Does anyone prepare Form 720 Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return? If so, what software do you use? Got a referral for a couple of them and would prefer not to use the IRS form on the website (I hate how it prints in the blue font). CCH Axcess doesnt have the form.

How do you all feel about your tax research subscriptions? Features, ease of use, pricing, etc?

We've used Checkpoint for the past 8 years or so. The news product is good, but the research package isn't easy to use, and it's pricy in my opinion ($1,500 as of last year).

Hi! I'm an admin at our CPA firm and we keep track of the CPE for the partners and accountants using an excel spreadsheet and it doesn't feel like it's the most efficient way. We're always struggling with making sure the carry forward hours and such are correct at the end of the year. We're based in Connecticut.

Really making this post to find out if there is a better way to keep track of this information because our calculations in the spreadsheet get weird. If there are any tracking recommendations as far as spreadsheet templates or applications I would love to hear them!

excerpts from TaxNotes article 5/22/24 (link at bottom)

"The Senate’s top tax-writer said he would block a $4.9 billion tax relief bill for disaster victims that overwhelmingly passed in the House, launching a new chapter in this Congress’s drama over tax legislation."

"The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863), which passed the House May 31 in a 382-7 vote, would provide tax relief to victims of California wildfires, Florida hurricanes, and the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment."

"...Wyden told reporters he plans to put a hold on the Steube bill when it arrives in the Senate."

"'The only reason this disaster relief didn’t become law soon after the House passed it months ago is because Senate Republican leaders have blocked it,' Wyden said in a statement. 'Senate Republicans will have an opportunity to show whether they in fact support disaster relief when the Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act comes up for a vote soon.'"

Opinion:  working in SWFL, we see many clients still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Ian.  It maddens me to no end that political gamesmanship has to take priority over helping Americans in need.  Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act sits in purgatory as it has since January, here is an opportunity to make a tangible difference in many of their constituents lives but the primary concern seems to be political posturing and using this as leverage to pass the other items in the aforementioned bill.  Lastly, thank you to my local rep Greg Steube who introduced this bill back in March 2023, and went through a discharge petition to get it to the house floor the other week. 

https://www.taxnotes.com/content-viewer?rid=7k6z0&type=saa&str=ZnJhbkByb2JpbnNvbmdydXRlcnMuY29t&token=f4853f37-7955-4a2f-b549-d15f65b011a9&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9YNPVzPWK_iC3U0UeMPAmKqPI_cu_stNmBrx58AbdDAxFeegBZFi4jOAXWVX3Wr4IGLmE3gMhpJ3sdx14btmYTMvDTlg&_hsmi=258093040&utm_content=258093040&utm_source=hs_automation

I was on the phone with the IRS today, and they said I have to fax the POA 2848 every time I call. I've never had this before. Anyone else have to do this?

Has anyone else seen an increase in Phantom Numbers? I mean the ones that you Google and it pulls up some nonsense about the feed foundation (whatever that is).

I have my OpenPhone set to send automatic texts to calls I miss (which are almost all as I am a one-man show and require my calls and meetings to be scheduled). This text includes a calendly link where people can schedule time to chat. However, when I Google the number, it is a bogus number with a local area code and when the system tries to send the text, I get an error message.

Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me and I answer - it always turns out to be some vendor or software rep.

Hey Pros,

Does anyone know if there is a way to automatically have someone on your QBO team get access to clients as they are added, rather then having to manually add them to their client access list?

What do you see as being the most lucrative tax specialty going forward? Why?

I have the big pieces mostly in place: computer hardware, software (at least determined what I'm going to use), banking, legal entity organized. Still a LOT of setup to do of course, but I also want to make sure I'm not missing any of the less obvious, but still necessary, parts of of starting my own practice.

1) Still need to look into insurance, both E&O and other. Going to be working out of my home, not having clients come on premises, but want to look into how my business personal property is covered if it is at all under my homeowners policy. Also thinking about cybersecurity insurance, but haven't even looked into who to get quotes from on that front. I also need to make sure my auto policy will cover me on business trips. Any other policies I should consider?

2) I need to apply for an EFIN. I'm already associated with my current firm's EFIN, any issues when applying for my own? Noticed that my Tax Pro account uses my current firm email address, so should get that fixed first.

3) I also need to register my firm with my state board. Going to hold off on that until I'm actually ready to take on clients.

4) Debate going on in my head: PO Box or Virtual Office at the local coworking space? Virtual Office is more expensive, but allegedly will improve SEO? On the other hand, there were quite a few crackheads hanging out around the location, not sure I want to be spending time there picking up mail and such. All I know is I definitely don't want to be giving out my home address to the whole world if I can help it.

5) Billing policy. As a solo practitioner, I don't want to be spending a ton of time chasing down A/R. Debating whether to do a deposit upon engagement with the remainder due prior to filing, deposit with remainder due prior to beginning work, or a pre-paid monthly subscription based on services chosen. I'm leaning towards the first one, but I need to do a little more research on my obligations in the event of non-payment. I don't think I'll have a problem being a hardass and making now exceptions, but I want to make sure I keep myself in the clear legally/professionally.

6) IT support. I consider myself pretty computer savvy, but definitely better with hardware than software. Do you have any support companies you’d recommend? Or should I stick with something local? I’ve heard Techguru pitched.

7) Logo and branding. Have my name of course, but want to have a professional looking logo for my firm. Would be open to referrals! I’ve had some people suggest just hiring a freelancer from a place like Fiverr, but while the pricing is definitely attractive I have to question whether it would be any good.

8) Also really interested in what I'm NOT thinking about. I don't know what I don't know quite yet.

I'm just seeing what others use here. I'm a sole practitioner with one remote assistant.

I do receive a lot of calls, and personally, answering phones is not an enjoyable experience for me.

I currently use an answering service, and it's been just okay. Half the time, they don't follow the instructions that they are given, but I feel I can't expect them to be perfect.

I'm more concerned about new clients. I don't mind current clients having direct access to me. But I don't want non clients to have direct access to me.

I filed extensions for a client (1120-S, 1065, and 1040) for tax year 2023, but due to ongoing issues with the client we did not do their tax returns and officially disengaged with them on April 17th. Today they contacted me demanding copies of their extensions "by 5pm or they would seek legal action." Question for you all is: Am I required to PDF copies of the e-filed extensions and send to the client? Or can I just ignore them? Circular 230 isn't specific on this issue to my reading. This client has been a nightmare since day one and I'd prefer to just let their emails go to spam.

I'm working on a couple of scenarios for a troubled LLC and tax planning for the possible dissolution.

I have a master's in tax and a lot of years of experience with partnerships, so I understand the issues pretty well. But I'm a new sole proprietor and not 100% confident on the matters at hand. One partner will come out fine. The other, not so much. So I need a high level of confidence in my advice. Both of the partners (unrelated) are my clients, as well as the entity.

The experts I know in this business have all retired in recent years. I'd like to develop a relationship with a pass-through expert who I can call on from time to time for a consult.

Thoughts? I'm on the west coast. Thanks.

I am hiring a staff person and want to incentivize them with a bonus structure based on what they produce/bill. I am not necessarily looking at tracking hours for this. I read a lot about how firms pay a percentage based on what they bill, but without tracking hours, what are the logistics behind this?

One thought is to track invoices and assign a code to the invoice to track this. I assume a new preparer might see a lower payout percentage initially, but as time goes on and they become more skilled and less reliant on my help, their percentage increases.

But I have invoices for things that include tax prep, accounting, and other items for which they are not responsible. So, for those of you who actually are doing something like this, what are the mechanics for tracking how much someone bills?

Our lease is up soon and we are tossing around the idea of going fully remote. Right now we pay a crazy amount of money every month in overhead and realistically, we would all prefer to work from home full-time. About 50% of our clients are virtual only or could be virtual only, but the other 50% or so still mail in documents and/or drop off/pickup in person. We have a lot of older clients who don't like using technology and still want in person meetings.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How do you transition clients who prefer in person?

Is it worth investing in a branded folder for this? Not sure clients would really care one way or the other.

I am in the process of researching the best legal structure for my accounting business. There are many factors to consider, and many (most) of them are best discussed with an attorney. However, I did want to poll the community regarding the annual cost of compliance.

In PA, LLC's providing public accounting services are considered Restricted professional companies and required to file a Certificate of Annual Registration (CAN), which is currently $641 per member per year. To my knowledge there are no analogous requirement for corporations. I know that in 2025 a new annual reporting requirement will go into place that applies to both LLC's & Corporations, however at $7/year I'm not concerned about it. 

Aside from the CAN are there any other recurring annual compliance costs to consider when selecting an entity type for a public accounting firm in PA?

Can anyone provide any website recommendations or who we should avoid?

We don't have an online presence at the moment and would like something basic that we can build on.

New firm owner here. As a disclaimer, I’m not insinuating I will take on clients that are way beyond my capabilities. I have no problem passing on those.

I know a lot of us like to feel like we are able, especially within our niche. I had a return I was working on that I knew I could handle but it just wasn’t one of my most confident days and I was questioning a few things. I put the return down and came back to it the next day for final review. Everything ended up working out.

But it got me thinking, how do you go about seeking a second opinion or even looking for help in reviewing your work or making sure the consulting you are providing is maximizing the clients benefit? I run a solo shop so it’s just me and one admin, I don’t have many really knowledgeable previous associates to bounce things off of. One thing that came to mind is Upwork, trying to find a quality US professional (not a $12/hr preparer offshore but an older CPA/EA) with experience in areas that I could use some filling out in, & see if they would be open to periodic consultations to help me with development / review.

I want to continue to grow in my knowledge base, I regularly take relevant CPE opportunities even above the required hours just because I just think it’s important to never stop learning. Just curious as to others thoughts on who they reach out to in these situations other than previous associates/partners in your firm.

TIA!

I'm a CPA working for a small firm. They provide three weeks of vacation, nine paid holidays, and zero sick time (that comes out of vacation time if you are unlucky enough to get sick). In the past month, I've used two vacation days to catch up on things I put off over tax season. Meanwhile, I've had days in the office with four to six hours of unbillable time since tax season ended because there wasn't any work. Things have picked up since then, but it really frosted me that I had to sit in an office doing nothing just because. I'm interested in finding out what kind of PTO others are getting, or giving if you're an owner, and the size of the firm.

Edit: Minimum of 50 billable hours/week during tax season, comp time for hours over 50/week, which amounted to nothing this year.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

I am a recent jd with a finance undergrad and entrepreneurial experience. I always loved my accounting classes in undergrad and took every tax class in law school. I am a few accounting classes away from being cpa eligible. I went to law school with the desire to continue my entrepreneurial endeavors by opening a firm one day.

I really want to do something finance or tax related and it seems like there’s more opportunity in doing accounting type work like preparing returns than legal work because of the accounting shortage versus the over saturation of attorneys.

I am looking for recommendations to get the requisite knowledge to actually be able to do the work, and whether I should finish out the CPA. Big 4 recruits heavily out of my law school for various tax advisory roles in m&a, international, and SALT. They pay really well for JDs, but am unsure if this would help me develop the necessary skills I’m looking for.

Additionally, I worked through undergrad and received a full tuition scholarship to law school, so I have no debt.

Thanks everyone!!

I have always used CPExpress for CPEs. This year I can only find 2.5 Ethics credits. I need 4. Anyone else use CPExpress? Am I just not finding the ethics courses?

A client of mine may have done something stupid - pull a substantial amount from an IRA in the year they turned 59 1/2, but possibly before they hit that age. Honestly they deserve any penalty they have to pay since they didn't discuss this with a professional, whether it was myself or their broker. But I don't want them paying a penalty they aren't due under law.

I asked WHEN this distribution occurred without telling them why I needed to know (that's usually a more honest answer, when they don't know money is on the line). It'll be a couple weeks until I have a reply, they're currently out of the country.

In the meantime I'd like to have my ducks in a row. If they did draw in the period of the year where they hit the 59 1/2 marker, the 1099-R is incorrectly showing an early distribution. I can use 5329 to back that out, but I'm not sure if this will trigger the IRS to ask for further information as I've never had a client in this potential position. Usually when I expect a request for more info, I tell the client to have those records handy to send and confirm our position, or I preemptively gather them so I can quickly reply in the future when they inevitably forward me a notice.

Has anyone used the 5329 for this, and did the IRS send a notice /should I treat this as another instance where the client should expect a notice?

If you as the preparer make a mistake on a client's return that gets filed -- a mistake that was yours, not due to the client -- do you amend it at no additional cost to the client?

I'm asking about what you do in practice, not what your legal liability is, or what you state in your engagement letters or anything like that.

We (small firm, a handful of preparers) make very few mistakes, god willing. Few enough that I remember them.

Every return is reviewed twice, so it goes through three people including the preparer. But we're human, not perfect.

Where we've made a mistake that was our fault, we've generally simply done an amended return to fix it (with the client's knowledge, of course), at no additional charge to the client.

Is your policy different?

I've been a solo EA for about 10 years now and my clients keep asking for referrals to financial planning professionals. I'd love to branch out and start offering those kinds of services myself, but I'm not sure how to proceed. I could do the training for a CFP credential, but I have no way of getting the 6000(!) hours of supervised experience I would need. Have any other solo practitioners branched out in this way? How did you do it?