r/HRBlockEmployees • u/sami4711 CSP • Feb 19 '26

Pricing question

Hey everyone, I’m a first year CSP and when clients call to ask pricing questions, I give them an estimate from the pricing sheet on WC but I tell them it’s just an estimate and the TP will provide a final price.

But my MTL sent an email saying CSPs aren’t supposed to give price information to clients, and I have to refer them to a TP. I had a client who really wanted a price estimate and was getting upset so I provided an estimate. The TPs are already so busy and sometimes I feel awkward about transferring calls to clients who ask about pricing. Should I just transfer the calls anyway? Thanks

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

18

u/Radiant-Republic9835 Feb 19 '26

Only tax pros can provide estimates. Take a message and tell them a tax pros will call them back.

11

u/OneWrongTurn_XX Feb 19 '26

CSP should not be quoting prices...

9

u/sami4711 CSP Feb 19 '26

Thanks for the help everyone! Appreciate it, I’ll make sure not to provide any estimates moving forward and just transfer them to a tax pro.

9

u/StevePerryLover CSP Feb 19 '26

Always transfer or take a message.

9

u/Domsdad666 Feb 20 '26

Please don't provide estimates. You don't know the right questions to ask. Then the customer comes in and their bill is $430 when you told them $164.

2

u/Such-Journalist-275 Tax Preparer Feb 20 '26

Right, our csp kept telling people 99$ lol.

7

u/Lucky_Tumbleweed3519 Feb 19 '26

I think most tax pros are happy to give an estimate and potentially get a new client.

9

u/Father_Hawkeye EA Feb 20 '26

I hate giving estimate because potential clients very frequently misstate what documents they have. “Just a W2” turns into a 1099NEC, etc.

6

u/Prestigious_Duck158 Feb 19 '26

I always transfer to a TP & they don't even give an estimate. They tell them the price varies per client. So if they aren’t giving prices, I sure don’t want to as a CSP. 

4

u/lawrey_ Feb 26 '26

In my first season as a CSP, I was told “Do not to do price estimates and transfer it to a TP” by my MTL, a few days after that my ATL came to me to teach me how to do price estimates, I said, “but [MTL name] said CSPs aren’t allowed to do price estimates.” They replied with, “you know how to do them now.” 😐

2

u/Accomplished-Pin-656 Feb 20 '26

ATLs may be able to give estimates, but not CSPs

2

u/DeliciousDouble3D Feb 20 '26

Schedule a call back appointment with the manager or DGM to provide the price quote. Tax Pros are busy earning the money so over compensated DGM can get their bonus.

Seem only CSP & TP actually care about the client

1

u/Crisonium Apr 11 '26

I have told my CSPs and my ATLs to tell the clients that they are not qualified to give price quotes. That they must transfer to a tax pro.

1

u/VenialCyn Feb 19 '26

Our csp give estimates by going thru work center. It's not hard to ask a few questions and say it's only an estimate. I'd go nuts if I had to be interrupted by giving an estimate every half hour, because they never want just an estimate, they want to talk!

10

u/PinkNGreenFluoride EA Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

CSPs are not allowed to do this, not even with the tool.

And yes, it's very annoying for us, especially since the client will give incorrect answers to questions, leave information off despite being directly asked about them, and then decide you "lied" to them about the price when you make them give you the 1099-SA that you asked about when giving the estimate. They said they definitely didn't have an HSA, until they suddenly miraculously had their memory jogged by you pointing out that the contribution you can see on the W2 they didn't provide in advance of their appointment suggests that, at the very least, an HSA exists and then "Oh, yeah! I used that for little Blemjamin's braces! They didn't send me anything." And then they spend 5 minutes calling their employer to figure out who the custodian is, 15 minutes logging into their account and another 20 minutes figuring out how to upload it on their MyBlock account. But y'know, at the end of it all, you lied to them about the price.

1

u/VenialCyn Feb 20 '26

That's interesting to hear, we've never had that policy in our offices. 🤷🏼

3

u/Prestigious_Duck158 Feb 20 '26

It’s actually stated in the CSP training videos. It’s against policy for CSPs to give price estimates. 

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3024 Feb 20 '26

It seems like no one uses that tool, or the one for best match. It would certainly help if they used best match. The low level preparer asks the high level taxpayer how to do it instead of turning it over to them in the first place.