Discussion:Tax Preparation Contract/Agreement
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Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Tax Preparation Contract/Agreement
| 25 November 2007 | |
| I am a new tax preparer in California trying to get ready for the upcoming season! Where can I find a preparation contract or agreement to sample? I am the only person who will be preparing taxes, and it will be out of my home office. I should have some sort of outline for my services right? I kind of know what I want/need it to say. Is it ok to write my own? Please help :) | |
| 25 November 2007 | |
| What you're looking for is an Engagement Letter for Tax Preparation.
One source that provides sample letters is www.accountantsworld.com Somewhere on screen are practice aids and sample engagement letters for different types of services. | |
| 26 November 2007 | |
| Ok thank you. I have seen their link before but I didn't want to join because I am not an accountant. I'll check it out! | |
| 26 November 2007 | |
| Everything I am finding is about 6 pages long. Also most of the letters I am finding are pertaining to firms and accountants. Is there anything out there that is simplified for the small business tax preparer? | |
Valleytaxoffice (talk|edits) said: | 26 November 2007 |
| I think the best engagement letter is a one page letter. If you do a google search for:
"engagement letter tax preparation" you will find plenty of samples. | |
Donniecastleman (talk|edits) said: | 26 November 2007 |
| If anyone wants to see my 1 page engagement letter please email me at musiciantax@yahoo.com and I'll gladly send it to you, I had a friend that is a lawyer send me his engagement letter and told me to customize it as I saw fit. | |
| November 26, 2007 | |
| There are several other discussions on this topic. Again, I would recommend that if you make significant changes to a standard engagement letter, have it reviewed by an attorney or your insurance carrier. I changed mine to fit a particular case, and I found out the changes brought more questions than they resolved and that the insurance company would have a difficult time fighting on my behalf for one particular part. | |
| 26 November 2007 | |
| I saw one other discussion on this. It was about a current problem client. I haven't seen anything about individual preparers that want a engagement letter in place before they start their business. Can you direct me to some of those other topics? When you say insurance, are you talking about my bond company? I understand that there are going to be problem clients no matter what, but I want to be prepared in the best way I can before I start. Thank you to everyone who has replied! | |
| 26 November 2007 | |
| The best engagement letter to use is the one recommended by your insurance company. They will be the ones attempting to get your fat out of the fire, so reliance on their EL is a smart thing to do. | |
| November 26, 2007 | |
| Professional liability insurance. I generally take an engagement letter template and change all of the words like "we" and "our" to "I" and "my" to convert it to suit my practice, which is also just me.
If you want to see the other discussions on this topic, you can put "engagement letter" in the yellow search box. (There is a way to like discussions to a current thread, but I do not know how to do that.) | |
Johnhuddleston (talk|edits) said: | 27 November 2007 |
| I find it helpful to put my privacy policy in the engagement letter. The law requires us to provide a written privacy policy to all our clients. This is one extra headache I save by including it in the engagement letter.
John Huddleston http://huddlestontax.com | |
| November 27, 2007 | |
| John, please note that privacy policy disclosures are no longer required for CPAs. | |
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