14 timely questions for tax season clients

dollar on question markif you don’t ask, you can’t know. if not now, when?

by jean marie caragher
the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms

tax season is the perfect time to identify cross-selling opportunities, strengthen client relationships and ensure client satisfaction.

consider asking your clients the following 14 questions this tax season. you may discover a new gold nugget of opportunity: read more →

is joint representation a conflict?

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and amake sure they both agree and you should be ok.

question: i have a long-term tax client who is going through a divorce and have been asked to meet with both spouses (soon to be ex-spouses) to perform tax and financial planning services. is representing both of them a conflict?

answer: it has the potential to be a conflict if not handled properly. here is an engagement letter that martin h. abo, cpa/abv/cva/cff uses in such circumstances. it is included here with his permission.

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are you a passionate accountant?

young asian entrepreneur reading magazinetake this quiz to see whether you’re phoning it in.

do you seek out opportunities to learn new things that will help your clients overcome their most difficult challenges?

selling value-creation advisory services is truly a slam dunk with most modern business owners, according mentorplus. the bad news is that, although most cpas would say they are their clients’ most trusted advisor, few could answer the following questions in the affirmative.

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the 12-step program for building better client relationships

selfie cell phone picsturn the habits of everyday friendship into business skills.

by jean marie caragher
the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms

since strong client relationships contribute to client satisfaction, longevity and lead generation, partners often encourage their managers and staff to build relationships with their clients. but these managers and staff look at the relationships their firm’s partners have built over time and think it’s impossible to replicate their results.

building relationships with clients can be done using the same behaviors that we use when building friendships and courting our spouse or significant other. consider these 12 tips to build client relationships, especially during tax season, prime time for in-person client contact. read more →

when large (or any) clients need backup assurances

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and ahere are 8 concrete suggestions.

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

question: my largest client does over $100 million in annual sales and accounts for 40 percent of my total revenue. its bank has expressed their concern to me and the client about the existence of a contingency plan for accounting and tax backup in the event of my untimely death or long-term medical issues. this is a very important issue for me and i would appreciate any advice you can provide.

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unhappy client? 5 constructive approaches

drawing of unhappy face and arrow pointing from it to happy facewith the right approach, you may be able to save the relationship.

unhappy clients won’t tell you they have a problem; they’ll simply move their business elsewhere.

so, if a client gives you a chance to repair a bad situation, take it.

here are a few tips from maribeth kuzmeski, author of “the connectors: how the world’s most successful businesspeople build relationships and win clients for life,” to keep your business relationships from going bad — and rescue those that have started to sour:

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what goes in a client’s permanent file?

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and awe’ve found at least 50 items. what would you add?

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

question: what type of information should be kept in, or as, permanent files?

response: a permanent file should be maintained for each of your clients. this would include the following:

  1. engagement letters
  2. representation letters – i would keep these in the permanent file. an example is that a claim could be made after you no longer have the work paper file associated with the matter. this is especially so with estate planning consultations where a claim could arise many years after a gift tax return was filed. i would keep copies of crummey letters in the file for the gift tax returns, if it is your practice to obtain copies of such letters read more →

if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out!

big businessman crushing a small one in his fingerstry these 6 ideas to stop losing business to competitors.

by sandi smith leyva

it’s rare that i lose business to competitors, and it’s also not an accident.

more: stuck at home right now? here’s 100 good ideas to relieve the stress | how to lead in a crisis | how to think straight through the coronavirus crisis | 16 tech tools for working through the coronavirus | 7 tips to keep the clients you have | do you know your opportunity number? | 7 tips to boost your firm’s performance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients

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

if you are losing business to your competitors, here are some strategies you can use to “become a category of one,” as they say in marketing.
read more →

6 ways to take a client beyond tax prep

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aset an agenda; call a meeting.

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

question: i have many small business tax clients and seem to lose them as they grow. i provide good service, never have extensions and call the clients in july to see if i can update their books and in december if they want any year-end tax planning. what else can i do?

response: based on our conversation, you are their tax preparer and they do not think of you as their “accountant” or business advisor. and based on what you told me, you aren’t, although you obviously have the skills. read more →

how accountants get new clients

angry young woman, blowing steam coming out of earswith client retention the top issue for firms, we go looking for the “secret sauce” for landing new business.
join the survey; get the results

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

if you want some real answers for how to avoid losing clients, just start asking cpas how they’ve managed to pick up new clients.

that’s exactly what we’ve been doing lately. some of the answers are startling. all of them are instructional. most of the time, accountants can blame the cpa that their new clients were abandoned. read more →

6 ways to know what you don’t know

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: occasionally i get a new client in an area i am unfamiliar with. how do i find out what i do not know?

response: this happens to everyone and probably more often than we expect. thankfully we will continue to get new business and getting clients in areas we are unfamiliar with enables us to grow.

more practice doctor q&a: 10 do’s and don’ts for making small business clients happy | client’s difficult daughter balks at bill | 6 simple steps to impress a prospect | 10 (nearly) painless ways to keep up to date with technology | when a staffer stops listening | 10 ways to get new 1040 clients | making meetings more productive | tax return reviewer ticking and tying

here is what i suggest: read more →