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Take time now to create client work later

As you launch into tax season, here is a simple initiative that can help you create work for the rest of the year.

It will not interrupt your staffs’ ability to process returns. This minor step will engage your professionals and build a backlog of post-season work. It will get your professionals starting to think about business development.

Get every single tax person to keep a log of clients based on the criteria below. It will take seconds for them to do this, and any one of these criteria is sending a signal that there may be other opportunities with the client.

Just have them focus on business clients. Record the company name, their revenue, and their observation for that client. Log each client who:

  1. Has not closed their books yet for 2018.
  2. Formally requests an extension to be filed.
  3. Sent accounting records that are not adequate to prepare the tax return.
  4. May have a SALT exposure; i.e., they ship into five states but only file sales tax returns in three. That can be easily seen by looking at their sales data to see the states they are shipping into.

At the end of the season, have everyone bring in their logs. Set a formal date to do so and put it on everyone’s calendars now. Go through the biggest clients first and work your way down. Discuss which clients may need assistance with their accounting either in an oversight role or a complete outsource. Then, look at their SALT needs. If they are shipping but not filing, there might be a problem. Even if there is a reseller certificate, it needs to be current and there still should be a $0 return filed in each state.

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Tax season Tax preparers Client strategies Client communications Sales tax
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