TAX PRACTICE

Bundle Tax Services with Financial Planning

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Businesspeople having a meeting over coffee sitting together at a table discussing a document, young man and two middle-aged women present

Two sample engagement proposals.

By Ed Mendlowitz
How to Build a Stronger Tax Practice

Following are two sample engagement proposals for tax return preparation bundled with additional financial planning and business planning services.

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Letter 1:

Dear _________________:

It was good meeting with you last week. Ed and I are excited to be working with you and look forward to a long and satisfying professional relationship.
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Who Needs Fall Tax Planning? Clients … and You

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Avoid balance-due whining sessions AND earn additional revenue.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

You’ve surely had this conversation a million times during multiple tax seasons, most often in April. You give a client a tax return with a $20,000 balance due.

Client: I didn’t expect to owe that much.
You: How much did you expect to owe?
Client: About $5,000.

MORE: It’s OK to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones) | Control Your Time: Avoid Ambush Meetings and Calls | Train Your Clients Before They Train You | Don’t Let Clients Dictate Tax Workflow | How Small Firms Can Win the Talent Wars | Do You Know Your Turnaround Time?
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Here’s where my conversations may differ from yours a bit.

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When Clients Haven’t Filed Taxes for Years

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Help them put a stop to this.

By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor

It is not unusual to meet with potential clients that have not filed tax returns for many years.

MORE ON MARKETING: Seven Keys to a Complete Succession Plan | How to Begin a Business Valuation | How to Offer Conflict Resolution | Get Your Clients Talking About Retirement | When Clients Remarry | Seven Questions to Suggest Estate Planning | Four Reasons to Perform Tax Projections | Four Additional Services to Suggest
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With these clients it is important to get them to understand the seriousness of their situation and that the sooner they comply, the greater the likelihood that the worst they would be subject to would be penalties for late filing and payment if they owe money.
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It’s Okay to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones)

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Working with “smaller” clients can often be more rewarding – and profitable – than “big” clients.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

There’s a reason you aren’t actively training clients to allow you to work efficiently. You’re afraid that you’ll lose clients.

I guarantee that you will.

MORE: Control Your Time: Avoid Ambush Meetings and Calls | Get Clients to Bring Tax Docs Early … Yes, EARLY | Why Time Tracking Still Matters | Make Fewer Mistakes, Increase Revenue and Capacity | Six Ways to Create a Millennial-Friendly Firm | Do You Know Your Turnaround Time?
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Clients have trained you to be inefficient. They’ll resist retraining. Some of them will leave and infect someone else’s practice.

The reason you fear losing clients is that you fear you can’t replace them.

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Tax & Accounting Profession Grows, but Wages Don’t

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Total employment at tax, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping and related businesses hits a record high of 1,166,700 jobs.

Tax preparation and payroll services are exceptions.

By Beth Bellor

Are there really staffing shortages? Employment numbers in the accounting profession keep rising.

MORE on STAFFING and COMP: Tax and Accounting Pay Advancing at 5.9% Pace | Bill Penczak: Stop Forcing Smart People to Do Stupid Work | Sandra Wiley: Staffing Problem? Check Your Culture | Firms Rev Up Expansion Plans | Accounting Jobs Up 4% for Year | Research: Accounting Pros Cautiously Optimistic about Generative AI | How Auditors Can Beat AI | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks | Why the U.S. Must Act Now to Protect Our Online Privacy | Top Tax Vendors Caught Red-Handed Selling Private Taxpayer Data
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Perhaps they could be rising even faster if the right people met the right spots – or the right incentives, according to a new CPA Trendlines analysis.

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You’re Missing 60% of Your Revenue

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Here are four ways to stop leaving that money on the table.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

Accounting firms have done a great job adopting paperless office technologies, the web and even cloud computing, so you may feel you have been doing all you can to streamline margins, become “client-centric,” as some consultants call it, and grow your practice. But I believe there is even more opportunity that very few, if any, in the accounting profession have fully identified or embraced.

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I only bring this up because I believe most CPA firms are leaving about 60 percent of their potential revenue on the table (and I can prove it). Worse, they are not sharing their badly needed financial expertise with more businesses that could be greatly helped, especially now.
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