen this in the tax software field? And I'd sure like to know why, in a recession, businesses aren't doing backflips for new orders, especially when the customer hasn't said a mumblin' word about price. Oh well, I'm ranting again. Just for grins, I'll keep ya'll posted.

"Grapevine" says this could be the week! Keep your fingers crossed - we've got corp. extensions due out soon. Thanks to all who have replied - great ideas on here. I also have a sample on the way from Tenenz.

Ha! You guys are being left in the dust! I have a colleague who just installed triple monitors! You folks in California who may be connected to the entertainment industry need to pitch a new reality show: "Monitor Wars"!! Accountants vie to see how many monitors they can perch on their desks - I'd watch it....

I still miss Accountants Supply House. Heck, I still miss TAASC.

One of the Tenenz folders looks similar to what I use; sample ordered. Thanks for this pointer; looks like they have a big selection.

During tax season, about the end of February, I realized that my supply of tax return covers was dwindling rapidly. I called the supplier I had used for 20+ years - Accountants' Supply House in New Jersey - and was greeted by a phone person who answered "Deluxe". Alarm bells went off, and so I inquired why she said Deluxe when I was calling ASH. It seems that Deluxe check printers bought out ASH. Of course, my info was nowhere to be found in their vast database. Undeterred, I asked her to send me a catalog. April 1 (all fools' day!) I called and asked about the catalog. It will go out on April 20, the nice lady said. "Well, can I fax you a cover to see what I got last time?" "No sir, we can't get anything done until April 20", was the reply. I decided to buy locally. Big mistake. Evidently the people at ASH were like the Egyptian priests who, when they died, took the secret of embalming with them. Problems encountered at various "printing" companies: 1. Can't print anything but 8.5 x 11; the extra margin on my covers throws 'em for a loop. 2. Can't match the paper. Getting close on the paper took two printers about one and a half months. One gave up. 3. Have to buy paper in too big quantities, so didn't place the order. Why, oh, why not call me up to see if I could use more covers? 4. Now, the third printer says the paper is "ordered" and my job will be done in a matter of days. I've been hearing this for two weeks now - where does this paper come from, Tibet? What recession? I try - I really do - to control my tendency to utter blasphemy at people's idiocy and laziness. But Great Caesar's Ghost! By the way: that Deluxe catalog I was supposed to be sent? It ain't here. Thanks for letting me vent.

To me, the source of the income would determine whether or not the couple making $ 250K is rich. A married couple making that kind of money from employment or a profession is not "rich" compared to a couple who makes their money from investments. I've tried to explain that to a health-care professional client who lives near West Paces Ferry Rd. in Atlanta. If you have to go out and shake the trees (as opposed to going to the mailbox) to make the money, you ain't rich.

Amen!

In addition to that, they're not cashing checks that were sent to them. I have had several people tell me that their checks haven't come through.

In the interest of full disclosure, I think I should state that I cannot prove that it is the Deluxe check printing company that bought out ASH or some other company with the name "Deluxe" in the title. Went to the P.O. today -- still no catalog. Don't want to get us sued or aything....

Evidently I'm in the minority, but I just can't bring myself to go to TRX. What KC says does make sense, but we all know that big companies like CCH can make very arbitrary decisions with no regard to customers needs. Look at what they did with the message board! Who's to say that if TRX pulls significant money off CCH's bottom line that they won't pull the plug? Or not provide timely updates? We know that these are not under the control of the software company because they are waiting on the IRS and various states to tweak their forms - but how fast the updates come to us sure is under the control of the software companies! OK, maybe they have some kind of "contract" -- while the lawyers argue we out in the field get shafted. Here's an example of how wonderful big companies are: I have used tax return covers from "Accountant's Supply House" for years. This year on March 15, I called to get some more covers; the lady answered "Deluxe". Well, it seems that Deluxe check printers has bought ASH. Of course I wasn't in the computer (WHY NOT???) but she said they would send me a catalog. March 31, no catalog. I called back and was told that they couldn't get covers or catalogs for 20 days (WHY???). I didn't need a calculator to determine that March 31 plus 20 days is beyond April 15th! As of yesterday (April 23) there is no catalog in my possession. From now on, I'll have the covers printed locally -- don't care about the cost. I want to be able to hold somebody's feet to the fire. The same with software: if CCH cashed my check, somebody at CCH will give me some answers if (when) something goes wrong.