ARTICLE
Accounting & Bookkeeping

CPA FAQs – Suggestions for Securing Client Tax Documents on Time

Written by Analytix Editorial Team | July 5, 2019

It is not easy to get your client’s tax documents on or before tax season. Most CPAs face this situation, and it only increases the stress levels during an extremely busy time period. When clients are habitually late or submit incomplete or disorganized information and do not respond to multiple queries, it can be frustrating, inconvenient, and time consuming.

With the right approach, tax seasons don’t always have to be about pressing deadlines and frustrated clients!

We’ve put together some great tips to make the tax season less stressful and more enjoyable. Get started on these to give yourself more flexibility, less anxiety, and become a true hero to your client.

Proactively Educate Your Clients

Client education is critical! Help your clients prepare for tax season to save time and make it less stressful. Communicate the benefits of filing taxes early, the typical turnaround time, and how new changes in tax rules may affect them. Contacting all clients beforehand and sending reminder emails will ensure they have sufficient time to complete documentation correctly. The tax organizer’s email may include vital resources including:

  • A timeline listing deadlines for receiving client’s tax documents.
  • A checklist of the types of documents that need to be compiled.

Furthermore, sending clients a series of simple year-end tax planning tips and strategies will showcase you as a proactive advisor who is focused on helping them. Overall, this will ensure that clients are aware of submissions’ deadlines which allows you breathing space during tax preparation.

Schedule Reminders and Be Persistent

Call clients, schedule appointments in advance, and establish a timeline to submit information. Guide clients on the assigned staff working for them and give an expected completion time. Get clients to commit to the established timeline and be persistent through regular communication until they provide what is expected of them. You may assign a staff member as a customer service coordinator to keep track of client deliverables and delegate the task of sending out reminder notices and following-up with clients.

As you get closer to the deadline, call and send email reminders to clients who have not yet submitted their tax data or the information necessary to complete their tax returns. Let them know of the approaching due date to bring a sense of urgency.

Simplify The Procedure

Be as flexible as possible to make it easier for your clients to get you the documents you need. It is good practice to set up a helpdesk to instantly answer all of their queries and requests. In addition, make sure that you are easily accessible through email or mobile during regular working hours for any clarifications.

Offer multiple options for clients to deliver documents to you. You may use state-of-the-art cloud computing tools to set up a portal, where clients can upload receipts online, thus eliminating the need to make multiple trips to your office. Also, sending pre-addressed envelopes to your clients makes it easy for them to mail the tax documents back to you.

Streamline Administrative Processes

Missing information is a big issue, and you could use several strategies to reduce disputes that arise from the accuracy of the last-minute information obtained from the client. Usually, the serial procrastinator business client could quickly get you the information you need so that you can provide services promptly. However, sharing information is not always a priority for them. Thus, you can streamline administrative processes and organize follow-up procedures for missing information and even provide the client with a discount for early delivery of information.

Choose to Outsource Bookkeeping to a Reliable Partner

Tax season can be brutal! A smart way to focus on securing client’s documents on time without much stress is by outsourcing accounting services and tax preparation to an expert tax partner. By freeing up your firm’s resources to concentrate on higher-value client solutions, you can provide your clients with incremental service offerings. It gives you an ample window of time to talk to clients and guide them through the best tax strategy. It may also allow you to leverage the benefits of cloud based accounting services, faster turnaround time, and accurate and timely work by a specialized team of CPAs.

As a forward-thinking CPA firm? What issues do you face when dealing with clients, and what best practices do you follow? What are your thoughts on the points mentioned above? Analytix’s CPA Partner Program delivers accuracy and reliability CPAs can count on! Discover how you can provide a better client experience today to your clients. Call us at 781-503-9004 or email us at sales@analytix.com.

Written by

Analytix Editorial Team
Analytix Editorial Team

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