and 5 ways to get more business tax clients.
question: i need a few more clients for tax season. any suggestions?
response: since we will be getting ready for tax season now is a good time to address this. here are two checklists, one for individual returns, the other for business client returns.
checklist: 10 ways to get new individual tax clients read more →
and complaining and correcting…
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: my tax return reviewer continually complains to me about the quality of the returns she gets to review. yet, many of the returns she passes on to me have errors. how do i fix this?
response: common problem. also common is the continuing nature of this problem and the apparent inability of cpa firm leaders to correct this.
more practice doctor q&a: 44 critical criteria for accounting staff performance evaluations | why i don’t hire on experience | 5 time management tips for an overworked accountant | staff training starts with doing something | 11 business-getting tips for the young staffer | when staffers don’t listen to you | questions and answers on selling a practice to staff members | measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners | complaining client? no wonder!
the reviewer blames the preparer, but i see training the preparer as part of the reviewer’s job – if not direct classroom teaching, then an active ojt (on the job training) program where errors are called to the preparer’s attention, and the preparer corrects not only this error, but any returns already in the pipeline that they worked on but haven’t been reviewed with similar errors. read more →
question: this is not a question that an accountant asked me, but a fellow traveler on my vacation. he was using a tax preparation service and wasn’t happy and felt he could do just as well by doing his own tax return. i told him there were many benefits to using a tax professional like a cpa or ea that were well worth the extra cost. so my question to myself is “what are they?”
response: people with rental property, unincorporated businesses, investments that generate k-1s, grantor trusts, substantial investments in marketable securities or large retirement accounts and 401(k) balances need to engage a professional firm, and this checklist is directed toward those clients. read more →
readers’ forum: hours worked. firing clients. setting prices.
by ed mendlowitz
when you perform additional services on a tax return that you will be charging for, list it as a separate item along with the fee for that service. this way the client will know that something extra was done and the charge.
12 easy traps to fall into.
by ed mendlowitz
practice management answers
question: it is tax season and i am inundated with work. do you think it is proper to tell regular clients that i will deal with their problems after april 15? read more →
by ed mendlowitz
top 101 practice management answers
question: it is tax season and i am very busy, but many clients need financial planning advice and i want to make it a separate engagement for after tax season. what can i do now to get the work? read more →
fact-checking adds little value. so why are you spending so much time on it?
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
too many otherwise very smart tax preparation operations confuse the two primary types of tax-return quality-control reviews: reviews for content and reviews for issues. each type of review requires a different discipline. one of them costs you money and the other can make you money, lots of it. read more →
accountants scramble as competition surges for bread-and-butter tax work.
join the survey; get the results.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
pricing and fee pressures are surging as the hot-button issues this tax season, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
to be sure, late or unprepared clients remain the single biggest issue, with 48% of more than 500 practitioners surveyed in february citing it, followed by tardy 1099s and k1s at 35%. those metrics are little changed from last february.
but this year, 31% of practitioners are complaining about pricing and fee pressures, which is triple the year-ago 10% figure.
related research
is the tax prep business topping out? the number of filings by tax professionals appears to have slowed or even reversed.
tax season metrics shift for the better: key indicators point to a better 2014 than 2013.
practitioners plot fee-pressure countermeasures: competitors vie for clients on price and promises.
eight data points to check your tax season quality control systems.
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
accounting firms that have high review times usually have high error rates necessitating the higher review time. doesn’t that sound crazy?
why not set up procedures to reduce the error rate? i have been told that error rates range between 5% and 95%. 95%!? that is crazy! there must come a time when you decide to fix this. you can rationalize all the expediency reasons in the world, but this is just bad, stupid and poor business!
start by considering eight key metrics. read more →
when will tax season kick into high gear for professionals? or is this the new normal?
how’s tax season for most professionals?
join the survey; get the answers.
today’s bonus question:
best tips and strategies for working at home. read more →
nine reasons you need them and the one big reason they don’t get used.
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
this is an area i feel very strongly about, and it is a major reason for the success of the better firms and the lack of growth of smaller firms. read more →
top leadership must set the tone for solid review work.
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
tax season is a microcosm of everything done in an accounting practice. one of the primary concerns of a business is having the proper processes and quality control procedures. many firms, however, do not have uniform tax return review procedures, and even when they do, they are not always adhered to. choosing how to properly use the reviewers’ time and interface them with the staff can contribute immensely to a smooth tax season. read more →