Lion EA

A client with LOTS of transactions (inn & restaurant) shopped around. The lower the price, the worse the customer service. She went with lower price. Her daughter (bakery) compromised to include better service for reports for sales tax and phone help. Not sure about either one, but they have small local PA banks, so not much good comparing them. My point is that you need to shop around. Contact everyone and give them your typical pattern and have the salespeople work for your business by pricing out what they have to offer you. Start with your bank for help and recommendations. I don't have a lot of transactions, so I use Intuit (ProAdvisor saves me monthly fees, so just the transaction costs) and have PayPal on my website also.

Reading the Fall 2017 edition of TaxPro Journal which reviews software: every one they reviewed has pay-per-return pricing, all 11 of them, including ATX.

CCH has pay-per-return and pay-per-efile on most if not all of their software. I use ProSystem fx pay-per-return.

Wow!

Hubby called them late afternoon and kept them talking for a long time. We managed four calls to them from our four phones. Scum.

I knew they'd go to a new phone number quickly. The two hours or less that that number was live was barely enough to get any call backs, especially from people at work who won't be calling them until this evening. They must make a lot of money in a short time to make it worth it.

The "IRS" called to say it's my final call prior to a lawsuit. I've called them back on my home phone, office phone, and cell. If you have some free time and want to join in on the fun: 657-347-3732 They called Rita Lewis/Stephen Lewis on our home phone 203-227-4795. Enjoy!

Is it unicorn season?

Another unicorn sighting!

Yes, we have David Mellem &/or David & Mary every year or two. Great speakers. You can subscribe to their free e-newsletter. They also research your questions for a nominal fee. Knowledgeable resources. Thank you, Judy. I did start a new topic as you suggested.

Any of you in the greater tri-state area and even beyond, NY/CT-ATP has an all-day October Seminar that includes 2 hours of Ethics. We are a private group. We hire our speakers. Our education committee decides the curriculum. We have rejected the Cir. 230 rehash, the directory of IRS positions, and other ear-bleeding topics. We request topics that are actually happening, what the IRS is looking at, slippery slopes to watch out for, actual case studies/court cases, Q&A, etc. http://www.nyctatp.org/ Friday 20 October at the Ethan Allen Hotel, Danbury, CT (special room rates available) Speakers: David & Mary Mellem

Any of you in the greater tri-state area and even beyond, NY/CT-ATP has an all-day October Seminar that includes 2 hours of Ethics. We are a private group. We hire our speakers. Our education committee decides the curriculum. We have rejected the Cir. 230 rehash, the directory of IRS positions, and other ear-bleeding topics. We request topics that are actually happening, what the IRS is looking at, slippery slopes to watch out for, actual case studies/court cases, Q&A, etc. http://www.nyctatp.org/ Friday 20 October at the Ethan Allen Hotel, Danbury, CT (special room rates available) Speakers: David & Mary Mellem

You also can ask Eric to add a CCH Axcess User Forum right here. (I use ProSystem fx.)

Writer Louis Leung‏ @ricedaddy7 Jul 12 When you really want to slap someone, do it and yell "Mosquito!"

I use what I think is called Intuit Merchant Services, because it dumps the payment info, including fees, right into my QB. As a ProAdvisor, I don't have the monthly fees, just the per-use charges. I don't have a lot of clients, just big complex returns. So, I don't have a lot of fees. Most still prefer checks. But, I also have a PayPal account. I just want to make it as easy as possible for people to pay, and for me to account for it. I too make sure my fees cover ALL my overhead costs as well as a profit.

I spent the Fourth of July in WV with Appalachia Service Project making homes warmer, safer, and drier. It was very ASP appropriate that we watched the fireworks that were in the Walmart parking lot from the Lowe's parking lot, the two places we shopped the most, and probably the two largest employers in Nicholas County.

I do my best proofreading after I hit Submit

In a way. Put whoever should appear first, let's say husband to keep my pronouns straight, and use his return as the original. You'll be adding the wife's information which will end up in the center column on the 1040X. The MFJ results will calculate to the right column. If wife is in your system but not husband, use her as primary taxpayer instead.

I have used the NATP webinars. Also, CCH, both webinars and live classes at their User Conference. I have found junior college and college courses to be theory and not practice. Read the instructions and IRS pubs and case studies in The Tax Book and any resource that shows filled-out forms to have a feel for what you need to know before spending money on courses. But, it will be money well spent. Partnerships and S-Corporations are enough alike and enough different (pension, health care, other issues) that I have to remind myself which I'm doing -- don't like the new deadlines because I end up doing those two entities the same time instead of a month apart. C-Corporations are actually easier for me, as long as I can balance the balance sheet, because they are free-standing entities with my clients less tempted to commingle funds. If you have new entities, with a zero beginning balance sheet, you will be able to follow the flow through to year end.

He can't depreciate AND use standard or actual. Depreciation, maybe SL as Abby said to give flexibility, is used with actual expenses. Standard includes a depreciation component in it that you will break out upon sale or trade-in. Business percentage only, for the vehicle, computer, etc. Usage logs and a mileage log will be important.

Hubby thinks their robots dial many more calls than can be answered at any one time by their call center employees, counting on answering machines, etc. So sometimes you or another real human answers but, thank the Lord, no employee is available quickly enough to bug you and you have silence.

If how your .pdf appears, without you moving pages, is a high priority, you will want to spend this off-season demo-ing tax prep software to find one with priorities more similar to yours.

My house cost $103,500 and it's paid for, too! I had to refinance to buy my ex out for $40,000, but that's paid off, also. Gotta make enough money to pay the property taxes and oil bills.

If no one complains that your prices are too high, then your prices are too low! I have only so many hours in the year. I can fill them with $500 returns or with $225 returns. I choose to NOT be the cheapest. I choose the higher priced returns. Then I can spend an hour with my husband or granddaughter. I think it was someone on this board who said: If he was going to work for free, he'd take time off instead. (I have plenty of clients at a LOT less than $500. Not that they should be less, but we all know how hard it is to increase prices enough to keep pace with their more complex financial lives as well as inflation and even my increasing worth. But, I try not to take on a NEW client under $500. Remember I'm in pricey Fairfield County, CT.)

This is better than all the reruns on TV during this holiday weekend !!