Gail in Virginia

I am in business with my mother, who is now 80 years old and wants to slow down (go figure!) So I am going to be looking to hire someone at least part time to take over her workload. And while I may wind up going back to ATX, we are going to try ProSeries. I felt like I needed to decide before we heard anything from the Beta testers, so we could get ahead (HA!) of the learning curve. And I am finally planning to leave the country on vacation! If nothing happens to change my plans, I am going to Jamaica in May with a friend who is from there. For me, taking a vacation out of the country without my husband is pretty daring!

But this is not anything new - at least not in my town. Six or seven years ago, when my son was graduating from seeing a pediatrician to a regular GP, the first thing my doctors receptionist asked my when I asked if they were taking new patients was if he was on Medicare.

I might as well put in a plug for Virginia Tech (VPI). They also have an excellent engineering program, and play in the ACC conference - not great for football but a fantastic conference for basketball. Unfortunately, their mascot is the Hokie bird - basically a turkey.

Okay, I changed my display name to show my state and took if off the signature line. But KC, I am curious -my name is grayed. How did you get yours so dark?

But that sounds like they only place it on inactive status. If someone starts using it, whether or not authorized, they simply re-activiate it. I don't see how that would prevent the fraudulent use of your former EIN.

Even a link to where we could find details would be much appreciated. I don't need it today but I know in the course of events I will need this information.

I have Virginia as part of my signature to posts for that very reason

Marilyn, are you considering a side business selling e-file stickers? I used them as well until the IRS quit providing them. I liked reminding our clients that their return either was e-filed or could have been. I use the 2 pocket folders - one side for stuff to keep and one side for stuff to mail (if anything,) If nothing to mail, I put the privacy policy in that side. No one reads it, but I make sure they get it at least once, and usually two or three times!

Personally, I think that most of the time you can only get as much out of any type of training as you are willing to put in to it. No matter how engaging the speaker is, or how comprehensive and clearly presented the webinar is, if you don't make the effort to learn it is just a matter of "buying" CPE. We have a duty to our profession to be more involved in our own learning than that, regardless of the venue we choose to obtain our required credits.

I just logged onto the ATX board. I have not renewed for 2013, in fact we decided early on to try ProSeries this year. So far, though, I am not blocked from the board. Maybe we have just been overlooked for blocking. Jack's comments about ATX being designed to be a truly server based program have me questioning if we should have stuck it out another year, but we have already loaded the new soft ware, converted the returns and started working with the new program. So we will see what this season is like. But when you tried to log onto the ATX sponsored board, were you logging in as adminstrator? How long has it been since you changed your password - they have that 90 day rule, you know. Good luck.

I have 41 hours so far this year, up a bit from last year's 33 but down from the previous year's 63. So far, I take classes that I feel will benefit my practice and at least one update class, and always wind up having enough credits. Some years have better offerings close by than others.

That is why I buy every year of QuickBooks now. We did not used to, and I still recommend the three-year plan Jack describes for all if my clients.

We don't normally send organizers until January. That way people have started getting their informational statements from their employers and investments to use in completing the organizer. I usually try to send out a newsletter in December, with a pocket calendar enclosed. I have been waiting for the mileage rate to complete that.

I am glad that some people have experienced a rebate of the $9.95 fee, but although I called several times and was told that the fee would stop and would be reversed, it never was and they continued to charge it. So I put a stop to it by cancelling the agreement to take credit cards through them. Apparently, your mileage may vary.

We were using Intuit since we are in the Pro-Advisor program, and the first year was no monthly charge. After that, they began charging 9.95 per month, even in months when we had no activity. We are now using Square.

I won't damage a piece of clothing, or wear it and return it, but if I notice damage that I can repair fairly quickly I have negotiated for a discount. Why should I pay full price for damaged goods?

It doesn't even take much of an accident. Ten years ago, my son fell off our back porch (about 3 feet high) and broke his arm. I added up the bills that the insurance company paid, and it was over $30,000. Glad we had insurance - our part was slightly less than $3,000. - a much easier number to cope with although it seemed like an awful lot at the time. I am sure that it would be even more now.

I also don't like to roll over in advance because it makes it easier for me to see who has and has not been in yet if I wait until the client is due to come in or has come in before I roll over the return.

When dryer sheets used to come in a roll, I cut the roll in half and hung it from a toilet paper holder above the dryer. Very convenient. Now I just rip them in half before I throw them in the dryer and use half at a time. I remember reading somewhere that, particularly for delicate knits, too much dryer sheet could cause spotting to occur in the dryer. I have never noticed half a sheet not being enough - even for towels.

I am not cheap. I am frugal. I save zip lock bags (if they have not contained meat), wash them and re-use them. I write my grocery lists on the back of junk mail envelopes. I use the portion of the page for tax payment coupons that I have cut off as scrap paper. I try not to print unless I really need a hard copy. I used to re-roll my adding machine tape and run it through the calculator the second time to print on the other side, but that becomes a pain if you need to tear off a tape and attach it to something to show your addition. I prefer to think that I am doing my bit for the environment.

We don't do many of them either, but I did have one a few years ago that had to prove the children lived with him. In my experience, which is not extensive as I said, the IRS typically only questions the fathers about where the children live. Highly discriminatory in my opinion. Quite a few fathers wind up being more of a parent than the mother.

Maybe we should try this business model. I could start telling my customers that I now bundle tax preparation with check book balancing, at a low introductory price provided they pay 9 months in advance of using the service. Think that will work?

I like the paragraph you include in your letter, John. Thanks for sharing that. We try not to increase fees every year, but most everything else that I pay for goes up over time so my fees have to as well. A few things, like electronics, have come down but paper has skyrocketed in the last five years. Software is more expensive, especially QuickBooks. Education is expensive, and it seems like I need more of it every year just to stay in the same place. I have a few long term clients whose price has decreased because the complexity of their return has decreased as they got older and simplified things. But I don't think we should apologize for raising fees every year or two. And our best clients will understand that. I also raise fees a lot more and more often for PITA clients just to make me feel better about doing the return. And if it gets to the point where that isn't enough to make me feel better, I suggest they go elsewhere. We are still trying to grow our business but some clients I just don't need. Sometimes we just need to remember that we are professionals, and charge accordingly.

I was still in the pre-school stage so I don't remember this day 50 years ago. I remember when I heard that Bobby Kennedy had been shot.