JohnH

I've had a few times over the years when someone questioned my price. Not so much any more since I usually bring it up at the outset with a new client even if they don't. But in those situations when they did question it, I always told them to just send me a check for whatever they think it's worth. Most of the time they paid the full bill, and I didn't have to deal with the cheapskates any longer. I especially rememeber one guy who did press me a bit, because he was determined to get me to agree to a lower amount. I kept telling him this wasn't a negtiation. I didn't have a different figure in mind, but if he knew more about the value of my services than I did, then he should be able to determine what's fair. He got very frustrated because I wouldn't play his negotiation game. He kept telling me I was being unreasonable. I just assumed he had just finished his "assertiveness training" seminar and was trying to practice it on me. Maybe he should have been negotiating for a refund of the money he wasted with them.

---> HRB does not quote a price until they have actually entered the return into their system and figure the price by # of forms and # of lines etc. There is a reason why they do it this way. After waiting may be an hour and then spending another hour with the tax preparer if the bill is say $50 to $100 higher than you had expected (or may be yu don't even know what the charge should be) you are reluctant to start all over again and just throw in the towel and pay!! That is what they count on every day! <-0- Hey, it works for every car dealer in the country.

Forms-based data entry is way overrated. It takes about a half-day to get accustomed to data entry screens if the user is committed to making a change. And data entry screens offer some advantages in several instances, especially with Schedule A - anybody do many of those? In Drake you can switch from the data entry screen to the live form by pressing Ctrl-V, then back to the data entry screen by pressing Ctrl-E. Now how hard is that to do? To me it closely resembles a bunny-hop. The best way to learn to use Drake is to put one of their tutorials on one screen and a return on the other. Then just let the tutorial take you through the process while you're making money. (I imagine any new software which offers decent on-line tutorials can be learned in this fashion). As a more general comment, lots of ATX users are going to need to have a more open mind about changing vendors, either by choice or by default. But if you try to work through any new software intuitively, you are automatically going to dislike any feature you have in your present software that isn't exactly the same in the new one. Just gonna have to get past that roadblock...

Believe whomever you prefer. (Applies to me as well)

Oh! Soup Nazi Restaurants. "Use that cell phone and NO SOUP FOR YOU! http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A0S00MhnvUdRIDsAQxv7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvb2o4YTJwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVjEzNg--?p=soup+nazi+episode+youtube&vid=e5ed68c47c22f8aaf637ef61fe4b9f56&l=2%3A57&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4930902571549201%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYJyGJQx2Fgk&tit=Seinfeld-Soup+Nazi+%28Greatest+Parts%29&c=1&sigr=11acisb1u&age=0&&tt=b

My apologies to the Amish, and to those of you who prepare returns for them. My mind wasn't going there when I made the buggy whip reference - just want to make that clear. Guess I walked (didn't drive) right into that one...

If I visited a restaurant that refused to take my order because I'm on a cell phone, that would be my last visit to their establishment. (Of course, I will add that I have sense enough to get off the phone while ordering...)

Your friend is feeding you bad info. I was curious about this because I hadn't seen any complaints about the form on the Drake forum, which I've been visiting fairly regularly to help get up to max speed. So I asked Drake. They said they have no problems with e-flinging them.

I do everything I can to keep my clients out of my office, especially when I'm working on their tax return. So for the most part that isn't a problem. However, I tolerate most any type of cell phone behavior while they're there. If someone's phone rings, I encourage them to answer the call because I always have something in front of me to do. However, if I have a question to ask I don't mind interrupting their texting or their conversation if I need some info. To me, what's fair regarding the interruption issue works both ways. I've never had someone refuse to respond, but if they did I'd show them the clock (not the door) just as a reminder that they're buying some expensive time while they're discussing their child's last piano recital with grandma. I've mentioned this before and will repeat it here - the way people communicate and interact is changing drastically. We can either adapt or go the way of the buggy whip.

Good strategy Joel - it got your question lots of extra view.. Let's keep the thread active. It may take off on an entirely different direction in the next 3 weeks.

I don't usually ask - I just tell them we will need to file an extension. If they refuse, then I tell them "we" won't be doing anything together...

I have a couple of retired clergy who receive a 1099R and they have designated the entire amount as H&U allowance. I don't enter the 1099R on the return at all. I paper file, attaching an explanatory note to the return with a photocopy of the 1099R as a part of the explanatory note. Have never had that method questioned either. This method eliminates the need for entering the negative number online 21, but I don't know how it could/would work if filing electronically.

After getting bank statements, recording the transaction info in Excel is much better than using accounting software, (such as QB or Peachtree). And anyone who can type can be quickly trained to enter the raw data into excel, even if they have no accounting knowledge. This can even be suggested to the client that they do this in order to keep their costs down. Account coding can be done after the fact by somene knowledgeable in accounting terminology, and the end result given back to the client for their approval and sign-off. Bank statements will provide check number, date cleared, and amount. Hopefully they are banking a bank which prvides check images with the statement. But if not, having the info in Excel allows you to group by transaction amount so you can detect patterns. Repetitive amounts can quickly be isolated (loan payments, rent, etc) and only a single check copy obtained to support multiple transactions. Having the ability to group and rearrange based on amount, date, payee, etc can greatly facilitate coding the transactions to the proper expense accounts, too. Utility companies can be asked to provide account transcripts, which will help identify payees for those checks. Same for insurance companies, major vendors, and suppiers as has aleady been noted. Personal bank statements of the owner(s) can yield a records of deposits which tie back to checks on the bank statement if there were withdrawals. This is important because clients often say they're not making money when in fact they are taking personal withdrawals. They equate not "enough money in the bank" with "not making any money", when in fact they are just withdrawing money to live on and not recognizing it as profit. How many times have we tld a sole proprietor that their personal withdrawals are profit nd they respond "but I have to have money to live on."

The letter from the denomination should be sufficient to establish the advance desigation for the retired minister. This is a standard practice with many denominations, and perfectly acceptable. The error I would often make with ATX would be to forget to fill in the Fair Rental Value of the home on the Clergy worksheet. The excludable amount is the smaller of 1) the designated amount, 2) actual expenditures, or 3) fair rental value of the residence (fullly furnished with all utlities paid). There are blocks on the clergy worksheet for all of these entries. Leave one out and the worksheet will carry the entire H&U allowance to the SE and also add it to line 7.

Very wise advice on all counts. I see you take an interest in giving your clients sound financial information. It's always fascinated me to see tax preparers panic over a .25% per month charge simply because the IRS calls it a "penalty". In fact there's no difference between a non-deductible penalty and a non-deductible consumer interest. IRS has been very shrewd in pulling the wool over the eyes of tax preparers and taxpayers with this "penalty" wording. The main purpose of the FTP penalty is to boost the effective interest rate - that's really all it does. I've seen preparers urge people to pay tax liabilities with credit cards, home equity lines, and other emergency methods when they would actually save money by setting up an an installment agreement. Even the $105 set-up fee isn't very significant when spread out over the life of the agreement if the client owes several thouand dollars. The current interest rate is 4%, and the .25% penalty equates to a 3% APR. So for an effective 7% APR they get an unsecured loan which doesn't show up on their credit record and they keep their credit lines (if any) open for true emergencies.

Or they can file without paying (or with a partial payment), wait for the notice, and just call IRS. The phone number will be right on the notice. If they owe less than $25K and can pay off within 5 years, IRS will usually set one up right on the phone. Saves paperwork and the client gets instant verification that they are OK with the IRS.

How's this for a reply? Thanks for your concern about our health. My husband and I are fine. Hope you and your wife are well. And I hope your new tax preparer is also well. Sorry, I don't have a referral to give you. Best Regards,

Yes, Drake has the 8958. I just now looked.

Like Joel, I've also found the Drake transition to be fairly seamless once I got through the initial part of the learning curve (by "initial learning curve" I'm referring to a few days plus some time spent watching their excellent tutorials). I think it's mainly a matter of how adaptable one is willing to be. There are a few little things I miss from ATX, but the lightning speed and ease of use with Drake is well worth the trade-off. It also has some features and ways of manipulating data which I find far superior to ATX. Most of these features concern the process of expediting data entry, which is our greatest time killer. For example, their macros are simple to write and edit, which can save lots of time with routine entries unique to a given practice or state. I am doing some work with ATX 2011 on one screen and Drake 2012 on the other, and I've come to notice how slow even ATX 2011 was when seeing the two side-by-side in real time. As I've said before, the "Forms-Based" data entry is way overrated IMO. Granted, the change takes a little getting used to. But how hard is it to press Ctrl-V and Ctrl-E? It really is that simple to toggle back & forth between the Form to the Data Entry in Drake, and it works even faster than I can type this. Now if I found that my state wouldn't calculate correctly or if I had a particular class of return that wouldn't work, I'd certainly have a different opinion. But in looking at the Drake forums, I don't see any CA preparers complaining about these issues. (Or maybe they just don't have any customers in CA). And my only CA client's return worked perfectly, although it's a fairly straightforward return. Anyhow, I'm coming around to the idea that everyone may be looking for another vendor next year, either by choice or by default. I'd suggest giving Drake a good honest evaluation, knowing that any change is going to require giving up some things and gaining others. If ATX isn't an option, there won't be much out there in this price range which still provides the selection of forms and customer support that Drake provides. I'll also add that even though I'm now a Drake user, I'll still continue to evaluate other vendors in the off-season. I believe it is foolhardy to be locked into a single vendor with no other options. For a small practitioner like me it would be an inconvenience to be totally dependent on a single vendor, but for bigger operations it borders on business suicide. This season, ATX seems to be validating that viewpoint.

Next time they call, tell them you pulled their file out of the stack to answer their question, but then you placed it back at the bottom of the stack so now it has slipped further down the schedule. Then ask if they want you to pull it out again, give them the same answer as before, and take the chance that you might accidentally return it to the bottom of the new stack.

Here's my latest contribution to the "decadent" category. Just now made it myself... Treat.pdf

Much better answer than mine, but among other things I'm wondering about the original post - why an S corp would even have paid Federal Taxes (unless it was a C corp in the prior year).

I haven't tested this in a while, but it might be that your problem arises from a simple posting error (multiplied many times, of course). Quickbooks allows an inexperienced user to post directly to "Cost of Sales". If they post purchases to this account, rather than to "Purchases", then the only way QB can compensate for the error is to drive ending inventory negative. You might want to drill down into their "Cost of Sales" account and just see if there have been check transactions posted directly to that account. That won't solve your problem, but at least it will tell you where it originates. It will also make you more comfortable in making the adjustments necessary to get inventory to zero, assuming there really isn't any remaining inventory.

Do you think it would be wise for them to offer their employees a combat pay supplement for standing watch in the exhibit booth at the next few conferences?

The answer is, "it depends". (no joke - that really is the answer) Sorry if this sounds insensitive but have to ask. You sure you want to be preparing an "S" Corp return if you don't know the various answers to your question?