some individuals choosing e-filing but paper return checks.
the irs has received nearly 82.3 million individual tax returns as of march 20, down 0.6 percent from 2014. it has processed more than 80.4 million of them, down 0.9 percent from last year and a rate of over 97.7 percent complete for this year. read more →
next question: what’s the best way to fix the tax system? register your comments here.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the u.s. tax system has become so complex and dysfunctional that even professional tax practitioners are bitterly frustrated and angry – outrage that’s been boiling over in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
this year accountants are talking about staff problems, client problems, overload problems and affordable care act problems. but the anger with new forms and regulations isn’t stopping there.
“all reason has gone out the door,” says a cpa in montrose, colo. “i have been preparing tax returns for over 35 years. there has never been a tax season like this one – and there will never be another one like it.”
never too early to start planning for next year.
by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide
marketing takes many forms. further, many accountants are not trained in marketing. i also know that while most cpas want more business, they are too busy with what they have to be actively seeking new business. additionally, marketing can be external, internal or retentive.
more on tax season: when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t | 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season
external is where new clients are solicited. that takes effort, ingenuity, time and maybe even some money.
internal is where you sell additional services to existing clients. it takes little effort or time and no money – but some ingenuity. read more →
top nine client management solutions.
next question: lessons learned.
join the survey; get the results
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 annual busy season barometer is uncovering some frank and candid talk about clients. yes, we love them. couldn’t live without them. most of the time. but, well, not always.
it’s not that they’re bad people. but let’s face it, they aren’t always sweating tax prep much in advance of april 1, they have no idea what new regulations are in effect this year and their advisories from their cpa are filed under “migraines that can wait.” plus, they truly believe their cpa is exclusively dedicated to their company and doesn’t really have much else to do but wait around for their phone call.
“no matter how proactive you try to be at scheduling and planning ahead, clients still delay providing information for their taxes,” bryan lantz says. “seems the irs, congress and the media are out to make our jobs even more compressed and stressful.” his solution: “keep communicating with clients to ensure that we can do the best we can at equalizing workflow during busy season.”
from their remarks, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 draws at least nine lessons in smart client management.:
not enough trained staff, not enough seasonal staff, not enough staff.
next question: the smartest moves this busy season? join the survey; get the results.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 annual busy season barometer is eliciting a panoply of lessons learned and plans for a smoother season next year. a lot of professionals’ comments this year are nothing short of outright complaint. and not without reason. it’s been a rough year. if the snow didn’t get you, forms 3115, 8962, 8965 or 1095a did. plus all things irs got more complicated, clients got more desperate and, apparently, tensions rose as cpas and staff stretched themselves to the limits of professional endurance.
one of the main lessons learned is the need for enough staff — enough staff hired early enough and trained well enough. nancy casburn at casburn cpa in lee’s summit, mo., sums up the importance of the softest of software: “staffing is the most important reason for failing or succeeding at tax season.”
if we can draw any conclusion from all the staff-related lessons reported in this year’s busy season barometer, it is that the profession needs more staff, better trained staff and an availability of seasonal staff. given the increasing complexity of tax returns, the solution of this problem — more training, more accounting majors — needs to arrive quickly and be broadly based.