Tax time hits me upside the head every year…

I don’t know why each year I think Tax season will be more calm or collective. Every year the same things happen – people go into a Frenzy – our phones ring off the hook – all the people that wanted to hire us throughout the year but never did want me to pull miracles off in a 3 month period, when 400 other people are requesting the same thing. Yet every year I think I am somehow more equipped to handle it than the last. Then I wake up mornings like today and groan… “Is Tax season over yet?”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I love taxes, but I love stress free taxes, is there such a thing? Yes!

Here is an example of my perfect client (he really does exist – his name is David):

Every month I perform his bookkeeping

Every year I file his sales tax returns

Every quarter I send him an Estimated Tax Payment Slip and he pays the IRS some money

Every month I send him his financial statements, back up his system and upload it to our secure control panel.

Why is this perfect? Because David does not have to worry about a thing and we get tax time over with painlessly. It is January 13th and we have already closed out his system for the year, made all adjusting entries, created year end financial statements and are happily awaiting for everyone to send us 1099’s and 1098’s to file his tax return in early February.

Many people think – oh but it costs so much to do all that and I don’t have the time. David spends less than 30 minutes a month (advising on any transactions we don’t know) and on average $200 a month with my company for our services.

He does what he does best – write and sell books, cd’s and informational materials on his niche subject – and I do what I do best, worry about his numbers and protect him from any tax issues. It is the best kind of partnership.

However, there is always a dark side…

Here is an example of the typical client that I meet throughout the year:

They contact me around May or June stating that they had a horrid tax season and they want to make sure they don’t have to deal with the same thing come next year, inquire about my prices or services and then say they will get back to me. Despite several attempts to touch base with them again nothing ever comes of it. However, we keep them in our database – because they’ll be back.

Then around October (right when the holidays start to hit like Halloween) that same person calls me back, confirms our pricing and services, ask what we need to get started and/or when we can get started – typically even has us draft up an agreement to proceed. Again, they fall off the map, despite several attempts we either can’t get a hold of them or they are too busy to review the agreement right now and will get back to us soon. However, we keep them in our database – because they’ll be back.

January rolls around and slowly but surely all of the people referenced above start calling. They are now ready to begin and have an entire years’ worth of data that has to be reconstructed. Not a problem, if I did not have 50 other people with the same situation, but I do, so time is precious and crucial and stressful. For the most part I survive and my team does a wonderful job helping me juggle. However, then May 15th arrives and then there is always 1-2 stragglers from the people referenced above – and 1-2 new people… the new people are even more difficult, because typically they have an accounting system and they were getting ready to file their taxes and an accountant said “This system is not right, nothing has been reconciled all year long, your chart of accounts have liabilities and assets interchanged, your services list uses a COGS account in place of an income account, and about two dozen other issues… I can’t file with this system and due to tax season I don’t have time to clean it up either. I suggest we file an extension and handle it after the season”… so they come to me, because somewhere, somehow I have gotten the reputation of being the cleanup batter or miracle worker.

Surprisingly, in 9 years filing taxes, there has only been one that I could not pull off his miracle (and that is because he was several years past due and we had to reconstruct those as well), but at the same time, that miracle is not done without working 23 hour days.

So… my question is, if for the past decade the same thing always happens, why on earth do I think this year will be any different? I must be an optimist… because even right now “This year will be fine, no sweat!”. I will check in with everyone on April 17th and see what I have to say then!

Moral: Get your data over to your accountant ASAP, you may just save them a few dollars by needing to purchase less Zantac and Tylenol.

-Heather Villa, Certified Management Accountant and QuickBooks Certified Master Pro Advisor

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