This year I will finally...

[Mr. Pencil]

This is an open-ended survey about improving your business. Vote multiple categories, write out your concerns, respond with helpful suggestions. Cheery outlooks only, please!

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This year I will finally get into trusts & estates. I've never been able to wrap my brain around it, so I'm going to try some very basic learning tools like vocabulary flash cards.

[Gail in Virginia]

I am in business with my mother, who is now 80 years old and wants to slow down (go figure!) So I am going to be looking to hire someone at least part time to take over her workload. And while I may wind up going back to ATX, we are going to try ProSeries. I felt like I needed to decide before we heard anything from the Beta testers, so we could get ahead (HA!) of the learning curve. And I am finally planning to leave the country on vacation! If nothing happens to change my plans, I am going to Jamaica in May with a friend who is from there. For me, taking a vacation out of the country without my husband is pretty daring!

[Guest Taxed]

Did you test the scanner to be able to scan directly into DDM? On my scanner with the doc feeder I had to make a slight adjustment to be able to scan multiple pages into one pdf file instead of separate pdf files.

[Catherine]

Need to hire help - an annual problem since my in-house helpers both grew up and moved out. Also will be using Drake this year so there is new-er software (used it for about half of last year's returns).

[Guest Taxed]

Welcome. Another convert to Drake from ATX. How did your conversion go?

[ILLMAS]

I made a major upgrade with my email system just last month, I dumped outlook for Gmail/apps for business. I was always reaching the maximum allowed and had to delete old emails and I finally had it.

[Guest Taxed]

I still use Outlook and I have set the auto-archive feature so I am never running out of space and all my old e-mail are archived (back to 2007)

[SFA]

Lion EA made skydiving look like something I should put on my bucket list . . . for some day, not today, and tomorrow I'm pretty busy!

[SaraEA]

The way the tax code is getting more convoluted every day, I think we'll all have to end up picking a specialty sooner or later. I made this conclusion after recently reading that for cash basis taxpayers, a personal/business expense charged on a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard) on Dec 31 counts as paid for that year, but if charged to a store credit card (Staples, Sears etc.) on Dec 31 it doesn't count until the bill is paid (usually January of the following year). In all the years I've been doing taxes, with all my studies to earn an EA and Master's Degree in Taxation, I never knew that. Methinks there's a lot more I don't know, so I'd better stick with what I'm really familiar with. I really like doing trusts and estates, and because of that I think I know what I'm doing in that arena. Sounds like a reasonable focus to me. On the other hand, although I do very few EITC returns, I dislike having to cross-examine the clients and feel the pressure of Karen Hawkins threatening my livelihood. (Whatever happened to the IRS being in partnership with preparers because we help them so much by applying the code for them?) Except for those couple of divorcees who are just learning to make a living and those business owners whose books we do (and who don't live in houses and drive cars 12 levels up from mine), I'm referring EITC clients to HR Block. Their preparers are very well-trained in the required due diligence, and they have a company with deep pockets to bail them out.

I also voted to nail down certain forms. There are new forms for health insurance (the numbers escape me right now) I better figure out. The AMT credit on Form 8801 is a mystery. Many credits I've seen awarded shouldn't have been because the taxpayer claimed only tax exclusion rather than deferral items. Seems to me that when the credit came into existence software didn't handle it correctly. Many preparers just put the AMT amount in the box instead of reading WHICH amount should go into it. When I see these I put them in my "summer projects" pile so the error doesn't carry forward. I want to get my head around understanding it better. Finally, I do almost all of the debt forgiveness/short sales in my office. Every single time I have to go through the rules for recourse/nonrecourse, is it the amount of the forgiven debt or FMV that goes into the formula, etc. I am going to study this until it makes sense to me and I'm not just following lines on a worksheet!

These sound like New Year's resolutions. Hope I can report back next year that I actually kept them!

[Crank]

After doing taxes since age 18 in college with VITA, 34 years in total now, last year I said it might be my last. I put that thought out of my mind and today it came creeping back ..... maybe Im just being cranky though

[JohnH]

Good topic.

This year I'm going to get up to speed on non-profits organizations and Form 990. I've dodged this thing for years, but I've finally decided I'd better learn more about the whole subject. Therefore, most of my CPE and personal study in 2014 is going to focus on this area. If anybody has any good recommendations for study, please let me know.

I'm also going to get busy having that standing desk installed in my office. Been talking about this for years, but never took the first step. So come February, that project gets under way. Once the one in the office is done, it will be the prototype and trial run for the one I plan to install in my bonus room at home.

[Guest Taxed]

>>> I made this conclusion after recently reading that for cash basis taxpayers, a personal/business expense charged on a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard) on Dec 31 counts as paid for that year, but if charged to a store credit card (Staples, Sears etc.) on Dec 31 it doesn't count until the bill is paid (usually January of the following year).

I did not know there was a distinction because my Amazon card is actually a VISA card issued by Chase. And if I recall my Sears card is actually a Mastercard.

I am a cash basis taxpayer and i deduct it in the year charged not the year the bill to the credit card co is paid. Just made a bunch of charges in December for my business and they will all be deducted as expense for 2013.

[GeneInAlabama]

If we don't pay the entire amount on one of those cards and only make the minimum payment, how do we know which items were paid and when?

[Richcpaman]

If we don't pay the entire amount on one of those cards and only make the minimum payment, how do we know which items were paid and when?

Gene:

It doesn't matter on a Visa or MasterCard...

For Store cards (Which there are ALOT less than there used to, as noted above, the store branded cards are just V/MC..)

If someone charged $10k on a store card, and made payments of only $1,000, then you would deduct $1,000. If it was building supplies, I would expense $1k to CGS.

Also... Please note that the IRS rules were changed to state that payments on all Credit cards balances would be applied to personal expenses first, then to business expenses. Therefore, making it much more taxpayer friendly.

So, if you have a balance of $5k on a card, charge $100 for something personal, $250 for business expenses, and then send the card a check for $600, it is presumed that you paid down the $100 FIRST, then the business stuff.

Rich

[Richcpaman]

Well...

I was going to the Western CPE Financial Advisors week long conference in Las Vegas this past month, but that got interuppted, so, I plan on going to the next one.

I might as well get qualified to be a financial planner/advisor, so that I can make some more money...

That is my goal for 2014.

And to END 2013...

Rich

[SFA]

A portion of my client base is aging with me. This year, we will continue to improve our proficiency in State and Federal gift, inheritance and trust returns--issues related to estate tax planning. Must stay ahead of the Turbo Tax do-it-yourselfers.

Happy New Year everyone! Bring it on!

[Pacun]

A portion of my client base is aging with me.

All my client base is aging with me.

[joanmcq]

I'm looking to gain more small biz clients for bookkeeping and tax work since my assistant handles the bookkeeping work. I'd like to get her to be working as much as she wants to be. So I'm looking to increase my marketing exposure in that area.

[Janitor Bob]

I am gonna run a half marathon

[schirallicpa]

I'm getting rid of payroll. I HATE PAYROLL.

[kcjenkins]

It always seemed like the ones who caused the most payroll problems were also the ones who never felt like they should have to pay for the extra work their screw-ups caused! I totally understand you.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I hate payroll too, but can't get rid of it yet. I just won't take on any new. I am going to finally get a passport so that I can travel more with my son. After our almost 20 year old cat passes away, his dad can go too.

[Granny Coral]

I am 85 yrs old and this is my last year of my in-home tax prep business . I will be moving out of state to my daughter's where I will probably pickup a couple bookkeeping clients she has been handling. This will keep me busy enough and allow me time to visit great-grandchildren all the way from Maine to Oregon and a couple of states in between. Oh, and did I say I will have more time to handle my other passion, The Family Tree.

[MAMalody]

Sounds like a great plan!! Go get'em!

[mcb39]

I am 85 yrs old and this is my last year of my in-home tax prep business . I will be moving out of state to my daughter's where I will probably pickup a couple bookkeeping clients she has been handling. This will keep me busy enough and allow me time to visit great-grandchildren all the way from Maine to Oregon and a couple of states in between. Oh, and did I say I will have more time to handle my other passion, The Family Tree.

This is an inspiration if I ever heard one! Good luck to you Granny Coral. I aspire to emulate you. I have just recently been blessed with my first great-grandchild and don't "plan " to retire any time soon. However, one never knows.