tax practice

small tax season leaks can cause great damage

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tiny businessman standing on dripping faucetbonus checklist: 5 key points to keep in mind.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

some people are micromanagers and anal with details. others are big-picture managers, letting details take care of themselves.  neither is completely effective and both disciplines need to be balanced.

more on tax season: 5 ways thorough beats sloppy in tax season | here’s your new tax season marketing plan | when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t | 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season

there is a time for details and a time for big-picture thinking. when setting up procedures and processes it is essential that all details be considered and planned for. once the process is set up, there should be brief but continuous monitoring. and then the big-picture thinking should take over – that is where you will make your money.

but you can’t get to the big picture ever if you are always immersed in the details. not setting up methods right at the beginning – or permitting a lack of adherence to them – will thwart any chance of growth and the success you can achieve.

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5 ways thorough beats sloppy in tax season

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businessmen miserable over errormake sure your staff feel the same way.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

don’t be sloppy instead of thorough.

all work has to be reviewed. and clients and others look at it.

sloppy work is always evident and usually incomplete. thorough work is careful and usually complete.

more on tax season: here’s your new tax season marketing plan | when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t | 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | how to get paid faster this tax season

thorough work takes longer when first being worked on, but review time is drastically reduced. further sloppy work takes longer to be reviewed and longer for the preparer to be acclimated with the file when picking it up to make changes.

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here’s your new tax season marketing plan

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arrow signs showing march through junenever too early to start planning for next year.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

marketing takes many forms. further, many accountants are not trained in marketing. i also know that while most cpas want more business, they are too busy with what they have to be actively seeking new business. additionally, marketing can be external, internal or retentive.

more on tax season: when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t | 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season

external is where new clients are solicited. that takes effort, ingenuity, time and maybe even some money.

internal is where you sell additional services to existing clients. it takes little effort or time and no money – but some ingenuity.  read more →

when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t

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businessman is dialing phone for advicefour reasons not to let one question stop a tax return in its tracks.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

i keep a few of the one-volume tax guides in my office so i could look up a quick answer when i need to. recently a golf buddy emailed me a question that i thought i could answer quickly. he wanted to know that if he was in the “zero” percent capital gains tax bracket, did that apply to an unlimited amount of capital gains? sounds like a simple question.

more on tax season: 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season

well i looked it up online and then in three one-volume tax guides. only one source had thorough coverage of the issue. i ended up spending an hour on this “simple” question including my emailed response. nothing is simple anymore.  read more →

5 personal touches for tax season

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businessman talking on phone in the officeone is a can’t-skip.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

occasionally accountants lose touch with their clients, especially during tax season. part of this is because of the crush of work, which is compressed into a pretty short period. we sometimes lose sight that we are working on something the clients consider one of the most important things in their lives at that moment.

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tax season urgency: it’s a bad thing

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six ways to eliminate stress and potential mistakes. by ed mendlowitz tax season opportunity guide urgency creates stress and pressure and leads to mistakes and improper perceptions of the quality of the work. planning and execution reduce urgency. one way … continued

consistency simplifies tax season

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man talking to woman with checklistapply it to service, processes and standards.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

one way to guarantee extra work is to have everything always done differently each time it is done.

more on tax season: 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season

not establishing uniform procedures is bad business and unnecessarily consumes part of your life. consistency in performance reduces work and review time and creates a greater reliance on the staff people. read more →

3 ways to build a tax season team

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happy multi-ethnic business team with thumbs up in the officeit’s a long season. make it a happy one.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

if you have staff, have happy cheerful helpful people. don’t surround yourself with downers and naysayers.

also have team players. part of this is your firm’s culture. it takes work to get people to work together and to focus on doing what it takes to service the client fully, properly and timely.  everyone working together gets it done.

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have fun this tax season!

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four young happy office employeesno kidding! here are 12 ways.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

tax season presents exciting opportunities for accounting firms and their staffs. every moment should be enjoyed and appreciated.

following are 12 reasons:

1. tax season is profitable and accounting is a business where we try to maximize our earnings. sure, there is a great concentration of work in a short period with occasional pressure, but if handled properly, the work can be managed sensibly with tensions at reasonable levels. i also believe much of the pressure is self-induced by poor scheduling, inadequate quality control and the lack of uniform systems that are followed by everyone in the firm, particularly the partners.

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how to get paid faster this tax season

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stamp paid - 3dit’s good for business and considerate to clients.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

tax season is a business and businesses need to be paid. it is harder to justify prices when providing services rather than products. products are usually priced before delivery while many times services are priced after delivery, i.e. performance.

many accountants price returns before they are worked on, usually basing the fee on last year, or a rate schedule. sending a bill with the return establishes the relationship that you should be paid promptly for the work done.

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