Lion EA

Congratulations! To JB and to his lucky, understanding fiance. Our 14th is Wednesday (second marriage for us both). Wishing you both long and loving lives.

I remember all of that. I guess I'm old. My first computer had no hard drive, but I was thrilled that it had two floppy drives so I could copy or use both program and data disks without swapping floppies! And, the monotone monitor. My ex-husband lugged both back from Singapore. No copyright laws, so lots of software on floppies.

It seems like so long ago that I'm foggy on the details, but I had a choice of the IRS e-mailing my clients or e-mailing ME on behalf of my clients when their returns are accepted. I chose ME and am glad I did, because the IRS e-mail seems a bit overwhelming with lots of info like what if you need to amend or have a bank product or.... So, I forward the IRS e-mail to my clients with my own brief note at the beginning telling them their return was accepted by the IRS on DATE as acknowledged in the email forwarded below and that the state(s) accepted on DATE(S) but do not send out a separate acknowledgment. I thank them for continuing to use me and remind them to contact me anytime blah blah. I've actually gotten a few thank yous from clients for following up.

I have been attaching the IRS e-mail to Form 8879 before filing. I take it my tax prep software would fill out and print Form 9325? Not sure if I could manage time before a direct deposit to get a personalized snail mail in their hands. But, I did love it when Block sent thank you notes and grumbled when they wouldn't let us contact clients that way anymore. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts on this. You're giving me lots of things to think about. Want my clients to know that I have their backs.

I wouldn't mind skipping the trip to the bank or being able to take a check over the telephone. Can I do that via one of QB's service? It'd be good to keep my vendors to a minimum, my learning curves, too. Let me know what you choose and how it works.

Thanks, folks. After being with Block who sent nothing after e-filing, I guess my forwarding on the IRS acknowledgment that is basically the Form 9325 should keep clients aware that I checked on their status for them. However, that was only to those for whom I have e-mail addresses. Need to collect more e-mail addresses. And, I did get some thank-yous in response, too, so obviously it was appreciated. I have the kind of clients that expect a little more than just file and forget. Thank you for your thoughts.

New models replace the old ones so fast that it's hard to offer any help other than my repair history. I always read Consumers' Reports before making a big purchase, but by the time they make it to print the models have changed! It's hard to go wrong at the price you were seeing, though. As long as you price out the consumables so you know what you're getting into. Good luck.

So, I was a Blockhead and never used Form 9325. Who uses it? Why? I have been forwarding the IRS e-mail acknowledgment to my clients for which I have e-mail; it seems to have the same information. (I don't have it go directly to them as it seems to be overkill, so I like to add my own short message at the top and mention the states, too.) Do I really need to add paper to mail to what has been an electronic filing? Too many years following Block's rules to grasp this Form.

That's my luck with Brother. Had a decent simple Brother fax. When it died, decided to upgrade and stick with Brother since I knew the controls. Well, went through about three in about a year with various problems. And, a Brother printer that came bundled with a computer or laptop similarly died within months. All had very light home use, not office. Been afraid of Brother ever since.

I'm like Bay. Went out on my own last year. Out in the boonies. Wanted to make it as easy as possible for clients to follow me. Take all major credit cards through QB. Easy for me and well worth the fees to get paid quickly and let clients choose their own payment method. Most think I won't take cards and bring their checkbooks. Some use my two drop-off points in neighboring towns; they can give me CC info over the telephone if they want me to drop off their returns. It's easier than taking checks to the bank. I'm happy with my system. I don't have the RAL crowd, so didn't want to use a bank service to deduct fees from clients' refunds. Letting them charge helps their cash flow and mine.

I have the older HP2550N which has served me well a couple of tax seasons. Its color is beautiful. It's fast, very fast in black only; a short pause before it starts printing, especially .pdf's and/or lots of color graphics, but then swoosh the pages come flying out. Everything I bought by Brother died quickly. I still own all the HP printers and all-in-ones I ever bought. My old HP4L is still printing, too slow for tax returns with a client waiting, but at my husband's computer; replaced the rollers once. He also has a very old color HP inkjet at his computer and an old all-in-one he uses mostly as a scanner but also as a color printer. I have the 2250 and a new all-in-one used mostly as a free-standing fax but also printer for my laptop. Had great luck with HP.

If he received direct payment for weddings or funerals or speaking or...he may have Schedule C income, also.

Do you then have to collect even more sales tax for the exotic dancer?

Isn't TaxWorks the one that HRB bought a year ago? Heard from some Blockheads that did NOT like it for their entity returns. I think Dennis (DTS) on The Tax Book board uses it; but he's shopping for new software now. Don't buy it too soon without getting some feedback from users.

Oh, I liked that a lot, Tom. I copied it into a file to save, 'cause I know I'll need it someday. Thank you for sharing.

Could the rent payment be a catch-up payment of past due rent now that the LLC came into some money?

Nice site, Catherine. That motivated me to add File Share. I'm usually able to use Mozilla FireFox. Once in a while, my site or e-mail or Site Builder or even this board acts funny under Mozilla; then I click the IE switch. The techies at Site Builder use and love Mozilla, so they'll get the kinks worked out someday.

Once had someone bring in his return with a typo on daughter's SS#, long-standing error on mailed returns. We called the IRS, and they changed the SS# on the spot on the ORIGINAL return and told me NOT to submit an amendment. Might be worth a phone call, because that might get the rebate now...

I think so. I bought last minute, as well as buying my tax software last minute, so didn't try out all the features during tax season. I think it's two separate things. One being the Tax Notebook which is an organizer I can upload for a small fee for clients to access and then download for a small fee when they're done. The other is a secure site, but haven't looked into that at all. Learning more about those possibilities is on my to-do list for after I get everyone off extension. The salesman told me to call him when I've tested out the Tax Notebook, and he'll remove the fees. It certainly does encourage clients to use e-mail to contact me.

I tried to send you a link to June's newsletter re its sites, but it's in a members-only section. So, I copied and pasted it into a private message for you. The formatting is crazy, but you can see the types of tips they give us each month and a sample of a web site of a CPA firm.

It started with EVERYTHING from ExecuSite including a generic welcome and services and more; the salesman even had my info on there. They had links like IRS and Where's My Refund and MSNBC and Money Magazine and... Right now, the newsletters down through the Dollars & Sense are mine and things I've borrowed from you guys and groups of which I'm a member like NAEA; and everything below is their June newsletters and ones I've chosen from their archives. I've been adding links of clients and family and local states' taxing authorities to personalize the links page. I wasn't trying to generate new (cold) clients as much as trying to look less "home office" for my current clients and their referrals to me. I did get about four good leads from it, though. My clients like the site. When they ask a question and I'm busy or they don't need the info then (next year's mileage rates, maybe), I can post an article from me or from the archives and send them to my site. I thought they might use the calculators, but that's why they pay me. I've used some of the calculators! My clients have complex returns and trusts and partnerships and other businesses, so I'm not trying to bring in the stranger off the street. They've used the driving directions (I wrote my address the way it works best on MapQuest) and info re my drop off places. And, some have shown their spouses who I am via my web site. I haven't added any content that costs extra. There are other "libraries" available for extra fees. I might add a logo, if I ever get around to designing one. And, now that I have a year on ProSystem fx, I might start using the Tax NoteBook feature to upload and download organizers which costs a tiny bit with each use. I'd had a domain name "under construction" for years before I discovered ExecuSite.

How many super delegates do you have, Joel? Maybe you can sell some to Hillary.

I bought the website with my ProSystem fx at much more than you pay for the website with ATX, but it's still built by ExecuSite. I love it, even at the high price. It was up and running even before I purchased; the salesman had put my specific information on for me to evaluate. As I have time, I update the pages. I can post an article I've written in Word or whatever on my Newsletters page. They change the newsletters for me the first of every month. I can pick and choose which ones I want that month. And, I can add newsletters from their archives. It works best in IE, but the techies are working on it in Mozilla FoxFire. I use FoxFire, and the website is usually fine. Technical support is wonderful. I really only needed them when I was setting up my e-mail and when I had questions while deciding whether to buy. If an old lady like me can use it, any one can. They have a one-page cheat sheet for html, if you want to edit things. I haven't used the on-line tax prep, because my clients aren't going to do it themselves. DollarsSense.com

But, if you're our judge, Joel, who will be our lawyer? Any other lawyers out there to represent us in front of Judge Joel?

Me, too. Keep us posted, KC. Or, vent to us, or whatever you need at the moment.