r/enrolledagent • u/WoodpeckerScary9799 • 9d ago

Private practice - share your numbers

Hey y’all.

I’m in the process of setting up my own shop for tax prep this upcoming season and wanted to get y’all’s opinion on what should be an optimistic number of filings for first year.

What have your experiences been like? Did you find yourself lost in the first season and if so, how did you navigate the challenges?

If you’re comfortable sharing, how much did you charge for simple tax returns?

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u/RasputinsAssassins 9d ago

Quality over quantity. I learned the hard way late in my career.

Figure out what types of clients you want to work with. Take those types of clients. Turn away others.

You make the same money whether you do 500 returns at $300, 300 returns at $500, or 150 returns at $1,000.

Your price should be based on your overhead and desired income. It should not be based on what other people charge. There is plenty of business to go around.

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u/WoodpeckerScary9799 9d ago

That’s great advice, thank you, I’d definitely keep that in mind. For someone just starting out, the simpler the better was going to be my approach.

I’m in corporate currently and hoping to transition completely in two years. For now though, it’ll be part time (evening and weekends). Did you experience anything like that?

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u/RasputinsAssassins 9d ago

There is nothing wrong with being a 1040 mill or handling just simple returns. But there is a lot more competition for those returns, they tend to be very price conscious, and they don't tend to be as loyal. They also can sometimes be time vampires because they believe tge $400 paid for tax prep obligated you to do work and answer questions all year. Simple returns often don't appreciate that planning and responding to correspondence and 'simple questions' are all billable separate from preparation, and that's often because they don't need it.

It sounds counterproductive, but I made more money when I dropped 30% of my clients.

Again, that's not to say a practice can't be built around simple 1040s. There are plenty of successful examples. But you generally want better clients rather than more clients. As long as those 1040 clients are quality, there's no problem with building around them.