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More tax than accounting but I figured it's worth asking. I've done about 4 seasons at HR Block and am pretty finished with them. A part of my brain is deeply broken and enjoys doing tax prep, though. Has anyone here taken the leap and started their own practice? I've been doing my best to research and I think it's fairly doable for me, but there's definitely a fear of falling flat on my face. This whole thing is a second job for me so it wouldn't be the end of the world, but obviously I'd rather succeed than fold. Would love to hear if anyone else here has taken that step or has stories of anyone doing so.
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Jul 2, 2022 05:40
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 17:59 |
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I guess my biggest concern is how to go about getting those first clients. I have clients that absolutely would follow me, but HR Block uses non-solicit/non-competes. The non-compete is likely unenforceable in my state (I had a consult with a lawyer to review), but that doesn't mean they can't drag me into arbitration to try and enforce it anyway, which I'd rather avoid if possible. What are some good ways to get your name out there and get those first clients to start building that referral base?
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Jul 2, 2022 13:20
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That's loving crazy. I've seen some aggressive positions taken by other preparers that I wouldn't sign off on personally, but nothing I would classify as outright fraud. I did have a fun one where a guy got a form from Coinbase because he'd been liquidating his 401k and turning it into Bitcoin to help out his "female friend in Russia", but it was totally okay because she was coming to the states soon and going to pay him back! I filed a report with IC3, but never heard anything after that. I doubt he'll ever get anything back, but maybe he'll at least have enough to live on afterwards. They'd already gotten him for about $90k by then
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Jul 7, 2022 21:15
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I saw your reddit post but I'm replying here because I don't have a Reddit account and I'm not making one. Two weeks is absolutely acceptable and if that is causing an issue for your boss, that's 100% their problem. They've made a shitton of money off your labor for years, you don't owe them a smoother transition to try and keep their gravy train rolling. Especially since you're not getting a taste of it.
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Aug 8, 2022 02:24
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I had a new client this year with prior year foreign tax credit carryover from a TurboTax return (apparently their father has done their returns for years). The form for marking all that changed this year, so of course the TurboTax forms from last year don't match this year's format. After I finally figured it all out, the client wanted to sit down and review the return. Not the section with the foreign tax credit, mind you. The whole thing. They literally asked to see the worksheet where the tax on their W-2 income was calculated. It took two hours, and they questioned every single thing. I had to go to the back of the office and stifle a scream when they left. I get wanting to check a complicated thing. If you don't trust me enough to report your W-2s correctly, why the gently caress are you paying me to do your return in the first place? Just go back and have your father do it again this year so he can walk your entitled rear end through the whole return.
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Aug 16, 2022 06:59
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Missing Donut posted:Yeah, pretty much. I'm not complaining, because it's an amazing opportunity for those of us who are growing their practices. As someone in this exact position, I'm really hoping this holds true where I am. Been doing my best to network and get my name out there and hopefully I can pick up some of the clients floating around. I know there's a couple local shops that are charging way below market rates, but I'm banking on them being too slammed to pick up additional work or complete it in a timely manner. Fingers crossed!
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Dec 30, 2022 08:12
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I just went through hanging out my shingle (tax prep only business). I've spent roughly $5k on stuff so far. Some things I went with lower cost/higher work options, some things I spent a bit more for easier solutions. If I had to estimate you could do it probably as low as $3k, maaaaybe 2 if you really go as budget as possible. A decent chunk of that was one time cost, I'm anticipating about $3k yearly ongoing cost with my current setup. Definitely an amount that's easy enough to recoup, especially if you have a start on building a client list. This is also virtual only, so no office rent. That would change the math significantly.
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Jan 22, 2023 23:19
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It's a decent course but it's 100% done with the intention of you working for them, to the point you have to sign a thing agreeing you're not taking the course to go work for someone else. They'll kick you out if they think they're training employees for someone else.
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Feb 19, 2023 02:45
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If you have a CAF number, you can fax the POA form to the IRS instead of mailing it. I haven't had to pull transcripts for anybody but from what I've heard it gets processed much faster. I believe there's also an online portal to submit POA authorization. There's two versions, one where a tax pro requests POA from the client who authorizes it on their IRS account, and one where the pro just submits a completed/signed POA form.
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Mar 5, 2023 01:16
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If your experience is anything like mine, clients are mostly either incapable of understanding taxes or incurious about how taxes work. Some small number will actually want to know how it works and what they can do to get better outcomes, but far and away your best bet is coming off convincing enough that they're confident you understand how it works.
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Mar 6, 2023 19:58
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black.lion posted:and that their phone number is right!!!! They'll double check their phone number but not their SSN.
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Mar 7, 2023 08:03
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Every single person who says they have a simple return has been lying to my face about it. They don't think it's simple, they think it shouldn't cost much.
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Mar 9, 2023 14:28
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Filed my final in-season return earlier, got a few clients on extension but everyone is good to go. Very small season since I just went out on my own, but I'm happy with it.
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Apr 18, 2023 06:05
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Covok posted:It doesn't matter. I just got an offer for 90k at a local business pending a background check and drug test that was with a company that I was interested in. Glad you found something else. 90k per year to basically build an accounting firm from scratch seems insanely low to me.
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Jun 16, 2023 06:06
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 17:59 |
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drat, there really are a good number of people looking for tax preparers. I've picked up like three new clients this week, which is pretty good for a solo shop with no advertisements. Glad things are starting to grow.
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Feb 17, 2024 03:31
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