Comments on: Top 5 Tips for Hassle Free Tax Preparation

By: TeXan

TeXan — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:56:44 +0000

As you know most CPA’s mostly use one of the Tax preparation software ie Turbo Tax to do your taxes. CPA’s have no specific training in taxes and their certification s do not test for this. They are accountants (Hence Certified Accountant)
http://www.cscpa.org/Content/Students/College/Requirements.aspx

You may want to consider and EA or Enrolled Agent. They are specifically trained and tested on Tax preparation. They are somewhat hard to find. An EA who also has passed the cpa test is the best of both worlds.

By: Tax Problems

Tax Problems — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:57:33 +0000

All tax professionals are not equal. Only attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents are allowed to represent others before the IRS.

Of these three ask yourself who do you really want to deal with regarding tax returns and other financial matters?

By: Wilson Pon

Wilson Pon — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:13:22 +0000

David, when it comes to the taxes, there’s always no “too early” in my dictionary. Honestly, I’ve already well-prepared for the upcoming 2010 tax payment…

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:19:29 +0000

Since my client list isn’t very extensive, and some are friends and family, I am able to keep pretty close tabs on their situations throughout the year David. It really isn’t very difficult, as all it really takes is a quick phone call at varying points during the year, but most importantly in the 3rd quarter to get a more accurate gauge of where they stand. When I worked at firms, many of the individual clients were also corporate clients, so we had quite a bit of their info throughout the year so that helped quite a bit.

What I plan on doing as my clientele expands is drawing up a form letter that I would send out in addition to periodic phone calls just to touch base and make sure that nothing drastic has occurred such as a large bonus or pay cut, planned stock sales or inheritances. To me, it’s more about developing and maintaining a relationship with clients that extends beyond just the accountant-client standard.

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:26:13 +0000

That, and the fact that they do not require any type of educational background or experience. All that is required is that they complete a 60 hour course where they think that all relevant topics will be covered. That 60 hours is the equivalent of ONE college course in an accounting tract, which by no stretch of the imagination is sufficient to prepare ANY tax return that consists of more than a single W-2.

I speak from personal experience as I have completed a 4 year degree in accounting, as well as having 8 years of experience working in CPA firms. I have even heard of college grads who could not process a fairly early return based on the fact that they had difficulty putting the tax and accounting theory into practice.

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:19:40 +0000

@ Del – Actually, the guest contributor is not anonymous, as his information is given at the end of the post. To address your assessment of chains being open at least one day, that may be true, but if you were going to use a paid professional (and I use that term loosely when referring to many who work at such establishments) wouldn’t you prefer to have access to them whenever you needed? And, not all CPAs/tax preparers are expensive, that is simply a common generalization. I will give an example for all: I did a return for a friend of a friend 2 years ago, and this lady had used H & R Block the year before. The chain charged her $180 for a simple 1040 (meaning that it was just the 1040 itself, no schedules, not even a schedule A). The most I have ever charged someone for a simple 1040 return was $100, and that was with e-filing included in the pricing. It is simply a matter of asking friends, family, co-workers, etc about their preparers and calling around and interviewing a couple to determine who is best for you.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:16:46 +0000

Question for you… Do you actually work with your clients year round, or does your client have to call you up continuously to ask questions? I know my accountant never calls me until I find her, and even then, she sometimes gives me the feeling that she’s in a rush. However, at the rate I pay her ($200 a year for filing taxes), I can understand that she can’t possibly take care of me year round.

How do you do it?

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:14:10 +0000

I am sorry you didn’t get a chance to read the whole post, as the guest poster was identified.

I think Eric’s point is that finding the same tax preparer from those retail chains is very difficult because most are temporary workers working for a month out of the year.

By: Del

Del — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:46:55 +0000

Pretty lame, having an anonymous guest contributor. Not much responsibility there. There are retail tax preparation chains which are open all year, albeit, with reduced hours. They are generally willing to make an appointment for other hours if you make a request, as revenue is pretty scarce for them when not in tax season. I know the 3500 Liberty Tax Service offices guarantee to remain open at least one day a week all year. And most individuals do not need an expensive tax CPA (who are also not perfect by the way.)

By: Wealth Pilgrim

Wealth Pilgrim — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:12:11 +0000

I do all my books on Quickbooks so at the end of the year, it takes me about 30 minutes to put everything together for my CPA.

If someone is using a home-made software package that doesn’t prep them for taxes, it may cost them more in time than they save in dollars by not buying this kind of software.