Discussion:What to doooooooooooo! Where is my client??????

In late March, 2007 filed an extension. Since June trying to get the missing information to finalize the 2006 return. Left several phone messages directly and through another client of mine. Mailed a letter too. Now only six days are left, and do not know what to do. My question(s):

1) how to get this client in to finalize the return? 2) what my obligations/liability not filing the return?

It could be that he has filed his return using TurboTax or going to some other tax preparer. I cannot tell until I talk to this person.

Thanks

IshaqInagpurwala 15:28, 9 October 2007 (CDT)

Six years ago I wrote this paen, The Procrastinator's Ball, to the last minute filer: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/264537

It's definetly the same ones every year that are late. For the no shows, I call twice, maybe 3 times, then take them off my due date list. This close to the deadline I also like the option of having clients pay with credit card prior to me starting their work. I use Paypal to email the fee. If they can't figure it out, then I ask them to drive a check over with their material. Good luck to all this last weekend!!!

This joker is like age 45, single, lives in parents' home, has the same level of income for the last 15-20 years from part time self employment, part-time real job. AGI has never exceeded $ 25,000. Never in all these years has he referred someone else to me. A real low end fee return-real marginal. The last 3 years he's been on extension (including this year). This year he calls me up like 4/1 to prepare extensions, gives me his W-2 amounts, net self employment amount, I mail them out with no balance dues. Calls me up again at end of July wanting to know what extension date is (expecting it's 8/15) - and tells me he won't wait until the last minute. Don't hear from this guy until TODAY-he left a message on my answering machine - and haven't called him back. Yes- I have the time to get him done as virtually all my other work is done by now - he's the only extension left, my quarterly payroll taxes are done, my business clients are all taken care of. I really don't want this guy any more, as each year I foam from the mouth as to who's going to sit and listen to his petty minded, small thinking - me or my wife (who's my office assistant). My most notable stories from this guy are: One year I erroneously incorrectly addressed the mailing envelope (before I started e-filing) as the address for his state changed - he was worried that his return would get rejected. One year he questioned his SE Health Insurance premium deduction, as it wasn't 100% of what he paid. The health insurance was more than his SE net income. Another year he asked for a copy of a tax return because he was looking into buying a low-income condo. P.S.-It never happened.

How do you get rid this guy? I really would like to charge him a "late fee" of $ 50 for coming in so late. How do I explain it to him?

An oldie but still funny.

Since the cost of 'Pro'series went up, I'll have a added 'pro' charge, it could be a 'Pro'fessional charge, a 'Pro' software charge, or my favorite a 'Pro'crastinator charge,,,

We all should have a copy of it to play when these clients show up.

Sam, can I call you Sam? Let me tell you about John, this former Social Worker for a big city, who has one rental condo, and while he files early, I will gladly trade you for your man since then I would hear new stories. Even with a Sch A, B and E, plus city business taxes I would have him out the door in 30 minutes but then add ten minutes comes when he asks for a pencil so he can do his checkbook while he writes the checks.....he cannot do it in pen lest he make a mistake. What tax consultant do you know who uses a pencil anymore? I find one and then must do his math, or check it as he writes these tiny checks. Anytime I raise his fee, he has what appears to be a heart attack, then moans and his breathing becomes strained. Drop him? Read below.

The reason I think you will be willing to trade is that three years ago he left his job because he told me he would DIE within five years; this is what the doctors have told him, yet he seems to go on and on, looking none the worse for wear. He is now 58 and I keep hoping that this will be the year, but I know come December, he will be the first to call for a date.

So you could take him for a couple of years until he shuffles off and that way I will not have to attend his funeral, though I suspect I will be the only person there. I suppose I am hoping he will put me in his Will; I recall thinking that of Mrs. Z, a 90 something woman alone in the world, but she left all to a distant cousin though I would talk with her once a month or so.

This Mr. Tax Straggler calls this morning to set an appointment. Mind you - it's Wednesday 10/10. Calls to tell me he "HOPES" he has his stuff ready. Since I don't want to make it convenient for him - I skip today and offer late Thursday afternoon. Nope - that's no good for him. I offer Friday morning - he thinks for a minute then says okay. But - he says "Well, I've got large medical deductions I can claim". (He's already taking an AGI SE Health Insurance deduction). The remainder he knows is Schedule A. Then I have to explain WHY those medicals won't help him - and that he doesn't have enough to itemize. So I flatly told him that since he's coming in so late I've got to charge an additional $ 50 because I ordinarily don't do tax returns this late to the deadline and I'm taking time away from other work commitments. I was expecting a little flack - but got none, fortunately. Some clients are just a real pain.

Their QuickBooks file was so messed up, I had to redo the year's transactions to reconcile the accounts. Come to find out that payroll checks to the owner cleared the account, but had been deleted in QuickBooks. Therefore, the year-end payroll reports and his W-2 were less then he actually received (and he had paid in a lot less taxes then he thought).

Now when I call to try to get them to pick up their returns, all I get is an unanswered ringing telephone. Who doesn't have voicemail these days anyway?

Question: will you file a 8082 for the non-issued k-1?

I found one of the missing today too. He's going to drop off the requested documents tomorrow. Won't be around to answer any further questions though because he's going on vacation for the next week. Leaving right after our meeting...........

I had a client call in June several years ago. Very high income. He'd finally read his return and realized that he got back most of the $200,000 extension payment that I had him made. He wondered why I had him pay in an amount that was unnecessary. I just spelled it out to him. If he waits till the very last minute, he shares the remaining time with everyone else, and if there's too many, I simply have them all overpay. Interest rates aren't high enough to get excited about the lost earnings for a couple of months, and I'm not going to be responsible for the penalties.

A former partner of mine once told a client that the bottom line is that one night he is going to have to give up his pizza and beer and focus on getting his info together. He may as well do that in Feb as on 4/14 or 10/14.

The part where I get really jammed up is if one client has a true crisis - some unusual business situation that has to be done NOW, and everyone else has provided their info in reasonable time. Then I know it is really all on me.

Well, I have two returns I'm working on. One is a new client, and the other is my own. I need to squeeze that in with the three June year-ends I'm working on.

Shrrley, love your rule of thumb. I will remember that. Except I prefer tequila.

And yes - for me - it is a shot of Rum (rrrrrrrr) with a Heineken chaser.

How the heck do these kind of people get through life anyway ???????

I am only working a half day tomorrow and then taking a few days off. You know what they say, all work and no play, makes Shrrley not a fun grrl. Catch me in the surf tomorrow afternoon. Anyone?

Last week I found myself working long past the point where I felt competent (they say your IQ goes down one point for every hour of sleep you have missed in the prior week). Plus, the long work hours have got to be bad for your health.

So, next year, I'm considering a drastically different attitude - informing clients on say, July 31, that if they don't have all of their information to me by say, Sept 10, I won't be able to do their tax returns.

Then, on Sept 10, I would send the clients who have not complied a letter resigning as their accountant, and include any documents they might have already given me plus a progress bill. This would, theoretically, give them time to find their new accountant.

As for late K-1's that are out of the client's control, I might, around 10/1 file a return, which I would plan on amending after the K-1 came in.

Letting the clients control my work schedule hasn't really worked all that well!

I have found the early warning letter (ie: if your info isn't in by Date X, cannot guarantee it will get done)works well. You will always have a few late people, but the percentage of last-minute returns goes way down.

I received the 'simple' K-1 this morning and emailed 8879s for signing; Now I only need wait for them.

As for the client waiting on another accountant who is waiting on another accountant, I had this email at 10:00:

"David - just spoke with B....... (the accountant)...she says they are preparing the final K-1s and we should have something within a couple hours. I asked her to copy you on the email/K-1 directly. Will check in again in a couple hours.

So the day goes on......lucky he works at home so I can fax or email 8453 forms [long detailed excel spreadsheet of stocks with the return] but the return includes four states, and one that cannot be efiled so I will pdf him a signed copy.....alas it is his resident state, so the pdf must include copies of the three other states.

In this case, none of this is my client's fault.

I was thinking that in a similar situation I run into every year (the K-1's being received around a week before the final due date) I might tell clients that we would file with what we have on, say 10/1, including an estimate of the income from the missing K-1s and then plan on amending.

For your client with the four states, preparing amended returns wouldn't be much fun, would it?

What really strikes me is that life happens - there's sickness, traffic jams, power outages, family deaths, childbirth, etc, affecting not only us preparers and our clients as well.

Also, I know myself, in that if I say I can't promise to get the return out by the due date but will try my best, I may hurt myself trying my best!

What a crazy business.

The only good thing about the amendment is that if he spots something in the pdf I sent [the final one, not the preliminary one I sent last week] we can correct it on the amended return, rather than email new 8453 forms and wait for them to be faxed back.

Life is short, make it what you want. Down with the tyranny of clients who care less than you do about their situation. End the slavery of being chained to the desk on due dates. All rise now and sip from the glass of freedom of choice.

Last month I finally broke down and bought a new scanner and put it on the computer we use to process bills....some sort of Xerox in the $300 range I think....and with it I was able to take the printed NJ return, sign it, make copies of relevant documents like W-2, NY, CA and MA parts of returns that showed computation of tax, and Excel worksheet for Sch D, load all into the scanner, stack the new pdf documents and produce a complete pdf of the NJ return with my signature. I then copied it to a memory stick, put it on my computer and emailed it to my client at 5:30 pm. He emailed back fifteen minutes later that he was out the door to the post office, with both it and the payment for California. When jhe returned, he faxed me signed 8453s for the other returns; I pressed a button and filed them.

Five years ago he would have had to drive 125 miles to my office to get these returns. Such is progress.