tax practice

how to avoid getting run over (or left behind)

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cars in trafficsmart cpas will remain their client’s most trusted advisor – but not by staying in their lane.

by kyle walters

are your clients asking you specifically for help with their insurance, investments and estate planning? are they asking you how these options impact their taxes?

more: use 3 colors to create clarity and deliver value | are you growing or getting left behind? | what can you offer that ibm’s watson can’t? | the what, so what and now what? | clients don’t have a fee problem, they have a value problem
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most cpas will say, “yes, all the time!” the reason clients are bringing these issues to you is because they trust you. cpas have long been viewed as their clients’ most trusted advisors. when most clients have financial issues or complexity to deal with, they go to their cpa first.
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use 3 colors to create clarity and deliver value

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illustration of traffic lighthow the three colors of a traffic light can improve your client relationships.

by kyle walters

from the cpa’s perspective, a completed tax return is a summary of all the hard work that you have done on behalf of your client. the return represents a mountain of paperwork that you have tamed – everything you had to evaluate, research and consider in order to complete the often-complex process of preparing and filing a u.s. tax return.

more: are you growing or getting left behind? | what can you offer that ibm’s watson can’t? | the what, so what and now what? | clients don’t have a fee problem, they have a value problem
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however, when you deliver a tax return to your client, the final return seems like nothing more than a huge pile of paper in the client’s eyes. other than seeing how much they owe in taxes, most clients don’t know what to do with all the information on their return because they don’t understand irs-speak. they don’t understand the implications of the numbers contained in the nice neat rows and columns.
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are you growing or getting left behind?

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businesspeople coming together to cup hands and hold dirt and a seedlinghow to build a successful firm for the future.

by kyle walters

as most of you know, the accounting profession is feeling the pressure of commoditization and fee compression. what’s more, many firms are finding it difficult to hire and retain qualified staff.

more: what can you offer that ibm’s watson can’t? | the what, so what and now what? | clients don’t have a fee problem, they have a value problem
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in order to overcome these challenges in your practice, you will need to address three important considerations asap:

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the tax resolution client intake checklist

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tax resolution client onboarding irs formshow to onboard your new client.

by jassen bowman

upon securing an irs collections representation engagement, as a result of your marketing and sales systems, your next step is to actually onboard the client and get to work.

more tax opportunities:  5 reasons your firm training needs nano learning  |  when tax filing season is over, what’s next?  |   how to end the tax revenue roller coaster with a four-season practice model  |   how to turn routine cpe into a new marketing opportunity

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

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5 reasons your firm training needs nano learning

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woman on city train using tabletmobility and repetition are points you may not have considered.

by jassen bowman
tax resolution systems

training employees effectively in our fast-paced, information-saturated world can be a big challenge for business leaders.

more: when tax filing season is over, what’s next? | how to end the tax revenue roller coaster with a four-season practice model | how to turn routine cpe into a new marketing opportunity

 
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

in the past, you might have been able to get staff to sit through a three-hour training course without issue. today, accomplishing the same can seem impossible.
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clients don’t have a fee problem, they have a value problem

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clients don’t pay you to fill in forms, they pay you to help them make better financial decisions.

by kyle walters

key takeaways

• clients are buying expert advice and recommendations from you. they’re not buying the tools you use to do your job.

• unfortunately, that makes many cpas nervous because advice doesn’t balance. advice can’t be guaranteed.

• your output as a cpa firm is to help clients make better financial decisions. everything you do needs to be centered around client success – not around manufacturing tax returns.

as a cpa, it’s easy to think your job is simply to provide tax and auditing services – i.e. to give clients a historical analysis of their financial statements. your input is data; your output is more data in the form of a completed tax return. chances are, you became a cpa because you’ve always liked numbers and structure. like many of your peers, you have always enjoyed balancing debits and credits because that way, you can prove without question that the output is right. read more →

refunds up, filings down at end of tax season 2017

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irs filing season data for week ending april 21, 2017
irs filing season data for week ending april 21, 2017

 

pros keep the edge in e-filings and some people just won’t give up paper.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

a season of down notes for individual income tax returns ended the same way.

more tax season data: with 4 days left, tax stats were still down | refunds edge up as tax season winds down  | tax refunds catching up to last year | tax professionals accelerate filing pace as busy season heads for the home stretch | individual tax filings still lag behind 2016 | tax pros filing only 51% of e-returns | tax refunds up slightly | tax filings data looking less squirrely | tax return filings still lag, but pros hold 57% of market | tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

data for the week ending april 21, the week in which the filing deadline fell, was just released and it paints the same picture we’ve seen since january: overall returns and e-filings down, with refunds the only scant positives.
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checklist: following up after tax season

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stacks of papers on the corner of a desklay the foundation for work you didn’t have time to do earlier this year.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

if you were paying attention during tax season, you likely picked up on other services your clients might need.

more on marketing: advertising done right | 12 branding tips | structuring partnership and buy-sell agreements | the 64-point business startup checklist | how to offer second opinions | how to offer employment compensation assistance | basic budgeting for clients | guiding heirs | add new revenues with tax prep follow-ups
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here is a checklist of 15 possible additional services, plus a form to track your follow-up.
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with 4 days left, tax stats were still down

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chart of irs filing data for week ending april 14, 2017
[click for larger image]

pros move ahead in e-filings.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

with only days left to go in the 2017 tax season, the internal revenue service still was seeing most statistics land below 2016 levels.

more tax season data: refunds edge up as tax season winds down  | tax refunds catching up to last year | tax professionals accelerate filing pace as busy season heads for the home stretch | individual tax filings still lag behind 2016 | tax pros filing only 51% of e-returns | tax refunds up slightly | tax filings data looking less squirrely | tax return filings still lag, but pros hold 57% of market | tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

according to data from the week ending april 14, the latest available, the only figures on the positive side remained total refunds and average refund per taxpayer.
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when tax filing season is over, what’s next?

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woman ladder binoculars city view outlook vision success climb adobestock_57204649.jpegno more ‘off-season!’ seven post-season tactics for building income streams year-round.

by jassen bowman
tax resolution systems

after one tax season ends and another begins, it’s time to turn your attention to business planning for the rest of the year.

more by jassen bowman: how to end the tax revenue roller coaster with a four-season practice model  |    how to turn routine cpe into a new marketing opportunity  |  more

 

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you do need to start planning ahead for what your business will look like for the rest of the year.

if you fail to plan ahead for the post-filing season, then you may suddenly find yourself wondering, “what now?”

here are some things to consider when it comes to your post tax season planning:

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11 tax client questions for year-round billings

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question markshow to identify post-busy season projects.

by blake christian

while most cpas and staff are in survival mode during busy season, the weeks following tax day offer excellent opportunities for cpas to identify challenges and opportunities, and begin inventorying projects to complete now that the rush has ended.

more tax practice: a lesson in basis taught to us by almond trees  |  how to end the tax revenue roller coaster with a four-season practice model  |  five ways to protect clients from ‘the sleazy six’ tax season scams  |  tax season productivity hacks  |   how to sell bundled tax services  |  46 avoidable tax-filing errors – if clients only knew  |  21 reasons why tax clients switch firms  |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this time of year generally presents more opportunities to talk directly with your clients—either in person or on the phone—to discuss their business and personal financial matters. reviewing their source documents also provides numerous ways to identify work that they’ll need your help with in the coming year.

when you meet with clients in the weeks after busy season, it can be helpful to develop a short agenda of topics to cover. these can include not only industry and technical issues, but also longer-term operational and personal issues. here is a sampling of questions to consider asking clients—especially those for which you don’t produce monthly financial statements—when you meet with them in the period immediately following busy season.

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