firms have to decide who will do the tax return review, and how qualifed they are for this. ideally, trained tax department personnel are the primary reviewers. however, the bunching and compression of work often shifts some of the review to higher level, non-tax personnel such as audit managers and partners who might not have the comprehensive training, background, knowledge and experience to handle everything that comes up during the tax preparation process.
additionally, in many firms, almost everyone on the staff will prepare some returns to ease the almost insurmountable burden on the tax department. that lack of trained preparers, though, places an added burden on the reviewers, making it important for them to be more aware and alert when they perform the review. read more →
many times, i am asked for a quick down and dirty suggested review method, so i put the following together. this should not be a substitute for reading the handbook and considering all my recommendations. reviewing is a process, not a thing to do. read more →
after nearly three years of what many tax pros consider one of the longest tax seasons on record –- a.k.a. ‘marchternity’ –- one would think this season would be different.
to be sure, plenty of tax practitioners in late 2022 did indeed call the end of marchternity and look forward to some sense of normalcy, as much of what caused the extended tax season in the first place appears to have subsided. so, do tax pros expect this season to be different?
the last several years have been rough on accountants, to say the least.
i left public accounting at the end of 2017, so i have been spared the never-ending chaos of the last five years, starting with the last-minute sweeping changes of the tcja, and continuing on through the pandemic. however, thanks to social media groups like #taxtwitter and accounting firm influencers on facebook, i’ve had an idea of the misery, confusion, exhaustion, and sheer frustration of tax pros trying to maintain sanity in the face of complete insanity.
in 2020, adam markowitz, a razor-sharp ea and active member of the #taxtwitter community, coined the term marchternity, for the month of the 2020 tax season that never seemed to end. ultimately, thanks to the mad coding skills of chris hervochon, the marchternity bot was born, providing “daily updates on what day of marchternity it is because march 2020 will never end.”
over 46 percent of respondents expect a five to ten percent expansion of clientele, and another 13 percent say theirs will swell by more than ten percent.
in van nuys, calif., steve glick came up with a new concern: “now the software companies—turbotax, intuit, etc.—are competing against their customers by preparing tax returns.”
gretl siler, at succentrix business advisors, in panama city, fla., has the problem everyone wishes they had, plus the one everyone wishes they didn’t. she says, “note that i am not having any problem with increasing prices or with competitors. the problem is too many new clients and staffing… plus the irs is still terrible.”
to be sure, there’s bob langworthy, the founder of southern maine’s management accounting. he couldn’t name a single concern. “none!” he says. “we served 1,000 clients last year and already have more than 200 committed new clients this season.”
for 2023, the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer expanded the list of possible concerns, 24 in all, plus an “other” option. it’s our longest list ever, and accountants checked off each and every possible worry.
ask yourself this question after you hear that a return was submitted for review that needed extensive corrections: “why am i letting the future of my firm depend on people who keep making errors on tax returns?”
comment: the future of your firm means your future wealth and your eventual financial security.
question for you: why do you put up with the pattern of continuous errors on tax returns? read more →
no irs program is more interesting yet misunderstood than the irs’s offer in compromise program. for taxpayers who owe money to the irs, between 15 million and 20 million of them, the thought that they can settle their back tax debt for less than the amount owed is an answer to many of their prayers.
many people have seen the late-night television ads or heard the satellite radio spots: the taxpayer, who seems just like them, owed huge sums of money to the irs and was being abused by the callous tax machine when the advertising company came to the rescue and settled that tax debt for “pennies on the dollar.”
are these ads telling us the truth? can taxpayers really settle their tax debt for little to no money? the answer is yes, they can, but it depends upon their financial situation.
i believe the additional irs agents will create significant pressure on accounting firms to increase staff and costs associated with client audits. this will create pressures to take advantage of tax credits and incentives, but firms must do this with third-party providers with impeccable reputations.
bonuses: a 10-question test (and answer key), plus 18 other issues you might want to test.exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
… in 17 steps.
best practices for individual and business returns.
how much can the client pay?
incentives will bring new opportunities.