I finished a return before I started it.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Had a 3 pm appointment.. client had:

- two 1099Rs

- one SSA 1099

they arrived at 2:55

I was done by 2:59, literally four minutes.. 

I was done before I started at 3

[dkh]

Done with data entry, printing your copy and clients copy, getting signatures on 8879 - the whole process in 4 minutes ??????    

Greeting the client and letting them get comfortable in their seats, getting them to hand over documents takes at a minimum 4 minutes.  

[PATAX]

Wow, that may qualify for Guinness Book of World Records.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Add a minute for the return to print and sign the 8879.  I only give about 15 seconds for them to have a seat, get settled and turn their pile of stuff to me. 

[IRonMaN]

If you are pushing things out the door that fast, do your clients feel welcome in your office?  We all do things differently but I would be afraid of having the client leave feeling like a number instead of a client with that short of a stay.

[Jim-from-Ohio]

i am totally booked and get referrals i barely have time for.  my clients love it. copy of email that I just received.  

Good Morning. I would like to schedule an appt. My taxes take about 5-10 min. Do you still have any available times in March. I am available Thursday or Fridays any time or late afternoons Mon-Wed. Thank you.

[IRonMaN]

Years ago my optometrist referred me over to an ophthalmologist for some additional testing that he couldn't provide.  At my next eye appointment by optometrist asked what I thought of the ophthalmologist.  I said that I thought the guy knew what he was doing but there definitely was no asking how the weather was.  The optometrist paused for a second and then said he wondered about that when he saw the increments the guy was using for appointments.  My optometrist retired a few years ago and his replacement sent me to another ophthalmologist last year for my cataract surgery.  She didn't pause all of her work to chit chat with me all morning, but there was enough human interaction for me to feel that I was a patient rather than a dollar sign to her.  I like that feeling and I want my clients to have the same feeling.  But like I said before, we all have our own practices and our own way of doing things and we do what works best for us.

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN 👍Yeah you are right Iron Man. There has to be a good balance. Most of our clients we have known for years. Some clients since we were children.

[dkh]

Today I spent 20 minutes on phone with client discussing the results of his tax returns, the local draft horse sale, the fact his first child is already 8 months old, how many days per week he is working  (very common in the RV industry to work less than 5 days a week).............   

In Jim's office - that would be 4 tax returns    LOL      

[IRonMaN]

"very common in the RV industry to work less than 5 days a week"

Looks like we are all in the wrong business ☹️

[PATAX]

Yeah you are right Iron Man, 7 days a week, a lot of hours. But what compensates for that is that we are our own bosses. I'm sure we've all had clients that had great jobs and showed up one day for work, and were stunned to be terminated.

[IRonMaN]

This time of year, there some days I wish someone would terminate me 🤣