Recognize Your Tax Season Resources

Happy family of four outdoors in winter clothing on snowNine vital contributors you might be taking for granted.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

We have many resources and need to recognize that. And we need to treat each with its own importance. Even if you did everything yourself, you’d still need to rely on your tax software company, FedEx and the Postal Service, stationery supplier, computer consultant, the Internet and email, cell phone provider and copier/scanner machine. And that’s just a few of the resources we rely on. Managing your resources well creates an aura of security and consistency to your practice.

MORE ON TAX SEASON: 40 Other Services Your Tax Clients Should Know About | 21 Reasons Why Tax Clients Switch Firms | Top 12 Tax Return Preparation Errors | Eliminate Tax Season Excuses | Be Happy with Your Tax Practice | 8 Ways to Delight Tax Season Clients | Here’s Your New Tax Season Marketing Plan | Consistency Simplifies Tax Season

But there more. And they are often overlooked. Or taken for granted. Here are some more resources that need to be managed:
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Partners Love, Hate Leadership

Aquila leadership context modelManagement can’t be left to others. (Drat!)

By Robert J. Lees, August J. Aquila and Derek Klyhn
Creating the Effective Partnership

Regardless of their ownership structure, most firms either operate as partnerships or would prefer to operate as partnerships.

MORE ON LEADERSHIP FOR PRO Members: 8 Ways Leaders Destroy Firms | The 4 Best Ways to Use Your Senior Partners | 11 Steps to Building a Better Partnership Team | 6 Things Leaders Must Do | How to Build a Growth-Centric Pricing Strategy | How to Combine Two Firms after Merger: Carefully

The tensions between being a business and the loss of the values and ethics of being a partnership feature strongly in our research.
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Top 12 Tax Return Preparation Errors

Error stampedThe good news: they’re preventable.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Here are the top 12 tax return preparation errors:

    1. Number transposition and spelling errors. This includes income and deduction amounts and client Social Security numbers, addresses and ZIP codes. Spelling errors should also be avoided – they indicate a lack of attention to what you are doing.
    2. Unreported 1099 income. Clients frequently leave out 1099s, but the preparer should make sure all 1099 items from last year are accounted for. Missing 1099s that were not final for last year should be accounted for.
    3. Tax payments. Entering incorrect and unpaid amounts can be avoided by requiring the client to provide “proof” of the payments. Entering “incorrect” amounts provided by the client is a major cause of tax notices.

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