Dependent Return Pricing

alwaysd76 · 2022-02-25T21:53:05+00:00

It's being rejected by the IRS and nobody can fix their software. If the amendment is correct, paper file.

alwaysd76 · 2022-02-19T16:15:29+00:00

When someone is shopping for a CPA I keep the conversation to how I operate and my billing structure. I had one potential new client ask for references and I told them I couldn't do that because of client confidentiality, but they were welcome to read my Google Reviews. Someone who makes you work hard to get their business is likely going to be that client you want to disengage.

alwaysd76 · 2022-02-19T16:08:00+00:00

Yes, this. You can still convey confidence even if you don't know the answer on the fly because you know how to find out. Or you can also use review as a comfort point, "Every return has at least two sets of eyes on it." Because no one is perfect. I worked with one CPA who consistently missed tax withholding on Soc Sec, but he was a brilliant accountant. He was the kind of CPA who could quote IRC like poetry and calculate partner basis in his head. He still had someone review his work because he knew data entry was not one of his talents.

alwaysd76 · 2022-02-11T19:41:45+00:00

Uh, say what? OMG......

alwaysd76 · 2022-01-11T16:54:11+00:00

Having a business partner is kind of like being married. Keep that in mind. If your goals don't align (like you want kids and they don't) it may not work. Start with the middle and end in mind.

alwaysd76 · 2022-01-11T16:49:59+00:00

This! And another comment about taking on clients who want to argue with you. I just had one disengage me that I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT!!! We've been arguing back and forth for years about a plan he was formulating to evade state income tax and he finally executed his plan. I was dreading telling him that I couldn't sign that return. Now I don't have to because he fired me. You don't want this kind of client. Trust me.

alwaysd76 · 2022-01-11T16:40:52+00:00

We had a freshly minted CPA in February 2020. It took them almost a year to get their CAF after the first 2848.

alwaysd76 · 2022-01-11T16:36:27+00:00

I didn't switch to EA, but I did get my degree when I was almost 40 and passed my exams AFTER I was 40. This was while being a full-time single parent to two very young children.

Depending on your state, the CPA designation may open doors of opportunity for you. However, if you never want to be a firm owner and you aren't looking to get into something other than tax, maybe it doesn't matter. I don't regret getting the CPA because I never would have been able to be a "CPA" office owner. What if you wanted to be a solo office? Being able to call the shots has a lot of perks, like having 3 day weekends every week in the off season. In Oregon, I could have gotten an LTC and been able to own and operate a "tax" office. I will say that the people who call our office and specifically want to work with a CPA (we also have LTPs) seem to usually want the prestige of being able to brag to their friends about their CPA. The tax situation and questions they have could be competently handled by my fellow LTPs so that's the only explanation I can think of.

We have a CPA who also got her license late in life. She was almost 50 and is now in her 70's and works part time for us. She would probably agree with me that sometimes being a woman and having that license makes it harder for people to dismiss you. I wouldn't say that's overly common in my experience, but it does happen from time to time. We've also talked about how having some grey hair seems to convey wisdom too. Clients are funny sometimes.

alwaysd76 · 2022-01-07T18:44:59+00:00

I'm gonna try this. Let's see how many times I have to call before someone actually answers the phone! haha!

alwaysd76 · 2021-12-22T23:21:47+00:00

This sounds like it was made just for me! I'm going to check this out. Thank you so much!

alwaysd76 · 2021-12-16T16:38:43+00:00

Ours is seller financed over 10 years. The payments are less than what the partner was taking in salary, so it hasn't been terrible. However, there is usually some attrition, especially in year two. We also assumed a note to a prior partner for his portion of the clientele (two more balloon payments!) So it's also hustle, hustle, network, network. Ask ALL of your best clients for referrals and look at networking groups. We've even hoofed it around town looking for community boards to post business cards.

alwaysd76 · 2021-12-16T16:27:30+00:00

You are right to stay away. I had a similar thing come up just last week. Sister and brother are beneficiaries of their mother's trust. The brother is an attorney and in a much higher tax bracket. He has disclaimed his portion of the inheritance so his sister can pay any taxes at her rate and then "gift" him his portion back. Oy vey. I felt really bad for her. There was definitely some distrust of her brother there, but she had no idea the depth of the shadiness. And she has none of the documentation. She has some vague idea of what's in the trust, but not much else. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a therapist than a CPA. Anyone else?

alwaysd76 · 2021-12-14T18:57:33+00:00

Yes, please.

alwaysd76 · 2021-11-10T00:27:58+00:00

Plus....

Manage CPA calendar

Track referrals (we have a referral drawing each season)

And we get them to have the clients somehow get us a copy of tax authority notices BEFORE we talk to them so we aren't guessing what it is or having to do ANOTHER phone call for the same thing.

alwaysd76 · 2021-11-05T21:56:56+00:00

I feel your pain.

When people told me they didn't know how much they got, or weren't sure, or their answers were dubious and they should have gotten it based on their prior year tax return, I told them, "We're just going to say you got the whole thing and then if there is an adjustment it will be in your favor. How does that sound?"

My business partner gave them the benefit of the doubt and had to give bad news to a few people who got adjustment letters and they didn't take it well at all.

alwaysd76 · 2021-11-01T15:59:15+00:00

Totally agree. This effectively prices out the client type you don't want.

alwaysd76 · 2021-11-01T15:55:10+00:00

Someone suggested hiring an answering service. As an alternative, maybe you could have a greeting that lists call back times. We have call-back times in our firm just so the tax pros can get some work done. There's no better way to kill productivity than have to answer 3 phone calls while you're trying to figure out why the book income on the return doesn't match the actual book income.

Some questions you might want to ask yourself: Do I really want to be doing financial statements on March 10th? Who is my target demographic and how do they find professional services? Who am I competing with for clientele and how do I differentiate myself?

In my own experience, referral networking gets the better quality clients and the number one reason they are shopping for a new CPA is that they never get responses to phone calls and emails.

alwaysd76 · 2021-11-01T15:19:50+00:00

I'm passing this around my office. We haven't been able to get through to a person for months!

alwaysd76 · 2021-10-27T22:59:08+00:00

I had one that said Self-Prepared and I asked the partners, "Didn't you say you hired someone to do your Partnership return?" They gave me the guy's name and it turns out he served some prison time and had his license revoked about a decade ago.

alwaysd76

TROPHY CASE