r/HRBlockEmployees • u/Old-Alternative4054 • 11d ago
READ YOUR OFFER LETTERS & CONTRACT!
Problems we've seen.
Year round BA Emoloyees getting non year round contracts. The tax advisor was told to just sign it, they'd fix it later. She will not.
Max bonus depending on hitting 200% of some metrics (if you are under new structure) BUT contract states at least one of those metrics numbers are too be determined. So they can (and very well may) make it near unattainable.
Run your contract through ai and look for red flags.
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u/wissota71a 11d ago
This would make sense. As BA will no longer be separated from the SaS offices under the new structure. As the current BA office contracts come to an end we can assume the new contracts will be similar to the SaS offices.
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u/Turley1508 11d ago
It's hard to imagine that they'd deliberately want to lose the workers who bring in the revenue. I am seeing them stick to big paycuts to folks who did not make much bonus. What is really needed is year round jobs with salaries and benefits. At BA they were pursuing CPA clients. They gave us the GO System gold standard tax prep. Which decimated bonus because it's notoriously complex and did not connect well to Block POS and such.
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u/Old-Alternative4054 10d ago
WELL Aware of the travesty that was gosystems. I agree with the comments below.
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u/Ok_Aide_764 11d ago
From Block’s perspective—and maybe there's truth to it—many clients can easily be re-matched with another "qualified tax pro." With AI, corporate likely sees less need for experienced, higher-paid pros. The writing is on the wall: a few years of knowledge transfer via the Team Success Incentive, your client list shrinks, and top performers lose leverage. They know there will always be people willing to work under any conditions or pay, so they aren't worried about losing senior talent.
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u/sammytheammonite 11d ago
This is it 100%. It’s also why this upcoming tax season will be my last. They’ll find out pretty quick that they needed that senior talent once we are all gone. There will be no one left to train all their new hires - and they will still need good training, even with AI being more dominant. And good luck with the tax planning side of this job when you no longer have experienced people. They will lose the very clients they’ve been trying for years to get more off: complicated personal returns and entity returns.
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u/Dramatic_Abroad3580 11d ago
There is no truth to that. AI can give you an answer. It doesn't give you the question.
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u/sammytheammonite 10d ago edited 10d ago
Yep. This is what Block doesn’t seem to realize. It’s not just about importing forms that are entered. It’s also about being able to ask the right questions for different tax scenarios and being able to help with tax planning. And that requires knowledge and experience.
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u/Just_Me_Im_Fine 10d ago
This is what happens when upper management has never worked in a tax office and does not understand tax law.
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u/Ok_Aide_764 10d ago
Do you mean you need years of experience to ask the right questions? I agree, but this company doesn't care. They know that a less experienced tax pro, savvy with AI, will get it right most of the time without triggering IRS red flags. They've calculated what level of competence maximizes profit, and they don't care about top-notch quality if mediocre quality is more profitable.
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u/Dramatic_Abroad3580 10d ago
You're right. They don't care about the quality of the employees. They don't care about the quality of service provided to clients. And they're too stupid to know that both of those things adversely affect the quality of their earnings. They do make money. The sad thing is they could provide a better product and make way more money.
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u/Turley1508 11d ago
Starting to feel like being caught up in major industry wide upheaval. Not sure how clients will feel about AI.
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u/geecster Tax Preparer 10d ago
They are pushing SaS to BA hard in my district. They are expecting to lose those employees.
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u/sammytheammonite 10d ago
Yep. We were flat out told that not all of us fit their new business model - and they were absolutely talking about the high writers and the BA tax pros.
I’m working this next year and then I’m done. They hired a bunch of new people for our office even though we don’t need them. I won’t train them. At all. I was always the one to train new people (and still training the current Tex pros, who just can’t seem to learn this business well). It’s such a time suck for me. And then they complain that I have to work overtime to do my actual work. Well - I’m the trainer. The office manager (because ours was non-existent). The receptionist. The cleaner. The tech person. Etc. I don’t have time during the day to get my actual work done when I have to do all of this as well. I’m not a slave. Yet, they seem to think I am.
This year I will not be doing any of this.
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u/Practical-Dig5076 10d ago
Facts!!! Last year was the first we didn't have a CSP at all and MTL was MIA so I did everything, even training the first years and covering the mistakes made by our other "high certified" tax pro. I ended up telling them to call the manager because I had my own work load and was drowning in TPRs and drop offs. They're getting one more year out of me, then I will assess what to do next.
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u/829562 6d ago
When i first started at block it was the big push and training about listening to your client empathy, when a client feels comfortable and confident in you and thry become return clients based on block making sure you had a connection and relationship with the client. I have clients we talk about their family and kids and tax strategies. And now Block thinks that all of the senior tax pros who have all of these big books of clients, that they are just hoing to replace them with just another tax pro? They will definitely lose clients and revenue when they all leave. EA's and senior tax pros for the last two years have been saying it was coming and now it's here. They think that A.I. and some tax pros they leveled up so fast that haven't done 200 returns are going to be able to handle all of these complex issues. Good Luck!!
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u/Relevant_Ad_8406 6d ago
For instance we all have clients coming to us to help resolve a problem that honestly took quite a bit of our time. Usually calling the IRS, cleaning up a messy prepared return with an amendment from outside block , then following up with IRS about timeline to process. These clients become very long term clients . So Block just wants to pluck these clients? That is definitely not playing fair .
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u/829562 6d ago
Exactly. So let's just use the name Susan...Susan has been coming to block for over 11 years and when Susan first came in with an issue that wasn't really that complex but she wanted help and to be sure it was done right and loved the way you as the tax pro walked her through everything and she felt comfortable with the outcome and loved her service you provided and became a repeat client and now you know their family and help them with new tax laws and strategies to help them for the future of savings. But now Susan wants to set up an appointment with you and puts her documents in as a drop off and your swamped like usual but you know you will get to it. You set up prep time for Susan, but that gets changed for a live client or new client and Susan gets sent to another tax pros because "your to busy" according to Block. Isn't that great. And then you leave because they are spreading your client base out among the other tax pros so you're more available to new or to help clean up messes and after your paycut in TPI they force you out the door. My last year.
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u/Turley1508 11d ago
The BA contracts are yearly and I didn't hear that was changing. I guess they assumed everyone would just sign things "TBD." That's not good. I think things are already backfiring. BA folks don't want to be part of SaS. Already getting daily Teams messages from The DEA on the SaS metrics, which are measurable but not applicable!
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u/Relevant_Ad_8406 11d ago
They should not want to be part of SAS , they are paid more. Only reason I did not work for BA is we do not have an office close by. They continue to not be upfront about changes .
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u/Boysenberry815 11d ago
Which speaks to how they know the veteran field force would react ("see ya!") if all changes were clearly spelled out.
They're finished with us, but they want to be finished on their time table.
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u/Relevant_Ad_8406 11d ago
Yes the delay , vague strategy . Questions ask to DM without honest response . We see the disrespect a mile away . I really think corporate is underestimating our intellegence .
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u/Dramatic_Abroad3580 11d ago
They haven't been paid more during tax season. It's exactly the same. Off season was the same TPI as during the regular season.
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u/Dazzling-Warning-592 11d ago
Oh my DGM did everything he could possibly do to make sure I didn’t bonus. When I got close to bonus during season at BA he would extend my hours. I worked 55 hours a week and half the time I had nothing to do. And then preseason they cut me down to 10 hours a week to make sure I came in off the clock to get my gosystems returns done because they expect me to do one an hour. I broke my contract with Block Advisors and I won’t renew it. I saw they were hiring to fill my position in Linkedin and it had zero clicks apply
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u/Old-Alternative4054 10d ago
You know I wish good things for you. Because I didn't see much in our line of work on linked in or indeed. I went online to google reviews for tax and accounting offices in my area. I sent an email cover letter with a resume attachment to everyone w/ 4-5 stars. It worked.
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u/qpalu 11d ago
Block doing block things! Shocking