{"id":18257,"date":"2019-12-26T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=18257"},"modified":"2020-03-09T22:07:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T03:07:09","slug":"how-your-tax-clients-can-help-you-be-more-efficient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/client-relationships\/how-your-tax-clients-can-help-you-be-more-efficient\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Tax Clients Can Help You Be More Efficient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clients often ask how we can work best together. I work best when I can be more efficient, but that often requires my clients to respect our processes and give me what we need. The more time I work on a return or project, the less efficient I am, so I appreciate when I can work with all of the information available at once.<\/p>\n

Here are several ways my clients help speed our workflow.<\/p>\n

Life changes.<\/b> Remember that you may not know the journey your clients took over the last year. For example, you\u2019ve got to know about changes in family dynamics<\/a>: newborn children, an aging parent or relative who moved in, dependent adult children who are now self sufficient, custody issues, children going to college<\/a>, separations, and divorces<\/a>. All of these have significant impacts that need to be considered because they will cause changes to a return.<\/p>\n

Have a conversation with your clients to find out what\u2019s changed, and remember that each person claimed on a return has to have a Social Security number or taxpayer identification number. You\u2019ll also need their date of birth.<\/p>\n

Paperless strategies.<\/b> Our office is paperless<\/a>, we scan and retain everything we need electronically. When clients send me files electronically, they move through my office more efficiently and create less work for us.<\/p>\n

Here are some ideas on process improvement:<\/p>\n