busy season

shutdown: what to tell tax clients during “the lapse”

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how's busy season so far? join the survey. get the results.
join the survey. get the results.

government shutdown scrambles busy season.

next question: how’s it affecting accountants and clients?
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by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the internal revenue service is struggling to continue operations as the nation heads into tax season during the “appropriations lapse,” a.k.a the government shutdown.

some 16,000 irs employees are exempt from the shutdown, and another 30,000 are being called in to work without pay—a total of 57.4 percent of the 80,265 employed before the shutdown.

nevertheless, with four desks out of ten empty, the irs is holding back on most services that require human involvement.

tax practitioners would do well to advise their clients of the following:

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busy season 2018: how good can it get?

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more work, more clients, more fees, more profits. so who’s complaining?

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

despite beginning in chaos and uncertainty with the biggest tax-law change in three decades, busy season 2018 may go down as a banner year in the books for the tax profession – one of the best ever, according to the annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.

scroggs

kathy j. scroggs, of scroggs & associates in montecito, calif., says, “my team is working like a well-tuned grand piano.”

almost half of all cpas report a busy season better than last year, with more work and higher profits. additionally, two-thirds cite gains in revenue and in the number of clients.

one tax practitioner, reporting a “much better year,” is riding a wave of shifting clientele. “i’m having more people coming in to prepare and use e-file, more than last year,” he tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, “especially new business owners opening llcs.”

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new tax law roils busy season 2018

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how savvy cpas turn confusion into new billings.

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by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the tax cut and jobs act won’t officially take effect until next year, but professionals are already reporting that it’s causing problems and depressing their forecasts for this year’s busy season results.

more on busy season: tax pros gain slight ground in e-filings   |  tax pros turning in only 39% of e-filings  |  beware the ez way out  |  irs #fails at online services spell problems for professionals  |  can the irs improve its phone service?  |  when clients face ‘unreal’ irs audits  |  irs warns about private debt collectors for tax season 2018

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early soundings from the annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer show that 33 percent of practitioners are forecasting more trouble this year than last year – and they blame it on the new tax law.

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is your tax workflow digital yet?

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pixelated blue text "workflow" on binary code backgroundmake sure it’s not just your admins using the tools.

by roman h. kepczyk

the most important aspect of transitioning the firm’s tax process to a digital environment is managing electronic files that are no longer physically viewable in assorted stacks around the office.

more on tech spending: be strict about document retention | document management requires firm standards | why unified messaging matters | get in front of application updates | why you need offsite backup
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survey results: who’s afraid of busy season 2017?

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卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research projects shake-out of weaker firms.

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by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the difference between the potential winners and losers this busy season could hardly be more stark, according to a 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis of the annual busy season outlook tracking survey.

while some 56 percent of accountants so far say they’re looking at a “better” or “much better” busy season this year than last year, a distinct minority of about 16 percent is bracing for problems, trouble and setbacks.

more on busy season:  bullish on busy season 2017  |  46 avoidable tax-filing errors – if clients only knew  |  tax prep gets off to strong start  |  sample fee schedule for 1040s  |  tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar  |  survey results: busy season 2017 gets off to strong start   |   2017 fee survey: price for non-itemized 1040s advances 6% to $176   |   the annual tax meeting is dead. clients killed it.   |   reader sound-off: mandatory saturdays stir controversy    |   tax season opportunity kit free instant download   |   world envies low u.s. tax rates on luxury real estate transfers   |   the new small-business loophole you can drive a truck through

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the annual survey tracks the attitudes, behaviors and benchmarks of tax and accounting professionals throughout the season, providing real-time metrics and trends by which practitioners can chart and steer their business plans. the survey remains open throughout the season, as an invitation to professionals to participate regularly. as a reward for joining the survey, participants are provided the first look at new topline findings. join the survey; get the results.

in examining some of their other responses, the reasons emerge with clarity. for instance, those expecting a “worse” year, are three times more likely than those expecting  “better” season to cite the “general economic situation” as a chief concern, twice more likely to blame “competition from others,” a third more likely to report “technology or software problems, and a quarter more likely to be having problems with “new accounting and auditing” and staffing” issues. those issues cut to the heart of fundamental and basic operations. read more →

survey results: bullish on busy season 2017

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busy season bulls outnumber bears three to one. via 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

profession plows ahead with high hopes.

how’s your busy season so far?
join the survey; get the results.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

if expectations pan out, busy season 2017 might be a banner year, according to the first soundings from the 18th annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer. there’s optimism in the air.

a full fifth of respondents tell us they foresee a busy season “much better” than last year’s. and more than a third—36 percent—believe their season will be at least “somewhat better.” together these optimists make up 56 percent of respondents, more than three times the number who are dreading a tougher slog than last year.

more busy season: tax prep gets off to strong start  |  sample fee schedule for 1040s  |   tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar  |   survey results: busy season 2017 gets off to strong start   |   2017 fee survey: price for non-itemized 1040s advances 6% to $176   |   the annual tax meeting is dead. clients killed it.   |   reader sound-off: mandatory saturdays stir controversy    |   tax season opportunity kit free instant download   |   world envies low u.s. tax rates on luxury real estate transfers   |   the new small-business loophole you can drive a truck through

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

granted, that number isn’t as high as 2016’s, when 61% reported improvements over 2015, but 2015 was the infamous annus horribilis, the year of tax prep hell. it wasn’t hard to imagine the next year being better. so 2016 wasn’t so bad, making it surprising that so many see 2017 turning out even better. three upbeat respondents typify the three main causes of optimism.

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survey results: busy season 2017 gets off to strong start

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i.d. theft and security issues emerge as top concern.

how’s busy season so far?
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by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

tax and accounting professionals are kicking off busy season 2017 with the highest confidence levels in years, but their optimism seems guarded and unsure, according to the latest results from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.

see the charts below for additional detail. and stay tuned as the busy season unfolds. join the survey to get the latest updates.

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

so far, the survey shows that more than 58% of tax and accounting professionals expect a better season this year than in 2016, which, by comparison, was 61% cheerier than 2015.

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reader sound-off: mandatory saturdays stir controversy

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commenting on “mandatory saturdays,” clockwise from top left: stitely, boress, michel, evarts

is it work-life balance, or firm-employee balance?

sound-off: does your firm mandate saturdays?
join the conversation here.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

tax season has yet to start and already tempers are flaring in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 comments section as practitioners debate requiring staffers to work on saturdays during busy season.

more on staffing: making flex time work in the real world | guidelines for flexible work policies | do flexible hours help or hurt us? | survey: 97% of leading firms now offer flexible work arrangements | the 12 reasons your staff hates your firm | staffing: what cpa firms are learning the hard way

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in “how to make mandatory saturdays a thing of the past,” 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor jennifer wilson says the “cool firms” are eliminating the age-old practice nd replacing it with flex-time, work-at-home, and results-oriented strategies. still, she says, “i literally hear a gasp of surprise because it challenges one of the most fundamental elements of public accounting – tracking, measuring and valuing time.”

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10 quick and easy tips for a better busy season

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man working on a caryou may want to keep some of these going year round.
another busy season is upon us. are you feeling excited, anxious or dread?

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

it’s probably a mix, but hopefully there’s more excitement than any other emotion since you will be helping so many more people during busy season than any other time of the year. here are 10 easy-to-implement ideas to help your busy time go smoother than ever.

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