Saturday, 02.24.24

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Who is working today.. about 5 am here  late start today. 7:30 am can't get here soon enough.  I am at my home office at this time. I like to get to the main office about half hour before my first appt to make sure the program loads and updates are all set  So I'll get there at 7 am today... light day lined up today.. just 17 returns scheduled.  If only I could get my two assistants to get moving. .Debit and Credit.. Don't they know Saturday is another work day?

[taxiowa]

Always up this time in morning.  Already done a couple returns.  Wish I had a cat.  Dog is here though today as wife is running to St Louie.  Big farm p'ship and farm s-corp to do before 8:00.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

I hope you have a productive day.. I wish tax season lasted all year. 

[taxiowa]

Not!  I try to get as much as possible done by 4/15.  Which is why I am working at 4:30.  But I don't do much the rest of the year so it is worth it.  Maybe 30-40 extensions.  But I have a good secretary who enters some data which helps.

[GodFather]

Been up since 5 myself.  Not sure how productive I've spent the time though.  

[PATAX]

Now we know how you are finishing returns in three minutes: You have two assistants!😉

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

5am here in California, Im up, I only work half days on Saturday this time of year, I think I only have 7 on the schedule.

Ive got a terrible head cold though, and one of my appts today is this old guy, retired teacher that just hammers the crap out of me with question after question, his wife is lovely, but hes a PITA.  Its like he tries to waste my time on purpose asking the same questions in different ways then pretends to not understand and wants me to explain over and over, so he can get a full hour of time out of me. I dont know why she married him 10 years ago, shes been a client forever, hes gotta be terrible to live with....is the market really that bad out there for women in their 60s?  Hes nothing to look at either!

He always wants to be the last client of the day, too bad buddy, I added someone after you, I hope they arrive early and I can boot him out quicker than usual.

[IRonMaN]

There are 24 hours in a day so it doesn’t matter if you pick the first or last hours of the day.  The early bird catches the worm and evidently a head cold.

[Frustrated-in-IL]

Late to the party this morning but when you all were getting your beauty sleep, i was still at office.  Calling it a night at 4:00 a.m. is pretty routine for me.  I consider from about 11:00 pm on my time to catch up on things, answer emails, etc. and those are my most productive hours.  I'm a one person office and during "normal" hours, those pesky phone calls, texts, and knocks on the door keep getting in the way of getting much done without interruption.

[dkh]

I don't like working Saturdays but I do.  Let me rephrase that, I don't like being open and dealing with clients on Saturday mornings.  I don't mind being here to work on the pile of returns that have stacked up.   I'm like Frustrated-in-IL - one person office. Sometimes it's hard to get anything completed during business hours.  Love it when I can lock the door, put on the comfy clothes, and work without interruptions.

[IRonMaN]

We are on the second floor of an office building and the doors are locked on the weekend.  We also don’t answer the phones so it is quiet time to get work done.

[PATAX]

When you work for yourself, you don't mind working on Saturday. When you work for someone else, usually the opposite.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

@PATAX totally agree.. i work more than ever being on my own but it never even feels like work to me.  

[Jim-from-Ohio]

I have come full circle.. started out in college at then Ernst & Whinney.. then Laventhol & Horwarth. Meaden & Moore, then internal controller for a private company.  I really did not like working for the big CPA firms.. I find what I do now much more rewarding than any of the jobs I eve had... next client here. gotta run

[Jim-from-Ohio]

somebody just tried to chisel me down on price.. not sure how i feel about that. my prices are very reasonable

[PATAX]

Jim this has happened to all of us before. Some people just have to negotiate the price on everything, that's just the way they are. If you want to keep them as a client, then just give in a little bit on the price to make them happy. If not, then tell them "Pay me whatever you think it is worth, and then don't come back next year."

[Jim-from-Ohio]

This was for the return of a dependent child. I already did the parent's return so I gave in a bit to keep them happy.

[rbynaker]

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@PATAX wrote:

If not, then tell them "Pay me whatever you think it is worth, and then don't come back next year."

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Great to see someone else in the "pay me what you think it's worth" camp.  I leave off the "don't come back next year" part and assume it's implied. 🙂

[Taxprohere]

Do Debit and Credit like to tap at the keyboard in the middle of a return prep, boost up that refund a little?

When I'm working from home a couple days a week (more remote prep clients nowadays), I may employ my two 10 month old assistants Binky and Trixie for paper shredding. Instead of shedding!
 

[MtnTaxMan]

Only 17 returns in one day? OMG-- If I do more than 4, I'm exhausted.....but then again my appointments are 2 hours.

[MtnTaxMan]

Jim ---

You must be very young or I'm very old. I can't wait for April 15 to be here and gone!!