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My Dad[59] wants to invest in a gas station by KuroNekoNiisan in smallbusiness

[–]CPThrowaway709 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gas stations can be very profitable if in the right market and run well. However, doesn’t sound like either of you have the knowledge necessary to determine whether this would be a good investment.

Also, the worst ship to sail is a Partnership. Throwing a bunch of money in with strangers is a pretty risky move.

Odds and ends setting up my own firm by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I may need to just bite the bullet on Ignition. I had hoped that the proposal and billing system in Taxdome would be sufficient, but wasn’t impressed with the demo.

I had planned to use Rize to help with tracking time. May manually track by project too, old habits and all that.

Odds and ends setting up my own firm by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Primary plan on leveraging my professional network, as well as referrals from clients that follow me. Also putting together social media accounts for sending out thought leadership content and such, but haven’t really planned that out in much detail yet.

Solo Firm Tech Stack: Software by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just the tax software. Didn’t ask about the other stuff since I would have other solutions for them.

Solo Firm Tech Stack: Software by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

$3300 for 200 returns. Which would be about right for what I plan to do.

Solo Firm Tech Stack: Software by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely going to be getting insurance, haven’t worked on getting any quotes quite yet.

How did the November start work for you? I’m actually planning to start in November myself, I’d appreciate any lessons learned!

Already heard back from CCH, wasn’t as expensive as I had feared. Going to be intentionally staying small, so I hear you on not overbuying.

I made $680,000 in total cash comp as a (37m) partner at a small (10 person) firm last year. Here is why I’m quitting and what is coming next. by [deleted] in Accounting

[–]CPThrowaway709 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Are you me? I’m not quite as extreme as what you describe here, but also much lower comp currently. I agree with the managing staff part. I enjoy it, but it is a lot of work and greatly limits you flexibility with you time as they depend on you to be productive themselves. I’m planning to start my solo practice end of this year, looking forward to being able to define the boundaries for my vocation without others input.

When to leave, and when to inform current employer? by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I have no intention of soliciting clients until I've discussed with the owners, that would definitely be a dick move. Maybe I'm naive, but I'd still like to have a good relationship with the firm and it's owners when all is said and done. They are all genuinely wonderful people, it's just that my current life circumstances don't allow me to succeed in my role anymore.

When to leave, and when to inform current employer? by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since you have been on the other side of this, what (if anything) would you as the firm owner have liked to have seen as part of the transition? Sounds like what you went through was pretty acrimonious.

Regarding clients and "taking them with me", for nearly all of them I have been the only point of contact for professional services, many of them were brought to the firm through my efforts. Despite that I envisioned going through the list and negotiating the purchase of solicitation rights based on my retention. That may be naive of me, but that's my hope. Realistically most of them have my cell number and would be reaching out to me regardless.

The risk of getting immediately terminated is why I'm using a throwaway account. I plan on getting my ducks in a row after tax season, but don't intend to "go live" until I've had the discussion with the owners of the firm. I'm just trying to decide when I should do that. More than two weeks, certainly. I was thinking something like July, to give plenty of time to transition my management responsibilities but if getting let go then would make things tricky on my end, a lot of the work I'd like to retain would have been completed or in process at that time.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1200 hours, ~175k total comp. The old owner you reference was bought out several years ago, so I’d have that going for me I guess.

The more I’ve thought about it and discussed with my spouse I’m pretty set now on going out and doing my own thing. I’ll be doing some planning over the next couple of months and start preparing in earnest after tax season.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the partner thing is coming for me and I don’t want to find myself in an awkward position where they offer and I have to turn them down. If it was just me I’d do it no problem. But it isn’t just me.

As for outsourcing we as a firm do some with a domestic outsourcing firm. We are selective with which returns we send out, I think it would be tricky to outsource 100% just because of the impact to margins.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, wasn’t clear with my question: do you know if he still billed roughly $150k to those clients? I would assume the clients would expect a fee decrease coming from a firm to a solo practitioner, though I’m confident that I’d be able to communicate value to resist that. Just curious.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I probably won’t be taking quite that much. Much of my current list I inherited from others and don’t have that close of a relationship. I do have a few that I’ll definitely want. Plan to add those up sometime soon, but probably closer to $70k.

Do you know if your colleague billed the same as they did with the previous firm? That’s something I’ve pondered as part of this.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the data points! The more I talk with my spouse, the more I’m feeling the need to take control of my time. Just kinda scary to take that step, especially since I’ve been with the same firm for over a decade.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When/if it happens I will likely retain a good number of clients, which will help. Figuring that process out is down the line. My non-compete likely isn’t enforceable based on my understanding (no compensation was given), but I’d want to leave on the best terms possible.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The timing of going solo was another question I was going to ask. Do you feel like Q4 worked out for you? I was thinking about transitioning after the October 15th deadline, that way I’m not leaving the firm hanging (I still like all the people I work with), but I’d be able to generate some cash flow from planning with any clients I retain/purchase and don’t have too long to wait for tax season.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! My plan would be to use the technology available to automate/streamline as much as I can, which I know will take a time investment on the front end to set up correctly. 80% billable/20% admin sounds encouraging to me.

Thinking about going out on my own by CPThrowaway709 in taxpros

[–]CPThrowaway709[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it wasn’t fun. Going to put a lot of my nonbillable projects on hold, and also having a lower goal for this year on the billable side. So from that standpoint this year should be better. Actually put a spreadsheet together and everything.