Abby Normal Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Batch adding organizer letters failed, so we have to add the letters manually. Batch printing of organizers fails to print the two letters we added in step 1, so we have to manually print each organizer. ATX has royally screwed this up, this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 I have not done batch printing or Organizers for years. There are too many clients who don't need or use them and/or don't bring them back. I know which clients are going to want one for the most part. In my yearly letter, I instruct them to ask for one if they want it. Printing them separately is not that big of a deal and is a huge savings on paper, toner, postage and time. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted January 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 40 minutes ago, mcb39 said: I have not done batch printing or Organizers for years. There are too many clients who don't need or use them and/or don't bring them back. I know which clients are going to want one for the most part. In my yearly letter, I instruct them to ask for one if they want it. Printing them separately is not that big of a deal and is a huge savings on paper, toner, postage and time. IMO Printing them separately turns a two minute task into a 16 hour task. I'd say that's a big deal! And what is this paper and toner you speak of? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 I use only specific organizer pages for the handful of clients that actually use them for their Schedule C or E. It helps to remind them what certain expenses were for the previous year because we know they can/will not look at that return themselves, amiright? I do include the checklist to everyone more as a reminder of what documents are needed and raise questions. I really appreciate the enhanced checklist from Abby. I will possibly incorporate one or more of those next year. The one addition I always have to make under Other is Did you make any internet, mail order, or out of state purchases on which you did not pay sales tax? If yes, what is the total of untaxed purchases made? To efile Ohio one has to answer that question and I won't make up the answer - it has to be on file from the client. Every year I get complaints as to how on earth they would know that and every year I explain, as the year before and the year before that, just how. A handful have finally reconciled themselves and do provide the information early on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 I don't use their letters anyway. I have an annual letter that I send and a three page engagement letter that goes to everyone. I haven't printed organizers yet, but will later this week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted January 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Not using their letters would make the task even more tedious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 It is super tedious, but I have to cover my butt and their letters aren't good enough for my insurance company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Yes, not using ATX letters is unfortunate but I also use the AICPA letter which is recommended by my insurance. If I was smart enough to do a mail merge, it wouldn't be so bad but I never learned that. So I just change the address and names, print and go on to the next. Then sign each one, too. Then make a copy for the client. Hmmm, time to retire.... But I just got two more clients within the last 2 weeks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraEA Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I was elected to rewrite our engagement letter, which I am doing now. During the year when we were handed copies of prior year returns done at other firms, we copied the engagement letters for ideas. One was EIGHT SINGLE-SPACED pages! I even think NECPA's three-pager is too long for the average client's attention span on such matters. How long is AICPA's? The point is to let clients know what we are responsible for and what they are responsible for. I don't think our prior letter was given to our E&O company for approval. Is that standard procedure? They never asked for it. Of course the insurance people will want something like AICPA because it's probably so detailed they will be responsible for nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 The one from AICPA is just a few lines over a single page, single spaced with 5 paragraphs. I think it's fairly readable and doesn't use big words. As I describe to new clients, it states who is responsible for what. I've never had anyone refuse to sign but, of course, they wouldn't be my clients if they did refuse. My insurance is through AICPA, Aon, and they provide sample letters to use. If used on 'most' engagements, it's worth a 5% premium discount and a lot of support in the event of a conflict. I use them every year. Even I couldn't handle 8 pages, though. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 10 minutes ago, Margaret CPA in OH said: My insurance is through AICPA, Aon, and they provide sample letters to use. I have that as well. I keep running up against the site's down time for maintenance and haven't been able to access the samples yet. I sent out a blank organizer and engagement letter tonight as email attachments to a prospective client and was totally frustrated. First Drake's blank organizer doesn't include the 2 page yes/no questions that their regular organizer does for existing clients, and it also doesn't include any sort of letter. I ended up using blank generic ones available from The Tax Book and customized the letter. Wasted a bunch of time on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I will check out the CNA one again, but I have added so much stuff on FATCA, etc, that my engagement letter has gotten pretty unwieldy. It's only a little on the third page, but it does include a ton of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Well, at least adding page numbers was quick and easy. Selected all organizer pdfs in Nuance Power PDF, and used the scheme I had set up earlier this year, clicked ok and off it went! Boom. Making them fillable and adding a password has to be done one organizer at a time, but that's what office help are for. It took my employee about 8 hours to add organizer letters and print organizers to pdf for about 300 clients. Thanks for the bug, ATX! And it will likely take another 8 hours to make them fillable and password protected. Thankfully I have employees who don't mind a repetitive task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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