Jack from Ohio Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Thursday 4/5 was a complete horror show for me. It started out good and then went crazy after noon. Lots of clients dropping off before Easter, clients calling and showing up with missing docs/items and a few that decided they needed to pickup that day. Sheesh! Wife actually told me to stop around 9pm because I "looked like hell". My son came home from college for Easter break and said the same thing. I should reconsider my extension fee but my fees are so reasonable (vs. Block & Other CPAs) and I am so flexible and accomodating with being available to clients that it's like my little piece of revenge for them being inconsiderate. Consider this.... Your revenge at them should be CONSIDERATE to YOU as well. Your services and personal service are items that people will pay for. You can still be substantially lower than your competition, and still be compensated adequately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crank Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Oh, the one thing that really set me off was a client with a sch c business, upset that he owed so much more in taxes vs. the prior year due to a $20k increase in net income. He didnt like my estimates for 2012 (100% of 2011 taxes) to aviod any penatlies. So he told me that his income was unusually high this year to due to one big city contract that he wouldnt have next year. So I recalc'd his estimates and then noticed that his gross income stayed the almost the same from 2010 to 2011 but that his reduced labor expenses was the result of the $20M net income increase. When I told him that he got extremely defensive and was almost to the point of shouting and ranting for a good minute non-stop. He finally settled on 90% of 2011 taxes for his 2012 estimates. I got a really funny feeling from him that something wasnt right. Hey, Im not auditing him and he has to sign the return. I kept my cool over the whole thing but he's going to be paying more from now on due to that little temper tantrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crank Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Consider this.... Your revenge at them should be CONSIDERATE to YOU as well. Your services and personal service are items that people will pay for. You can still be substantially lower than your competition, and still be compensated adequately. Sorry Jack but I'm not getting your point about "Your revenge at them should be CONSIDERATE to YOU as well." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HV Ken Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Not sure why so many of you don't charge for extensions - it takes time to generate the efile, to transmit the efile, to process the acknowledgements, etc. If it is due to the clients (missing information, coming late, disorganized, etc.), I charge them - I deserve to be compensated for my time. If it is on my request, I will still charge the extension fee and then apply an equal discount, so the net is no charge to them as it was a convenience to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Crank said an interesting thing about the client who "knew" his income would not be as high this year. Seems that several of these Sch C SE filers have that same crystal ball. Many folks are financially strapped and, of course, they don't want to pay those high estimates. I like the electronic Estimates, but those can be as dangerous as a flex plan that doesn't get used. If they don't have the money in their accounts, they will be in even more trouble. However, after so many years, you kind of know who will pay their estimates and who won't. All we can do is thell them, we can't lead them to water and make them drink. In the meantime, I am setting up the vouchers and envelopes for some and doing E estimates for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I had a client bring me cookies today, and not just any cookies but from the killer high-end bakery in the area, nicely wrapped in festive ribbon with a card thanking me. So, not all bad. Now onto another all-night round of tax fun! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sorry Jack but I'm not getting your point about "Your revenge at them should be CONSIDERATE to YOU as well." "...my little piece of revenge for them being inconsiderate." Your revenge against them is taking clients. Your "favor" to your clients is your lower fee structure. In the whole process, you must not keep your fee structure so low that it is not "CONSIDERATE" to "YOU" for being professional, thorough and caring about your clients. There is plenty of room between your fee structure and the "big boys" for you to be sure you treat your self appropriately by not "undercharging" for your services and professionalism. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJStephens Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Glad to know it wasn't just me. I have about 30 MIAs, this time last year I had about 15. Things have been running slow all year. Good thing I guess. I had some massive software issues back in mid-March (I use TRX). Took their software engineer a day and half to figure out what was wrong. I was sweating big time being down that long at that time. Turns out I'm doing okay, all things considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredazcpa Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Late yesterday I found a simple return; done, printed, ready for client pickup first thing Saturday morning -- looked at it and found an item I just plain-old forgot to include. Remember thinking "Must go back and get that in there" -- and never did. So I'm re-printing it now. Sigh. My response last night? Only one sensible thing to do; catch the last hour of the local contra dance. It was fun but I sure was tired out from all the long hours and am glad I was only there for an hour! Wednesday I had my whole schedule scrambled utterly and completely on me THREE times before 11AM. By the end of the day I was an absolute wreck. Had to duck out on a quick errand to pick something up and on the way back stopped at a local church that was having quiet prayer time all week. Spent 15 minutes in the quiet and dark, on my knees, remembering all I have to be grateful for. Did me a -world- of good. Almost screwed up a trust return, the trutee cashed in some bonds, but did not have the EIN, so the brokerage withheld taxes, I almost sent the return out FED EX and that is the one transaction that the trustee was looking for. Dodged one there, too much work, too little time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.