Lion EA

Confirmations show on the computer app almost immediately. I receive more faxes than I send, and receive those fast, per the church and a few others who are faxing me. I just sent a fax from eFax to my stand-alone fax machine at 8:18+ pm and received it as the clock changed to 8:20 pm. At that time, it showed up in Sent on the computer app. My computer/eFax is on Optimum and my fax machine is Frontier; my email is Optimum/CCH SiteBuilder and viewed via Outlook. My email confirmation is also 8:20 pm.

I think they were short on programming (were any football games cancelled due to Covid?) because they alternated the parade and dog show all day long!

Me, too. When I changed techies and had my new guy advising on and setting up my new computer a year ago, he got rid of some things (BitDefender is one I remember) but kept CCleaner. This techie was recommended by another tax preparer; he works for tax preparers, accountants, and lawyers primarily, so I've trusted his suggestions re security.

I pay the annual rate. I open eFax, Faxes, Sent Faxes, and see Completed with the date/time/# pages/etc. immediately. I don't send very many faxes and am happy with eFax. I do have it set to email me a copy of Sent faxes for convenience. I will admit, though, that I also have an old fax/all-in-one machine (gift from a client who upgraded) on an AT&T/Frontier line. When we moved to Optimum years ago, we kept one AT&T line for power outages. We could plug an old telephone into the AT&T jack when we lost power and our cable services (phone/internet/TV) from Optimum. That $11/month plain vanilla line kept us in communication during power outages (we live in the boonies). Now, we have a generator so don't lose power, Optimum has gotten more reliable with generators around our area keeping Optimum services up and running, we all have cell phones, and that AT&T/Frontier line is now up to $23/month plus long distance. I'm tempted to drop Frontier, but the fax machine still is handy for documents that are not in my computer. I guess that's one of the decisions I'm making before tax season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't bought or sold clients, but I'm in a few professional groups (and, obviously, professional message boards) and hear percentages more like 30+% of retention for 3 years, or maybe front-loaded at 40% in year 1 and 20% for the next 2/3, or even 20% for 4/5 years. I've also heard smaller percentages plus wages for the seller for 1 or 2 years to work at the new firm, or even rising percentages with wages, such as 20% year 1 30% year 2 40% year 3 to incentivize the seller to help with retention. And, I've heard of down-payments with lower percentages or fewer years. It can be a regional thing, so maybe ask for advice at a NYSSEA zoom meeting/message board or similar local group.

There's a bill out there, but Congresspeople have been campaigning and now it's the holidays! The 3508 and 3508EZ and 3508S all reach the same conclusion for loans of less than $50,000 but you can take fewer steps with the EZ or S. And, the banks have their own portals which ask the questions in their own ways and ask for similar, but not identical, backup documents. If you have the time and want to make some money, you can help clients complete their forgiveness applications. Some banks are not accepting applications for the smaller loans, in hopes that Congress acts. (I just hope Congress acts to make the expenses paid with forgiven loans deductible!) There's no rush; 10 months after the covered period ends to apply.

Yes, but... Does her spouse agree with amending to MFJ? If not, then your client cannot file MFJ. If he does agree, you will need both sets of returns. And, both spouses need to sign the amendments. By the way, if she was married 31 December 2019, then her only legal 2019 filing statuses are MFS and MFJ -- and possibly HOH, if she qualified. Did you file her previous returns as HOH and S? When you sign an amended return, you are attesting to its contents. How long has this woman been your client? Be very careful with a client who filed HOH and amended to S and now wants to amend to MFJ. If she "forgot" to tell you she was married, what else is she not telling you?! Your potential problem is much greater than how many times a client can amend a return. (If this woman came to me, I would interview her but probably NOT accept her as a client. My license is too important to me.)

ProSystem fx will accept up to 11:59 pm EST on 21 November; however, they are recommending 9 pm as safer, especially if sending states, to get the acknowledgements back. I did manage to get my usual straggler e-filed 15 October this year. And, one who'd been postponing can't be reached since 1 November; so if she calls, she won't be e-filed until January.

Our "kids" just put solar in this year, so are using it for their work-at-home laptops as well as everything else. They still lost power during CT's recent tornadoes and strong winds and rain after lots of rainy/cloudy days in a row. Laptop batteries and wood-burning stoves got them through until electricity and sunshine returned. Honestly don't know the details; communication has been texted videos of our grandson!

I think APC is the standard. But we have so many tech-savvy posters that you'll get great advice.

I haven't tried it out yet, but listen to Knox Wimberly on his webinar &/or email them a question. I found them very responsive. Knox does say Taxaroo will work with every software and even talks about importing/exporting, but don't know how that works or even if I heard that right. I like that my clients can text/phone/email/upload/download and video chat with me, without me using a dozen different devices, giving out a dozen contact numbers, looking in a dozen different places to find the answer they sent/document they sent. All in one place. But I can use a dozen different devices to access all their communications, if I choose. Gotta complete some webinars by the end of the month, then I'll set it up. Oh, and you brand it as your own, doesn't say Taxaroo. Knox is a security guru, so I trust Taxaroo with my client communications and data. An extra 5% off for life if purchasing by Wednesday.

I've been using FileShare that's free with my CCH SiteBuilder website. But, I'm going to move most client communications to the newly renovated, under new ownership Taxaroo. I love that it includes video chat as well as everything else. You can try a demo or try a full month for $1 or just listen to their webinar at https://www.taxaroo.com/

I use MileIQ.

Or, the QB ProAdvisor subscription gets every edition as it comes out. You do pay extra for payroll, though. Going into a couple of webinars now, so can't look up what I paid today.

It really surprised me to get hundreds of porn ads, sites, offers, etc., after visiting a Christian clip-art site. Not the ads I was expecting!

Some years back when I was the "producer" of our church newsletter (typed in all the articles the editor gave me to make a pretty booklet out of it each month, because she didn't use a computer) I went to a Christian clip-art site to get some free clip-art for our booklets. I got the clip-art and hundreds of emails. This was back when we in the country had dial-up, so anything was slow to do. It took a LONG time for my mail to load each day with all the extra spam. Hundreds and hundreds a day for days. Mostly porn sites of one type or another. Our computer was in the living room for our children to use for their homework. I never opened, never clicked links, just kept deleting for days and days. It slowed down quickly and eventually stopped. Porn sites?!

Excel: The Best Forums to Ask Questions There are so many possible things to do with Excel that it's easy to get stuck on something. Your first instinct should be to Google your question. But when looking for something really specific, that doesn't always work. In that case you can ask your question to real people on a forum. In this short post I'll share with you my 3 favorite places to ask questions about Excel. https://www.excelfrog.com/forum

These Are The 69 World’s Best Excel Blogs That Will Teach You Everything About Spreadsheets Written by co-founder Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist. If you are looking for practical, in-depth educational blogs about Excel, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the top 69 best blogs to learn everything about Excel. As you already know, there’s no shortage of awesome content about Excel. However, we decided to separate the wheat from the chaff and hand-pick the very best blogs for you. Whether you’re brand new to Excel or an “Excel-geek”, these blogs give you all the tools, tips and tricks to skyrocket your skills in Excel as quickly (and easy) as possible. UPDATE (July 20th, 2020): A few links have been updated (some removed) and a few new blogs have made it to the list. https://spreadsheeto.com/best-excel-blogs/

Hi, MsTabbyKats! Nice to hear from you again. Stop by once in a while to catch us up on your life. Stay well.

I went through a bunch of Brother all-in-ones a few years back. Never again. Only HP for me. My printers have always been HP, but I succumbed to a Brother on price and actually replaced it with another Brother at least twice. Was optimistic it was a single problem in an old model, but I was wrong. HP is the workhorse of printers. Fujitsu if you want a scanner only.

And, payroll reports. I need to read about CT's new myconneCT and set up an account and make it work with QBDT for my tiny payroll. Except for the tax types not yet open under myconneCT that still must be paid via Taxpayer Service Center. And, PPP forgiveness applications. And, laundry. And, my NY/CT-ATP on-demand courses for September and October. And, a few other on-demand courses I haven't completed. And, sleep. And, visit my grandkids before they forget who I am! And,...

If mother is a household employee of your client, then your client files Form W-2. If mother runs her own daycare business, then your client asks for her mother's biz name, TID, and amount received from your client, an annual statement to back up her Form 2441. However, your question is about your client's Flexible Spending Account at her employer, so your client can ask her employer what type of documentation, payment receipts, etc., she needs from her daycare provider/mother to turn into her employer's FSA to get reimbursed, use up her 2020 FSA contributions.

Tuesday 20 October: CCH Software News - October 15, 2020, Extension Filing Deadline Dear CCH Customer: The extended due date for 2019 Individual (1040) and Corporation (1120) returns is Thursday, October 15, 2020. Information for electronically filing returns through the deadline is as follows. Timely Filed To be timely filed, CCH must receive your returns before 11:59 PM CDT on Thursday, October 15, 2020. Note: To avoid processing issues with the taxing authorities, we validate all returns before submission to the taxing authorities. If we stop returns for schema validation errors (Status 490), you must review and resubmit these returns in a timely fashion. Important: Linked state returns are not transmitted until the IRS acknowledgement is returned for the federal return. Because certain states such as Illinois, Oregon, and Wisconsin no longer honor the vendor timestamp as the state transmission time, we further recommend you release your state returns for transmission separately from the federal return, particularly if you cannot get the full return filed by 9:00 PM CDT. This allows the state return to transmit without the return of the federal acknowledgment. The easiest way to submit the state return separately from the federal return is to uncheck the federal return on the export window. Individual Timely Filing of Rejected Returns If the IRS rejects any of your returns, they will be considered timely filed if you resubmit them electronically and obtain approval from the IRS by Tuesday, October 20, 2020. If your returns continue to get rejected after this date, you will have five days to paper file the return to be considered timely filed. Please monitor the e-File Status System using the filter Not Accepted/All to verify that all returns have been transmitted and are accepted prior to 8:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 20, 2020. E-filed Returns Allowed After Tuesday, October 20, 2020 In addition to federal returns, the following state/city returns can be filed using our software year-round (current year plus two years), except for when the IRS shuts down their systems for 6-8 weeks in the middle of November to prepare for the new filing season: Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Michigan-Detroit Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Missouri-Kansas City Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York New York City North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Ohio City Form 37 (RITA) Oklahoma Oregon Oregon-Multnomah, Tri-County, Lane Transit Pennsylvania Philadelphia South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Michigan Cities filed on the Common Form, Ohio Cities not filed on Form 37, and Rhode Island returns will be transmitted through the IRS' annual maintenance shut-down sometime late-November. Additional communication will be sent once that information is provided by the taxing authorities. Corporation Timely Filing of Rejected Returns If the IRS rejects any of your Corporation returns, you have 10 calendar days to resubmit the return and obtain approval from the IRS. Based on information received for Corporation returns, the following states do not conform to the IRS 10-day perfection period for submitting rejected returns: Connecticut and Mississippi rejected returns. These states allow five business days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. New York rejected returns. New York allows seven calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. Utah rejected returns. Utah allows 20 calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. New York City, Pennsylvania Form PA-RCT-101, Virginia, and West Virginia rejected returns. These states have no defined perfection period. Returns must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. S Corporation and Partnership State Returns Based on information received for S Corporation returns that have an October 15 filing deadline, the following states do not conform to the IRS 10-day perfection period for submitting rejected returns: Vermont rejected returns. Vermont allows five calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. Utah rejected returns. Utah allows twenty calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. Virginia rejected returns. The state has no defined perfection period. Returns must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Based on information received for Partnership returns that have an October 15 filing deadline, the following states do not conform to the IRS 10-day perfection period for submitting rejected returns: Vermont rejected returns. Vermont allows five calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. Virginia rejected returns. Virginia has no defined perfection period. Returns must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Paper Returns If the IRS rejects any of your returns, the return does not fall into an e-file mandate, and you choose to file a paper return, the deadline is as follows. The paper return must be postmarked by the latter of the following: The due date of the return (including extensions) or 10 calendar days after the date the IRS last gave notification that the return was rejected Sincerely, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, North America

I've heard some tax preparers guessing that the e-file shutdown date will be about 21 November, because that's the last day for online non-filers' filing for an EIP.