Thomson Reuters has posted a new series of blog articles for users of its UltraTax CS software with advice on how they can take advantage of the software’s data mining features to help their clients navigate the possible tax law changes coming next year.
Written by Thomson Reuters product manager Jordan Kleinsmith, the articles offer step-by-step instructions for creating automated searches that can identify clients who may be affected by changing income tax brackets, new withholding rules, and more.
Users can generate a report listing all the affected clients and automatically produce letters notifying clients that they may be affected. The feature can help firms boost client service and sell additional tax planning services, according to Scott Fleszar, vice president of strategic marketing for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
“Now is the time to create contingency plans and what-if scenarios for clients leading up to tax year 2013, and every UltraTax CS user has access to our powerful data-mining features that make this easier and more targeted,” Fleszar said in a statement.
The data mining capabilities can also help firms identify a variety of other opportunities, including clients with estimated tax payments coming due, clients turning age 59 ½ with a retirement plan who now have the option to take retirement distributions, clients over age 70 ½ with a retirement plan who must remember to take required minimum distributions, and clients poised to take advantage of a special tax provision (e.g. clients with large traditional IRA balances and the deferred taxability option on Roth IRA conversions back in tax year 2010).
“It’s our goal to make sure our users get the most out of their software investment and have the tools and information they need to serve their clients most effectively,” Fleszar said. “Providing data mining guidance is one more way we can leverage our internal knowledge across the profession to help users get more out of their technology investment. Our experts are full of good ideas, and media like blogs and video channels are a great way to ensure that those ideas benefit our users as much as possible.”
The first articles in the blog series are already available at
