3 Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Business
Stop allowing your business bar to maintain the status quo–or worse, lower.
By Seth Fineberg
At Large
Stop allowing your business bar to maintain the status quo–or worse, lower.
By Seth Fineberg
At Large
Tax pros handled 54% of e-filings.
By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research
More than 100,000 individual income tax returns have flowed in and out of the Internal Revenue Service, and for the most part, we’re slightly ahead of the 2023 season.
MORE: Tax Pros Own 53% of E-filings | Tax Stats Still Playing Catchup | Tax Pros Take the Edge in E-Filings | Tax Pros Gain Ground, and DIYers Maintain Lead | Tax Pros Handle 46.4% of E-filing | Tax Refunds, Tax Pro Market Share Trending Up | Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings | Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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With 10 days before deadline – as of April 5, the latest data available – the IRS received 101.9 million returns, up 0.5 percent from the same period the previous tax season. It processed 100.1 million returns, down 0.3 percent.
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Most stats are on the plus side now.
By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research
With just over two weeks before the nation’s major tax deadline, most statistics are landing on the positive side … finally.
MORE: Tax Stats Still Playing Catchup | Tax Pros Take the Edge in E-Filings | Tax Pros Gain Ground, and DIYers Maintain Lead | Tax Pros Handle 46.4% of E-filing | Tax Refunds, Tax Pro Market Share Trending Up | Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings | Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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The IRS has received 90.3 million individual income tax returns as of March 29, the latest data available, up 0.2 percent from the same period in 2023. It has processed 88.8 million returns, down 1 percent.
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Refund numbers are down but amounts are up.
By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research
The end is in sight. Documents are signed, buttons are pushed and tax returns are filed. The pile is growing smaller.
If you want optimism, don’t look at the latest Internal Revenue statistics. With the 2023 filing season opening Jan. 23 and the 2024 season kicking off Jan. 29, every week of 2024 reporting has seven fewer days of data than the corresponding period the previous year.
MORE: Tax Pros Take the Edge in E-Filings | Tax Pros Handle 46.4% of E-filing | Tax Refunds, Tax Pro Market Share Trending Up | Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings | Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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As of the latest report, for March 22, the IRS had received 80.5 million individual income tax returns and processed 79.2 million returns, down 0.3 percent and 1.4 percent respectively from last year. The impact on your firm? Dare we say, none?
Perhaps you’ve been the beneficiary of another stat, though … the one showing tax professionals gaining ever more ground on the self-preparers.
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Eight reasons they might be more valuable than you think.
By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide
QUESTION: I am planning on letting go of some staff after April 15 and will hire replacements at a higher level. Any suggestions?
MORE ON TAX SEASON: Ten Tax Prep Questions That People Forget to Ask | Try This Clean Slate Exercise | Offer Your Tax Clients Other Services | Can Your Tax Reviewers Answer These 10 Questions? | The Top 12 Mistakes in Tax Return Preparation | Six Types of Person: Which Are You? | Answer These Two Questions First | Help Your Tax Clients, Help Yourself | What’s Your Value to Your Tax Clients? | Are You Excited About Tax Season?
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RESPONSE: 1) Your implication is that you will hire replacements at a higher level.
I do not like that. I like hiring out of school and training internally. I’ve written about this many times and shared my ideas ad infinitum and will not repeat that here because you can search back to previous Q&As (or read my 30:30 Training Method book).
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Refunds up 5+ percent.
By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research
The machine that is the Internal Revenue Service keeps clicking along. As of March 15, the IRS had received 71.6 million individual income tax returns, down 0.4 percent from the same period in 2023, and had processed 70.6 million, down 1.2 percent.
MORE: Tax Pros Handle 46.4% of E-filing | Tax Refunds, Tax Pro Market Share Trending Up | Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings | Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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E-filings
Electronic filings totaled 69.5 million, down 0.3 percent.
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Make tax season less taxing and more productive.
By Sandi Leyva and ChatGPT
In the fast-paced world of tax preparation and accounting, time is of the essence. Embracing ChatGPT can dramatically transform your workflow, offering practical and actionable solutions to common challenges.
Webinar Schedule:
- March 22 Webinar: Deep Dive with ChatGPT and Zapier Interface
April 18: Your Advisory Assistant: Using ChatGPT to Provide Better Advisory Services to Clients
April 25: The AI Playoffs: ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing Compared
MORE ChaptGPT here
Here’s how you can put ChatGPT to work, making this tax season less taxing and more productive, even if Congress decides to pass a retroactive tax bill right in the middle of busy season.
Others tap outsourcing, training clerical staff as solutions.
By CPA Trendlines Research
Early results from the CPA Trendlines 2024 Busy Season Barometer: Emerging Issues, Opportunities, and Trends are showing a painfully persistent problem with staff shortages, though it seems the hardship may have improved a bit since last year.
MORE: Revenue Up at 59% of Accounting Firms … and More Good News | Compensation’s Up, but Up Enough to Retain Staff? | Are Accountants Charging Too Little? | ChatGPT for the Reluctant Accountant | CPAs Needed to Help Small Biz Adopt AI | Revenue Growth Is Top Priority for Small Firms | Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline?
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This year, like last year, survey respondents are reporting staffing as the second most common concern. Last year, it was reported by 47 percent, almost tied with the main concern: late or unprepared clients.
This year, uncooperative clients still rank first, at 50 percent, but staffing concerns have dropped to 37 percent.
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