nine tips for a healthier tax season

woman and man walking and talking outside office building

how to be at your best through april 15th.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

tax season can be a marathon. everyone has their own tips and tricks, habits and techniques for staying sane and healthy. here are 10 of mine:

more: every accounting firm needs quality control | three ways to start an accounting practice | free consultation? not always | referral fee? forget it | how much is your tax practice worth? | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
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  1. eat lunch out of your office.
  2. go for a 15-minute walk in middle of afternoon instead of eating a snack.

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the top 12 mistakes in tax return preparation

businessman horrified by what he sees on computer screen

 

there’s good news, though: they’re preventable.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

here are the top 12 tax return preparation errors:

  1. number transposition and spelling errors. this includes income and deduction amounts and client social security numbers, addresses and zip codes. spelling errors should also be avoided – they indicate a lack of attention to what you are doing.

more on tax season: six types of person: which are you? | answer these two questions first | help your tax clients, help yourself | what’s your value to your tax clients? | are you excited about tax season?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

  1. unreported 1099 income. clients frequently leave out 1099s, but the preparer should make sure all 1099 items from last year are accounted for. missing 1099s that were not final for last year should be accounted for.
  2. tax payments. entering incorrect and unpaid amounts can be avoided by requiring the client to provide “proof” of the payments. entering “incorrect” amounts provided by the client is a major cause of tax notices.

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every accounting firm needs quality control

man using laptop, pen marking imaginary checkboxes in air

the lowest cost always comes when the person first performing the service does it correctly.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i want to improve my firm’s review and quality control. do you have any suggestions?

response: this is a recurring issue for most firms. every cpa practice needs quality control. the issue is whether a dedicated quality control (“qc”) person is needed and, if not, how the qc can be done without one.

more: three ways to start an accounting practice | fifteen strategies for first-time supervisors | no one listens to you? change how you talk | free consultation? not always | measure knowledge gaps (then close them) | 47 types of business valuation to provide | referral fee? forget it | should you offer financial services? | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | how much is your tax practice worth? | ready to retire? selling your practice is no strategy | uncooperative partner might not be the problem | merge in lower-priced work without losing out | 20 things you need for a business valuation
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a practice is a business and every business must be run efficiently and profitably. qc is an area that i have found many firms getting tied up in and either spending nothing or much more than they should.
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six types of person: which are you?

use the answer to help define your business and your future.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

is your practice satisfying?

do you like it the way it is, or do you want it to develop and grow? some people like the way things are and don’t care about change.

more on tax season: answer these two questions first | help your tax clients, help yourself | what’s your value to your tax clients? | are you excited about tax season?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

if you’ve gotten this far, i would suggest that you do care about change, and change means you have to do some things differently.
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three ways to start an accounting practice

smiling man in shirt and tie seated at desk

plus a dozen tips for once you get there.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i am working for a cpa firm, but would like to start my own practice. can you give me some suggestions?

more: fifteen strategies for first-time supervisors | no one listens to you? change how you talk | 47 types of business valuation to provide | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | uncooperative partner might not be the problem
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

response: essentially, you have three options (four if you count my pet project, but i won’t belabor it).
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fifteen strategies for first-time supervisors

partners should set staff up for success.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: my boss asked me to call you. i am a staff accountant with five years’ experience. i am having a lot of stress trying to manage everything i have to do. i am juggling supervising people i don’t know how to supervise, being managed less by those above me and having to figure out more for myself – including things i never did before or in industries i never worked on previously, keeping current with changes in accounting rules and taxes (because i am more like a generalist and clients ask me everything), never seem to have any free time, juggling my schedule because most of my clients are never ready when they say they will be and being accountable to my boss for everything i do plus what the staff working under me does.

more: no one listens to you? change how you talk | free consultation? not always | referral fee? forget it | how much is your tax practice worth? | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

so how do i do it all? how can i prioritize all my responsibilities?

response: wow! deep question! it seems there is very little written for “entry-level” supervisors. but plenty for people already doing it.
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no one listens to you? change how you talk

man intently listening to woman in office

it might be more of a workaround than a solution. but it gets results!

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i notice that most of the time my staff doesn’t listen when i talk. how can i make them listen?

more: free consultation? not always | measure knowledge gaps (then close them) | should you offer financial services? | ready to retire? selling your practice is no strategy | 20 things you need for a business valuation
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

response: i find this issue very widespread. i believe there is an epidemic of people not listening, not just staff.
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help your tax clients, help yourself

beware the opportunity graveyard.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

many opportunities only come along once. the way to be successful is to not let them pass by without acting on them or taking advantage of them.

more on tax season: what’s your value to your tax clients? | are you excited about tax season?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

spotting opportunities is quite easy if you are looking for them – and extremely difficult if you don’t have a clue of client needs or wants.
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free consultation? not always

three people talking around a table

don’t give it away too easily.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i was wondering what your thought is regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole practitioners that i know).

more: measure knowledge gaps (then close them) | 47 types of business valuation to provide | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | uncooperative partner might not be the problem | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged for?
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measure knowledge gaps (then close them)

four people on lower stairs, one on upper stairs, gap between

six questions to ask, plus a real-world example.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i suspect that my partner has “maxed out” and cannot grow further, which will retard our growth. what can i do or how can i deal with this?

more: 47 types of business valuation to provide | referral fee? forget it | how much is your tax practice worth? | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

response: this is a frequent question, and sometimes it is the person asking it who has “maxed out.” but sometimes it is the partner or a key staff who wants to be made a partner.
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what’s your value to your tax clients?

three questions to ask.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

know your value to your clients. better, understand your business and what you really do and what you add to the client’s life.

more on tax season: are you excited about tax season?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i had a group of gastroenterologists as clients who were going to get into a business of inserting a gastric bubble into people’s stomachs. there were a number of issues to this.
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empower staff to make mistakes (safely)

older man and younger man having meeting at desk

think of it as teaching judgment.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: recently a colleague asked me: “how do you teach judgment?” and before i could respond, he answered it himself with “you can’t teach judgment!”

more: 47 types of business valuation to provide | referral fee? forget it | how much is your tax practice worth? | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

response: everyone working for you has and uses judgment – they have homes, families, organizations they belong to and they manage their career. each of these requires their exercising judgment many times a day. they all have judgment.
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