I've been doing crosswords over here, picking the fleas off the dog! Not really, the dog would fire me if he had fleas.
I've read most of the responses, and I've got to say you guys are SO SO nice!! I've been doing this for decades - started when I was 5. My clients know, you bring me stuff the last week, maybe the last 2 weeks, you may be looking at an extension, "you owe last year, you can pay with your extension or expect a penalty if you DO end up owing - your choice." Believe me, my clients know I bend over backwards for them. I answer calls no matter where I am because most of the time, it takes 2 minutes to answer. But they also know our family has a family business and I have a special needs child that requires a lot of my time, and up until a couple of years ago I homeschooled our daughter who is now going to college to be a veterinarian and I helped take care of my grandparents, not to mention serving for various community non profits. So my clients know poor planning on their part does not mean an emergency on mine.
I say all that to say, yes sometimes we need to use this forum just to vent, but in case your having a hard time with this, its ok to tell your clients you are not going to drive yourself to an early grave just for them. We're already probably driving ourselves to an early grave for the collective, but you don't have to do it for one client. It's ok to say no. Just for those that need someone's permission, now you have it.
