Six state return!

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Couple comes out.. ten minutes early.. i had just finished a return in about 12 minutes so I was ready for this couple.. had a pretty thick set of folders of data.. new client. i thought..uh oh. this may take me longer than 12 minutes.. sure enough.. lady worked in six states! 

I thought this might  mess up my next appt starting time in a half hour.. but then i realized they were ten minutes early so i had 40 minutes to do the federal and six states.  At first thought I was feeling a little overwhelmed but i methodically, briskly, but methodically worked on the federal return while thinking about these various state.

I called up each state, one by one and worked through the six states, marking five of the six as non-resident returns.  ProSeries called out where I needed to allocate income earned in the state and went through each state one by one.. then back to ohio.. and voila.. ohio created the credit, the tax credit for taxes paid to other states.

ProSeries worked flawlessly through all six states. Big props to Intuit on this one.. took me 39 minutes for the federal and the six states. 

[IRonMaN]

@Frustrated-in-IL told me he could have done that return in 35 minutes and @PATAX told me he could have got in done in 34 minutes --------- but he doesn't like to brag.

[PATAX]

I just finished a client a few days ago that had two different states. It took me hours to do. Maybe I'm slow I don't know

[dkh]

Hey @Jim-from-Ohio  this will overwhelm you.......I spent an hour talking with a client just for fun.

Yep, 5 Jim-returns-worth of good old fashion conversation.  It was great.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

@dkh an hour talking?  even thinking about it sounds painful to me. 

[IRonMaN]

The friends that you make and leave behind will give you a teary send off when you go to that big tax return in the sky.  The money that you leave behind in the bank won't shed a tear when you are gone. 😢

[dkh]

I thought you'd find that unacceptable....lol

     My client for 28 years.  My friend for life.

[Accountant-Man]

At $100 an hour, what did you charge, $65?

I bet they grumbled about that amount.

[Frustrated-in-IL]

@IRonMaN said:

@Frustrated-in-IL told me he could have done that return in 35 minutes and @PATAX told me he could have got in done in 34 minutes --------- but he doesn't like to brag.

No, I think you misheard me. Six states plus the federal would have been somewhere around 35 hours.  And depending on the complexity, that probably isn't much of an exaggeration.  I am seriously considering farming off my more complicated returns to Jim next year.

@dkh said:

Hey @Jim-from-Ohio  this will overwhelm you.......I spent an hour talking with a client just for fun.

With or without pants?  It is Saturday after all. (Okay, I just can't let that one go).

@PATAX said:

I just finished a client a few days ago that had two different states. It took me hours to do. Maybe I'm slow I don't know

I can relate.  It sounds like you and I work at the same speed.

[PATAX]

@Frustrated-in-IL I think most are like you and I. 

[IRonMaN]

"I think most are like you and I."

Does that comparison include the addiction to Fireball? 🔥

[meoleson]

I am soon to be 74, and 53 years as a preparer.  The bulk of my clients have been with me since the early 1980's.  I have a saying with my practice my clients become my friends and if you don't become my friend, you don't come back.  I have done their returns for so many years I can scan the folder when they come in and tell them if they have forgotten something.  I am blessed that for the most part they have enough faith and trust in me to discuss life issues with them, and most of the time they leave in a better frame of mind than when they arrived, and that is much more rewarding than the money they pay me to do their return.  I am a one person office, and it seems there is a tax preparer on every street corner in this town, the only thing we have to offer is ourselves.  I feel that is why my clients are so loyal, I have taken the time to know them and their families and situations and they enjoy catching up and getting some free advice!.

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN I never even heard a fireball until brother Cooley brought it up

[PATAX]

@meoleson 👍👍👍 well said

[IRonMaN]

He spread the word.  I wonder if Fireball pays him a commission for his work. 😀

[dkh]

@Frustrated-in-IL      lol....pants on  -  might explain why I was irritable this morning

@meoleson   1000% agree

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN They'll go bankrupt if they have to pay him commissions

[Frustrated-in-IL]

They definitely won't go bankrupt.  I buy enough for them to pay commissions and still make a tidy profit.

[BobKamman]

Sorry not to change the subject, but I agree that ProSeries does a surprisingly good job with figuring credits on one state return for taxes paid to another.  Makes me wonder if they spend too much time on that and not enough on other situations.

@meoleson commenting that all his clients are friends, reminds me of a survey they did years ago about preparer fees.  They found that newer preparers charged higher fees than experienced ones because, well, it's hard to raise your fees when you work for friends.  

[Frustrated-in-IL]

@dkh said:

@Frustrated-in-IL      lol....pants on  -  might explain why I was irritable this morning

Oh there is so much I want to type...but IRonMaN's description of the terror and fear of being sent to the Principal's office has scared me out of it.😗 

[PATAX]

When it comes to surveys and statistics, sometimes you have to be a little bit pessimistic and/or look a little bit deeper into it. For example, on TV they said that only 1% of college students in America are Native Americans. That may be true, But Native Americans are probably only 1% of the American population. And there are those who claim to be Native American and really aren't. People like Elizabeth Warren. She is almost as phony as John Kerry and Algore. 

[meoleson]

Bob, my clients may be friends and know that I will be raising my fees each year and have no problem paying for personalized service.  They know the person that schedules the appointments and conducts the interviews, AKA catch up visit, who prepares and delivers the return, me.  Personalized service goes a long way with my practice.  I have acquired clients that went to other preparers, left their information off with the receptionist, never knew who did the return, then just saw the receptionist again to pick up their return.  Here in Iowa and I imagine Minnesota most folks expect and appreciate personal service.