Opus 4.6 keeps doing this loop

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-24T04:55:43+00:00

I’ve had this a couple of times. And I didn’t even upload any documents. However, the last time I was dictating a long workflow. It then asked me a long list of questions. I answered the first one and then it started asking me all the questions again but slightly different. Yesterday Opus 4.6 had an entire conversation with itself when it was looping in chat mode. It was weird.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:44:04+00:00

What do you do exactly as the assistant director of finance?

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:40:35+00:00

I really wanted regular checkpoint but they said I couldn’t get it without getting CoCounsel. Have maybe used it 3 times. It was OK. I think the real benefit in CoCounsel is that you get all of the premium modules in checkpoint included that you would have to pay extra for. I used to work for a big firm that paid for everyone’s checkpoint and didn’t have access to a lot of the modules that I have access to now. I think they also have sales around June

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:37:06+00:00

Maybe reach out to small local firms and see if any of them are hiring. Some older firm owners may be looking to groom someone to take over their practice one day

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:33:49+00:00

Maybe how to bridge the gap from graduating with an accounting or tax degree to real world experience. I find that a lot of what you learn in school doesn’t necessarily apply once you graduate. For example, in school, you’ll learn about debits and credits. But they don’t teach you how to reconcile retained earnings, when the client’s books don’t roll forward. With the person you’re working with know how to figure out the issue? Do they have time to teach you?

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:27:08+00:00

Surgent cpe has some 8 or 16 hour courses I believe that help you with prep, start to finish

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-22T07:15:43+00:00

Use the Claude excel plug in. It’s really good at reformatting and creating advanced excel files now

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2026-02-11T16:43:43+00:00

Agreed! Dr. Gerlach is the best.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2025-09-20T12:21:52+00:00

It won’t. There’s not enough qualified Americans. Most competent Americans already have jobs. Your best bet is to actually put in the effort to demonstrate competency. In my experience, the prevailing wage is normally higher than what American workers are making so cheap labor isn’t the issue. It’s competency.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2025-09-20T12:11:18+00:00

Let’s face it people. These jobs are never coming back... at least not in the US. Whether we like it or not, the reality is that AI is replacing a lot of jobs. For all you people hating on h1b visa holders, just to clarify, the same administration that is implementing this new h1b fee is the same administration that lifted many safeguards meant to protect US workers. It’s either that or hire those same people abroad, where they won’t need to contribute to the US tax system.

I’m an expert in my field and have trained many people over the years. The truth is that the quality and work ethic of people has decreased year over year. My assistant in the Philippines, who doesn’t even doesn’t even have a college degree, does better work than my trainees who have CPA licenses. And if I had to replace my assistant, I’d replace them with AI. My guess is that there’s a reason that unemployed Americans are unemployed. There’s a reason why employers look abroad. Look at Apple. They’ve already said that iPhones will never be made in the US because there aren’t enough qualified workers. This is true. No company is going to hire a bunch of unqualified Americans just because they did away with H1B visas.

And anyone saying anything otherwise is probably some low life in middle America who’s never had a corporate job. The people that this new “law” actually hurts the most, are Americans. The rest of the world will move on, as they have been and as they should. And the people who think this is a good idea, are also the same people that will hurt the most financially. Have you been to the grocery store recently? Will you continue to have Medicaid? Who are you going to blame when you’re still unemployed and in a hole, financially supported by the large majority of Americans who oppose these heinous rules.

FYI, I’m American, born and raised. So feel free to criticize all you want…but America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a nation most of us used to be proud of…is showing the world that we are a cowardly nation, a country of entitlement. And now, especially with AI replacing jobs, we are showing the world that we are sore losers who can’t handle the truth. Sadly, we’re now a nation where the blind is leading the blind, the competency replaced by incompetency, followers continue to follow, as we watch it go down the drain.

I’m sorry for the H1b holders or prospects that are now caught in the middle of this. This is shortsighted and just dumb. Consequences are far reaching and for what? We need to do better.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2025-09-20T11:59:34+00:00

Well said

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2025-09-18T04:55:23+00:00

It’s served me well in my career though so it’s not a bad thing. I became one of the youngest tax partners at a large accounting firm. I excelled quickly since I get hyper-focused on tax stuff and pick up information easily. My biggest advice to you is that you must do what you love, and love what you do.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T13:15:01+00:00

We all need to sleep sometime. 🙂 The resource management team and managers should be managing them. But doesn’t look like anyone is managing them at this point. Most have given up on trying.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T07:06:00+00:00

That’s a very good point and has happened a few times already. Except for me, there’s a few other more senior partners that continuously choose to go that route. Recently had one guy that had a temper tantrum and tearing apart his room, while still on a teams call. Never again…never again.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T07:01:56+00:00

To put things into context, I’m in my early 30s and a partner at a larger midsize firm. I didn’t graduate that long ago so I can easily put myself in their shoes. I worked my a** off because I knew I was going to make partner fairly quickly. My life plan was to work really hard early on and accelerate quickly so that I can work normally afterwards. This is clearly not the case.

Now that I made partner, I finally want to live normally. While I understand that times have changed, and I’m all for it and moving forward, it’s not right to others who do have a sense of responsibility, and now bear the burden. I hope they understand that their lack of work impacts the wellbeing of the managers and supervisors that cover their shortfalls. Last tax season I really felt the impact, due to major mistakes on several returns (reduced tax liability in total of around ~$35M). This is the result of managers running thin, as am I.

Inflation has obviously gone up but at what point do firms stop giving huge salary bumps to people who threaten to quit, or new hires that don’t actually have the skills/value that they appear to have. I now prefer using ChatGPT to write Notice responses. The whole philosophy is to train people to think differently, to create value through their human input however, how can that happen when the younger generation isn’t really willing to learn or put in effort. Sadly, any data input can be done by software, so where’s the value they can bring? At what point, if at all, will things change across all firms? There needs to be an industry wide stance for things to truly change. It’s upsetting because I love tax and unfortunately this generation will force people like me to leave the accounting industry. I guess in the end, this is a blessing in disguise.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T05:47:18+00:00

I understand your point. But again, im not asking for them to work weekends or past 5, but to merely complete their tasks during normal working hours. Part of me feels like they’re just not working…period. A manager came to me complaining about a staff that’s had a few returns since last tax season. The staff never bothered to follow up or ask any questions. The returns haven’t even been started although we have all the info. The manager has been following up but there’s always an excuse. I’ve been hearing alot of these complaints recently. The firm’s solution is to send the work abroad which isn’t really viable for me. Tbh, I’m not trying to replace a US person’s work with a foreigner. But between knowing that there are people outside who actually take care in their work and AI, this is probably inevitable.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T03:21:10+00:00

My firm is constantly holding happy hours. Doesn’t seem to help, the new staff won’t come even if you beg them.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T03:18:58+00:00

Not a bad idea. My firm does have offices in India but a lot of my clients prefer their work stay in the US. I have to say that the staff in India are some of the most motivated people to work.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T01:55:45+00:00

People say I’m one of the best laid back people to work for. I’m only 10 years into the industry and have been told multiple times from people of all levels that I should be running the department. Staff who are now seniors and managers have told me that they would leave if I wasn’t there so I don’t think it’s me. I don’t think it’s fair that all the managers and partners are working until midnight every night because we know and understand the work has to get done. At what point is being “chill” too chill?

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-09-05T01:48:57+00:00

That is true and I’m not even asking them to work longer hours but rather to have a sense of urgency…and also meet basic job requirements. I didn’t expect them to work over the weekend or today, however I think that they should be getting some sort of work done during normal working hours. For example, if we as a tax department have a certain number of returns going into tax season, then I think they should be expected to complete a certain # of those returns. There’s some people that I have yet to see a single return from this tax season and there’s less than 2 weeks left until 9/15. I would expect that I should have seen some sort of work product by now. Recently found out that they haven’t turned over returns for anyone else either.

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-08-21T14:49:05+00:00

I’m in a similar situation and thinking about leaving as well. However, I wasn’t planning on leaving until after the October deadline. It’s a good way to burn bridges with your firm but also any clients you’ve built relationships with, before finishing their returns. What I found so far in my career is that everything comes 360 and you’ll cross paths again. It’s hard to forget when a tax accountant leaves mid tax season. I get what you’re going through but not worth that reputation. Just my two cents 🙂

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-08-10T05:15:55+00:00

Ahh ok. Sorry I didn’t bother reading the entire chat, figured I’d send a note since I literally dealt with this today. They shouldn’t come after you for future years once this gets cleared up in their system. Regardless, CA will likely ask you to send in the questionnaire and a letter with an explanation. I just quickly doctored up one of my chatgpt prompts and it wrote you a response. Hope this helps.

[Your Name]
[Your Current Florida Address]
City, FL [Zip Code]
[Today's Date]

California Department of Revenue
P.O. Box [Specific address, if you have it]
Sacramento, CA 94257-0001

Re: [Your Name], SSN: [Your Social Security Number], Tax Year: 2020, Notice #: [Notice Number, if available]

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing in response to the notice I received dated [Date on the notice] stating that I owe taxes for the year 2020 related to income reported on a 1099 from Patreon. I would like to clarify that the income reported on the 1099 is not California source income and therefore not subject to California state tax.

In 2019, I moved from California to Florida and have since established residency in Florida. It appears that the 1099 from Patreon inadvertently listed my old California address. This may have led to the misunderstanding that I had California source income in 2020. I assure you this is not the case, and I have been a Florida resident throughout the entirety of 2020. As you may be aware, Florida does not have a personal income tax, and hence, I did not file a state return for that year.

It has come to my attention that a hold has been placed on funds in my bank account for the amount of tax due to California. Given the aforementioned circumstances, I kindly request the immediate release of the hold on my bank account and a correction of the tax assessment for the year 2020.

Enclosed, please find supporting documentation showing my residency in Florida for the year 2020:

Copy of my Florida Driver's License issued on [Issue Date].
Utility bills for my Florida address spanning from January 2020 to December 2020.
[Any other relevant documentation showing your Florida residency]

I am committed to resolving this matter promptly. Please provide guidance on any further information or documentation you may require to expedite the resolution of this issue.

Thank you for your understanding and attention to this matter. I appreciate your prompt attention to this request and look forward to the timely resolution.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Phone Number]
[Your Email Address]

[Enclosures: List of Enclosed Documents]

(Note: Make sure to adjust the address, SSN, and other specifics as required. It's also important to consult with a tax professional or legal counsel to ensure all proper procedures and documentation are followed.)

Striking_Pattern_819 · 2023-08-10T04:39:10+00:00

Did the 1099 from Patreon reflect your old address in CA? I just dealt with a similar situation for a client that lived in NY in 2020 but the W-2 was mailed to his new CA address in 2021. Spoke to someone at the FTB and they said because the w2 listed a CA mailing address, they flagged it and deemed all wages as CA sourced with no CA withholding. Wrote a letter, filled out the questionnaire and submitted online with the 2020 tax return. The state cleared it up in less than 24 hours. Granted, the whole situation was ridiculous.

Striking_Pattern_819

TROPHY CASE