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People think being an income tax preparer is all about possessing some super-human knowledge of the income tax code. It’s not. With the proper amount of continuing education and good computer software, you too could become a tax preparer. But to be a good one, you have to excel at customer service. You have to be accurate and thorough, you need to answer the phone and to be there for your customers.
Still, sometimes, I had to let a client go. You might ask, how can a business turn away paying customers. To explain my thinking on this, compare a financial advisor who charges his clients an assets under management (AUM) fee, with a tax preparer who charges a client according to the number of forms in the tax return.
Now compare me with a financial advisor who charges his clients an hourly fee for advice.
I have heard tax preparers joke about charging their clients by the pound; the more pages in the tax return the higher the fee. The truth about using a computer to do a tax return is that many of those forms are created with a single keystroke…. If even that.
I charged an hourly rate, making my fees a fraction of those other guys.
I like to use an analogy comparing McDonald’s to Ruths Chris Steakhouse. MickeyD’s sell many more burgers than Ruths Chris sells steaks. If the former loses a happy meal sale, it’s not as big a deal as the latter losing a filet mignon sale.
In my situation, I’m McDonald’s, if I have to send away a difficult client, the impact isn’t the same as a big shot accounting firm losing their biggest client.
There was the guy with 3 rental properties and two dozen limited partnership K1’s who perennially complained about my fee.
There was the client who neglected to provide records of all of his income. He argued that I should pay his additional taxes, interest, and penalties after the IRS caught up to him.
I fired them both, and eliminated the dread I felt before they came in,
A so-called friend who constantly talks about you behind your back, perhaps someone that violates your trust, maybe a “friend” who is only around in their time of need. People who always talk but never listen to you, or who fail to remember things that you may be struggling with.
Time grows more precious with each passing day. Sometimes it’s necessary to walk away from a one sided relationship.
My long-term accountant did my work, both personal and business. He told me he appreciated how I prepared what I gave him and over a period of more than 20 years he also told me some of his war stories. Such as the client who arrived on April 14 with several shoe boxes of receipts, etc. and then expected him to figure it out. He too hated to let a client go, but there were limits. He and I parted as friends when he retired for health reasons. I continue to use his firm to this day.
Some clients came to the office with dozens of not opened envelopes. I would hand them a letter opener and remind them that I charged the same hourly rate to open them up as I did to prepare the tax return.
I loved clients like you.
Be careful what you wish for. My accountant used to rave about how organised and complete my business and personal paperwork was. Unfortunately for him, I eventually realised I was already doing over 90% of the work myself. A short course, building on my admittedly long-in-the-tooth business and finance degree, got me to the stage where I could dispense with his services entirely.
100% true, Mark. With companies like FreeTaxUSA available, I’m surprised at the number of people who still use paid preparers. I also know that many people fear the big bad IRS, so paying someone soothes their fears.
Does Ireland have options for free tax software?
Free software options are available, but they’re better suited for individuals and very small businesses. Since my business had a larger employee count, I already used Sage for payroll and invoicing. I simply added the corporate tax option to my existing subscription rather than sending the data to the accountant.
Two Thumbs up for “FreeTaxUSA” 👍
It’s what I’ve been using since retiring. It’s handled some complex situations with ease.
Good post Dan! It brought back memories of bad experiences I’ve had with professional people I sought for help. Generally, both sides are at fault due to miscommunication, and only through respect for each other can differences be corrected.
Now days, one has to be careful with social media. My son-in-law got slandered on FB, and it had nothing to do with him, but the poster didn’t believe in mia culpa. It ended up in court.
After he showed a belligerent customer the door, an old boss would turn and say, “I want all the good business I can get, but that’s not good business!”
I’m 1000% with you, BUT, I can’t do what you can do to turn away any of my patient even it meant to be called up at 3 in the morning by an horrible, ill-mannered 13 years old about why it took me so long to come in for her OB epidural. I made sure I did the procedure purposefully, and properly slow but with the best possible technique and she was smiling for the first time as I tried to leave her bedside, she finally realized how rude she was and thanked me. I just had to walk away, and said to her “God bless”.
I thought of patient stories as well. I try to remember that pain makes me grumpy, too!
Thanks for this post. The ethical and legal complexities of doctor/patient relationships is something that I hadn’t considered.
Dan, this was good. I was trying to think of how I could apply this to my life, and my thought came to difficult family members that maybe you can’t totally erase them from your life, but you can definitely set boundaries to how much you see them. We have had to do that. Chris
My brother and I would do anything for each other, but we are 180 degrees apart on politics. We (he) finally learned not to bring the subject up anymore.
I am 100% with you.
When we were running our automotive workshop, I had several customers over the years that I politely told “probably need to find another workshop”. As they walked away screaming and swearing at me, I assumed they agreed.
More recently I worked a new role for 3 weeks that I found very unpleasant. I politely finished up. Life’s too short to continue something I don’t enjoy.
I once had a client who, for whatever reason, seemed to view personal hygiene as an optional extra. When meeting with him, I always claimed the seat furthest from his office desk. I had sympathy for my competitors when he took his account elsewhere. My nose threw an impromptu party on hearing the sad news.
Mark, you have given me a cartoon-like mental image of your interactions with the stinky dude, including your partying nose.
I’m glad my olfactory distress amused you 👃
Your comment “I have heard tax preparers joke about charging their clients by the pound; the more pages in the tax return, the higher the fee” reminded me of my late father’s story about his school. He grew up in a village in rural India and attended the local school. (I have seen the school, and his stories of swimming to attend classes during heavy rains are totally believable). He claimed that his schoolmaster (the only one in the school, and apparently this superman covered all the subjects) corrected the answer papers by flinging all of them onto the sloping roof of his house, and passing those that slipped down – the theory being that the papers of those who answered more will have more weight). And yes, the one which fell down first got the first rank.
I know some teachers who would love to grade papers like him.
When I was a customer support engineer for a software company, I certainly WISHED I could fire some of our customers. The best I could do was contact the responsible salesperson and suggest they sponsor a training class for the idiots making crazy mistakes.
I have a good friend who travels all over the country for his IT employer. He has shared many similar stories with me.
Dan, I can relate. One of the happiest lessons I (eventually) learned as a lawyer is that, when the warning signs are obvious, it’s fine to simply turn down a client or a case—even when they have their checkbook out, ready to pay your retainer.
As a good lawyer and friend once put it, “Everybody’s entitled to a lawyer. They’re just not entitled to you.”