tax season

5 tax season motivation tips

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myriad light bulbshistorical figures had some wisdom that carries forward.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

here are a few of the best lessons i’ve received from the masters.

more on small-firm growth strategies: ready for tax season? not so fast | make your services an investment, not an expense | do you want to do compliance your whole career? | how a spreadsheet can help stop leaks | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | 3 tips for following up with prospects | if you don’t develop your business, who will? | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast

although tried and true, their stories and hardships keep me energized, upbeat and thinking bigger. read more →

problem clients are opportunity clients

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overstuffed and overflowing files3 steps to making their lives easier.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

you know who we’re talking about here. they show up in early april with everything you need to prepare their taxes. but it isn’t on a cd. it’s in a soaking-wet shoebox. or they’ve got everything ready on january 2, except it turns out they aren’t sure whether they made their quarterly irs payment last july. or when you ask for their total payroll tax paid, they say, “payroll tax?”

or their numbers just don’t add up. or they desperately need a refund this year, no matter what. or they say they’ll get back to you but don’t. or they keep asking your for legal advice. or they just don’t have time, what with mom and her broken hip, the kid needing to be picked up from ballet class, the dog that needs to go for a walk at 5:30 or else. or they can’t get their capital gains records from their financial advisor…guy named madoff…he just disappeared!

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tax season management: multi-tasking is a myth

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woman multitasking dollarphotoclub_58357039

here’s how to apply neuroscience insights to tax season.  next question: what are the best time-management tips and strategies for busy season? join the survey. get the answers.

by hitendra patil

it’s october 14th. you are preparing a complex tax return. the cell phone rings. you look at the phone. it’s your wife calling. you answer the call. while on the call, you look at the third screen of your computer. there is an email from your largest client, with subject line “emergency; please help.” in walks your receptionist, frantically gesturing that there is an irritated client at the front desk.

more on the entrepreneurial accountant: 3 apps to automate business networking  | the 5 most common marketing blunders accountants make |  linkedin adds messaging. finally!  |   re-learning the lingo of the accounting business  |  how the “1099 economy” will transform accounting  |  what cpa firms could learn from google’s alphabet  |  summer reading list: five great books for the five lives of a busy accountant  |  four signs the uberization of accounting has already begun  |  management guru chester elton on success  |  savvy cpas focus on the constants  |  more

yes. you may recognize the multiple demands on your time and your brain. but multi-tasking is just a myth. the science is in: no one performs as well multi-tasking as they do when focused on a single task at a time.

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tax professionals find it increasingly difficult to keep up with late-changing tax regs

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the number of practitioners reporting major issues with code & reg changes doubles.

z_tax key issues

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

across the country, a lot of cpas felt downright punished this busy season as they got hit by problems from all sides. nobody reported earthquakes or tsunamis, but it seems a bunch got slammed by something worse than a tectonic pounding.

bam! pow! oof! yes, it was that dynamic duo, that tyrannical twosome, that yoke of you-know-whats: the united states tax code and the internal revenue service.

according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season survey, 12% percent of respondents report a busy season “much worse than last year.” another 24% had a “somewhat worse year.” add them up, and more than a third of the nation’s tax preparers suffered a painful busy season.

and the most commonly cited complaint are difficulties with the tax code, ranging from the requirements of the affordable care act to the new repair regs. read more →

the new normal: a busy season that never ends

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staff woes contribute to major tax season problems

z_tax defining differences

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the 2015 busy season may be one for the records. according to this year’s 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season survey, more than a third of the nation’s tax preparers report a busy season that was much worse or somewhat worse than last year, and it wasn’t just the cold and the snow. read more →

comparing winners and losers in the tax business

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tax code changes emerge as prime cause of ‘worse’ tax seasons for many professionals.

z-tax metrics

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a fresh analysis of the data from the 2015 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season survey turns up several worsening situations in american tax preparation.

among those who report a “much worse” tax season, the worst-and-getting-worse cause of aggravation is the u.s. tax code and changes—especially mid-season changes—to the tax code.

but the worst among all respondents is their clientele, or more specifically, clients who are late or unprepared. a staggering 49% of respondents report client problems, a 7% increase over last year. and the percent is nearly the same for those who report a much worse season—51%—and those who had a “much better” season, 45%.

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if you thought tax season 2015 was bad…

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…the irs says 2016 could be even worse.

irs projects even worse taxpayer service for the 2016 filing season (fy 2015).
irs projects even worse taxpayer service for the 2016 filing season (fy 2015).

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the 2015 filing season was akin to a tale of two cities, according to the irs’s own watchdog.

“for the majority of taxpayers who filed their returns and did not require irs assistance, the filing season was generally successful,” according to the report issued to congress by the national taxpayer advocate’s office headed by nina olson. “for the segment of taxpayers who required help from the irs, the filing season was by far the worst in memory.”

meanwhile, olson urges congress to undertake “fundamental tax reform,” pass a “taxpayer’s bill of rights” law, and boost irs funding.

“everyone is in collective denial about what inadequate funding for the irs means to taxpayers,” olson says. read more →

single-owner firms trail bigger competitors in tax prep

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z_tax tougher year for sllos vs othersanalysis shows smaller firms having the most trouble.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间’ surveys reveal a panoply of gripes from sea to shining sea about tax season: affordable care act. new regulations. computers. clients. even health problems and weather problems can seem worse.

and who are suffering the most? solo practitioners, the ones with the gumption to go it alone, the ones who can’t stop working on tax returns to fix a computer, go to a doctor, shovel some snow, or explain federal forms to a client.

then again, there’s john briggs, president of incite tax, a small but growing firm in sandy, utah, reporting a 2015 season of glee. “referrals keep pouring in. we took on 92 new clients just during the tax season. add that to 81 new clients we added between last busy season and january 2015, and we have a total of 173 new clients. regulatory issues lead to opportunities.”

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soloists lag multi-owner firms in economic confidence

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multi-partner firms show bullish signs. soloists turn bearish on the u.s. economy.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

z-busy solos vs other in otlookcpas aren’t economists, but they do know numbers, and they have their fingers on the pulse of the flow of money in their local areas. they know how their own businesses and their clients’ businesses are doing, and they have at least an inkling of the causes. remembering 2014 and living through the 2015 busy season, they are well placed to prognosticate on financial flows over the next 12 months.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey research detects a certain optimism, but it seems to be a bit more cautious among solo practitioners. read more →

tax preparation fees and services

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screen shot 2015-06-09 at 9.19.17 pmthe national trends and averages

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

while tax professionals taking a well-deserved break this summer, they are also carefully assessing how well – or poorly – they fared in tax season 2015 and they are beginning to lay plans for tax season 2016. chief among their concerns will, no doubt, be a thorough review of their mix of services and fees.

fortunately, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 has compiled authoritative data in an easy-to-use set of charts, graphs and infographics to guide the strategizing for 2016.

in this report, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reveals:

  • the average time it takes an amateur do-it-yourselfer to do a 1040 – useful information in understanding and communicating to clients the true value of a professional.
  • how many tax professionals give away over $100 per client in free consultations – and how competitive the market may be for practitioners.
  • prices by type of form: itemized 1040; state; schedule c’s; 940s; 1065s; 1120ss.
  • prices by region: west, midwest, northeast and south.
  • how many preparers charge to file an extension and how much they charge.
  • trends in 1040 business.
  • practitioners’ age ranges and years in business.
  • the characteristics of the communities in which they operate.

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irs seeks more tools to fight refund fraud

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irs commissioner john koskinen
koskinen

fy 2016 budget provisions would expand authority for regulation, correctable errors.

refund fraud, especially that caused by identity theft, remains “an ongoing battle” for the irs, commissioner john koskinen said in testimony about the 2015 tax season before the house ways and means committee’s subcommittee on oversight.

“for that reason, and in spite of our budget constraints, we have continued to focus as much of our resources as possible on improving our efforts against identity theft,” he said, improving filters used to detect suspicious returns as they come in at a rate of more than 2 million suspicious returns so far, which is over 500,000 more than last year at this time. read more →