JohnH

I import from QB into ATX for one reason - ATX offers the Uni-Form layout for W-2 and 1099, whereas QB doesn't have that capability. Does Peachtree offer the Uni-Form? If not, then you might find it worthwhile to import into ATX, especially with clients who have lots of employees.

I assume that the advice to roll over clients from 2007 to 2008 only when needed (just prior to beginning work on them) is still valid. I learned that bit of information from the ATX Forum a couple of years back and have followed it each year. Am I correct in thinking that it's still a best practice?

Lion, that's a great strategy.

Haven't we all had one or two of these from time-to-time? Same mindset, different numbers, slightly changed circumstances, but still the entitlement attitude. I was on the verge of accusing Lion of stealing a client from me, but I don't recall the one I'm thinking of having moved to CT. But if it is her, I'd like for Lion to remind her to send me the last $100 she never paid me.

I can understand why she can't live on $10,000 per month. If I didn't have to work and could spend each and every day trying to figure out how to amuse myself, I'd probably need more than $10,000 per month to accomplish that task. As it is, most of us must get up & go to a job every day, which generally keeps us from having to deal with that kind of problem. I agree that it's unfair for her to pay taxes on that money, and the lawyer should give her a break on the $450/hr. Maybe if you'll keep helping her for free, at least her average hourly rate for getting things the way she wants them will go down; after all, this really is all about making her life more comfortable. She has my sympathy...

Yes, there will be lots of clients who think they have some sort of tax deduction for the huge losses in their IRA or 401(k). And they won't understand when we point out that they never paid tax on the gains when they saw it going up (or the initial investment for that matter). People understand losses when it comes to taxes, but they somehow can't apply that logic to gains. I'm also dreading the situation where the client has seen the value of their mutual funds decrease while at the same time having huge capital gain distributions showing on the 1099-Div. I'm sure that numerous mutual fund managers found themselves in the position of selling stocks they'd rather hold when they were overwhelmed with redemption requests during the panic days in the 4th quarter, so the end result of all that forced selling wil now be showing up as a result of unwanted capital gain recognitions. I remember the last time this happened several years ago and I had some clients calling back several times asking me to "explain one more time" how this was correct. Finally, there will be the situations where one spouse has been managing the investments and is now trying to explain to the non-involved spouse why they lost so much money so they're fighting over who's responsible. I expect to have to be the bad guy who finally tells the non-involved spouse that they can't hold the other person entirely responsible for the losses, since they also made the biggest investment decision by choosing to put the responsibility entirely in the other spouse's hands either by decision or by default.

Yes, more people may try and prepare their own returns, but think of all that business we'll get 3-4 years down the road handling their audits and/or straightening out the messes some of them made. Of course, we all have to eat between now and that point, so I'm notifying my clients that I'm raising my rates again this year. It may be risky in the current environment, but I'm not sure it's wise to let the financial panic inhibit good business practices. What's the opinion of the rest of you regarding fees?

I agree with all the responses. If your profit is approaching zero, your time can be better spent trying to generate more income rather than tweaking deductions.

It's a full work day for me, but I'm enjoying it because Dec 31 is the last day of the year I actually get to keep what I've earned for the year, as is the case with every taxpaying American. Beginning Jan 1, we all again become slaves to the US government since 100% of what we earn each and every day goes to pay our tax burden for the year, at least until late April or early May. In 2008, Tax Freedom Day was around April 23 (a day or two later or earlier, depending upon your state tax situation), so it wasn't until the next day that we began working for our own benefit. I hate to contemplate when Tax Freedom Day will fall in the upcoming years - hopefully it won't extend past June 30. So let's celebrate the last day we can enjoy actually receiving the fruits of our labor a while. Tomorrow we begin feeding the beast as it confiscates what we earn and redistributes it to others it considers more worthy recipients of our property. Or, to use a more recent phrase, it goes about what many regard as its task of "spreading it around a little."

Ah-h-h the wonderful days of working up the return in pencil, then transferring to the final form in ink. But it was a difficult transition - at first I had trouble giving up my chisel, stone tablets, & abacus. Old habits die hard.

Slappy Tax: Thanks for the clarification. For a moment there, you almost had me thinking about signing up for EFTPS. I'm glad that urge has passed.

I'm trying to figure out how using EFTPS would have any effect on this situation. Regardless of whether the payment is submitted electronically or via paper, if there's an estimated tax penalty then it's going to apply either way. The only difference might be a day or two for the posting date for the payment.

I got the same error message yesterday (Dec 25), but was able to sign on to it this morning.

Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate other traditions at this time of year. Thanks to all for the good advice, humor, banter, and general goodwill offered regularly on this forum.

Glad we got that out of the way before tax season rolls around. As I said before, looks like the consensus approach is working as anticipated. Thanks KC

KC: Your "benevolent dictator" reference brings to mind something a former employer used to say to me, although in a different context. He was the sole owner of a small manufacturing company and I was working as his controller. We had just hashed out the details on a project on which we disagreed. He thanked me for my input and then said "When we're thinking about something we're a democracy, but when it's time to make a decision we're a dictatorship." I have lots of fond memories of things I learned working for him.

Appears to me that the forum is working exactly how it's supposed to operate - a consensus is forming.

---> BTW - If this post gets deleted again I would love to know why. My total posts counter shows 2 but only 1 is visible? Please indicate where the censorship rules can be obtained! <--- Roger: Maybe this will help if you see it before the thread is deleted. This forum is owned & supported by its members. Our moderators make decisions on which posts are deleted based on their own judgement and the consensus over time of the other members & supporters who are paying for it. Some of the reasons may seem arbitrary or even biased, but that's simply how it works sometimes. There isn't a set of rules as such, so don't bother looking for any. When posting you should understand that your post may be deleted, with or without any explanation. As a guest, you are not necessarily entitled to an explanation - that's just the risk you accept when you take the time to post. Stated another way, we follow the Golden Rule - those who provide the gold get to make the rules.

I especailly like the spell checker - it never misses anything.

Wow, what a relief! When I saw the title of your thread, I was afraid one of my clients had joined this forum...

One story I read said that he kept the company's financial details a closely-guarded secret and never revealed any information to outside parties. I don't know if the story is accurate, but if it's true, what did everyone expect in an industry in which audited financial statements are a normal part of doing business?

Procrastinator's motto: "Never put off until tomorrow what you can get away with putting off until the day after tomorrow". (I have some other ones - will post them later)

I'm not sure what I'm doing right or wrong, but here's the link I'm using to get started: https://support.atxinc.com/User/Login.aspx?...%2fDefault.aspx I just now logged in again just to be sure I could get in from another computer. For what it's worth, I use several different computers and I don't let any of them remember any of my login info - I just enter it each time I log in. (I think I remember someone advising me to do it that way because of cache & cookies stuff that I don't understand)

Their forum seems to be working now (just in case that matters to anyone)

Oh the excitement. Just think, if it turns out his company isn't an S-corp and you can't qualify him under an exception, you get to explain the concept of "constructive dividend" to him.