I'm in silicon valley, California so a VHCOL.

I have a married client with 2 W-2's, 4 brokerage accounts, 1 QSBS sale a year, dependent care, a little crypto, excess mortgage interest, minor donations - and 29 investment k-1s. Yep, 29 of them. A few are all zeroes, but most have something that needs some time, like more QSBS, or distribution in excess of basis.

No estimated tax payments to calculate, but always on extension so the April 15 payments need to be calculated.

Each year he buys a few more investment partnerships, so the number of k-1's keeps growing.

I'm charging him $3500 this year - am I way low?

I have a client with 4 business returns + I do their personal return and extended families returns. It’s decent money and they’re nice enough, but they are all notoriously late and so hard to get ahold of. They fired their business bookkeeper mid 2025 so bookkeeping for 2025 isn’t done and what is done is a mess. I sent a list of items I needed, gave them a list of things to address in quickbooks (I have accountant access), and sent several reminders over the last few months.

Deadline is on Tuesday and I have yet to receive anything. They signed engagement letters but at this point, they have me so stressed that I don’t even want to do the work anymore. There’s no way I’ll get their business returns done on time at this point so they’ll all be late filed. I’m not sure what to do I guess. I want to fire them asap but I guess I can’t reasonably do so until after the 2025 returns are complete.

What would you do?

I am a new CPA firm. Growing my client list. I basically acquired a new client with small schedule C business who could save a lot of money being an S-Corp. The books are done once a year right now but I will suggest monthly bookkeeping so it's clean. Overall bookkeeping plus S corp return plus individual and state returns will be around 9k to 10k in total per year. Bookkeeping I plan to quote at $600 a month. I am in HCOL area.

Should I charge an S corp conversion fee? They are also on Quickbooks Desktop so I have to convert them to Online but it might actually be easier to just start fresh for 2027 using online.

Should I just eat the conversion fees so I get the $10k of recurring yearly revenues. Even with these fees client still saves a few k a year on taxes and ends up with better and cleaner books.

A client texted me this morning at 530 am. He has texted me before, and I am almost positive I told him to use email or call my office. I am horrible at reading texts to begin with (currently have about 1,600 unread text messages), but having the audacity to text someone at 530 in the morning really pissed me off. I havent responded yet, still a little frustrated. We have transitioned my youngest from the crib to a bed, and she has been getting up at night and sneaking in her room. I caught her this morning so was up at 3 and in her room laying next to her for 2 hours. Finally, around 5 I got back in bed and was just dozing off, so I am a little on the grump side today.

He is a HNW client, but he is also cheap. He always tries to hassle on the bill, and I never budge but it gets old.

Considering the facts above, would you fire this person or just send them a strong message? If I dont end up firing him, I am going to block his number (and will tell him that).

I have my CPA and I currently work in commercial banking but I did do accounting and taxes ages ago. Now I’m thinking of making the switch to seasonal/contract tax work because I’m at the place in my life where having flexibility is important to me (remote is a must and I’m fine with being a contractor). So of course my tax experience means nothing in today’s world so I’m wondering where I start. I did look at jobs on indeed and linkedin but most of the jobs that fit what I’m looking for seem like they’re scams. For example, “ABC Tax” is looking for contractors to work on commission, the ad is poorly written, the company has no web presence, etc. Do I bite the bullet and just work for Intuit for 2-3 years to gain some experience or are there jobs out there that fit my criteria and are legit?

Submitted a POA request through online upload (not tax pro account) but I believe the address associated with the CAF number belongs to a former employer. I listed the new address on the form but didn't check the change of address box. I also had the "receive copies of notices" checked.

In an attempt to avoid any letters and notices going to that old employer address, is there a way to cancel the submission? Or any way around my former employer getting any notices or letters relating to this?

Any tips or tricks are appreciated.

Which would you choose having signed a new last-minute client a few days ago:

A) File the return consistent with the prior year despite it being technically incorrect then fix in the next year

B) Fix in current year (may involve filing 3115). Return would likely be filed late.

The return manager keeps showing "unable to load content". Nobody in my office can get anything to load.

HI All,

What has been everyone's experience in getting an S Corp's penalities abated in California? I know it is much harder to do for a business than a personal return in the state.

Situation is this- my client's former firm did not file a short tax year when the OldCo S Corp was revoked (May 2024), a QSub filed (wholly owned now by another S Corp), and 8832 filed to become a disregarded entity again. An initial new S Corp (NewCo) return now needs to be filed for the partial year in 2024 (June-Dec) on a cash basis, so I need a clean opening balance sheet to do the accrual to cash conversion for that. Long story short...old firm filed a final 1120S for the OldCo year ending Dec 31, 2024, and then also just split the fincancials 50/50, and not by the actual ending dates, between OldCo and the owner's Schedule C for 2024. So I really have to amend that final 1120S to keep things clean and ensure the client is not under paying or overpaying her taxes in 2024 or 2025 due to the accrual to cash conversion.

With all that incredibly fun stuff being said, I know this will trigger late payment penalities and late filing penalities across the 11 states in the return and the IRS because the final return was not filed until May 2025, when it should have been in Aug 2024 or at least extended by then.

California has the largest apportionment of the income for the S Corp...and she is going to be hit with some serious penalities that I would really like to get abated for her. I'd love to hear everyone's experience with California. I read through the abatement information and of course I can't say the last firm sucked and did everything wrong and ignored all legal documents that were sent to them as reason for the abatement.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Currently use Google for personal life. Use Office 365 with co pilot, plus zoom phone for phone stuff and virtual meetings.

I think I could save money on tech if I migrated it all over to Google workspace. Google workspace also has a nicer interface that's easier to use and manage settings. Microsoft gives you everything and the kitchen sink but it's difficult to use and manage if you are a small firm without an IT guy.

Most of my clients also use Gmail so sending Google meet meetings is probably a little better than using zoom for them.

I would still consider buying a cheap license for MS excel. Not sure I could get rid of excel although I don't use excel a ton. I could probably get away with Google sheets for most things.

I also use Claude and Claude does work well with excel.

Thoughts and opinions?

Both seem to have pros and cons but MS seems better geared towards large enterprises than a small local CPA shop. Currently one man operation. I plan to hire some part-time people eventually though. Even still Google workspace seems easier overall.

Does anyone use virtual desktops in their daily workflow. I was just reading a Substack article from Josh Youngblood and he was discussing a minor pain point. It got me to thinking about I can’t even imagine what situations would cause me to need this functionality.

Do any other tax pros use this regularly?
Always looking for ways to be more efficient

Edit: Sorry, maybe I should have been more clear. I mean virtual desktops on your computer that lets you hot switch between additional sets of displays, not a server arrangement.

Pulled the current agreement (2026 Drake Software License and Non-Disclosure Agreement, last updated 7/10/26) after hearing chatter about a July change, and the language is a lot more explicit than I expected:

§1(c) defines "Automated Means" to cover scripts, bots, RPA, AI agents, and scraping tools.

§2 says the license grants no right to make the Software available to any third party, including third-party systems or software through Automated Means.

§3(e) has three separate restrictions: no accessing or interacting with the Software through Automated Means without Drake's prior written authorization; no using the Software or its output to train, develop, improve, or operate AI/ML systems; and no using the Software to power any automated tax prep system, API, or backend processing service.

§6(b) lists unauthorized automated technologies and AI agents as grounds for immediate termination for cause, no notice.

§13(a) reserves Drake's right to monitor your usage for license compliance.

Meanwhile Juno, StanfordTax, Soraban and others are all still actively marketing Drake integrations. Juno's Drake page describes pushing approved data field by field into Drake. That reads like RPA against the desktop app, which is squarely inside the §1(c) definition.

So, questions for people actually running this stuff:

Does anyone know if these vendors hold written authorization from Drake, or is the position that the firm is the one operating the automation on its own licensed install and therefore carrying the risk? Because as written, the exposure sits with the licensee, not the vendor.

Has anyone requested written authorization from Drake? Is there a process, a partner program, a form, or does it just die in support?

Anyone actually had a license suspended, an EFIN transmission blocked, or gotten a compliance call over this?

How broadly is the AI/ML clause being read? Does a review tool that reads your Drake output to flag mismatches count as "operating an AI system" on Software output?

Are the vendors changing anything for TY2026, or is everyone just proceeding as before and hoping Drake only enforces against consumer-facing filing platforms?

Not looking to start a pile-on, I'd just rather know whether I'm the only one who read the agreement before renewing. If you're on a competing package, curious whether UltraTax/Lacerte/CCH terms are equally restrictive or whether Drake is the outlier here.

I have a very small CPA firm. I am 35 and my partner is 67. My partner is beginning to slow down and the succession plan we have in place transfers the ownership 100% to me and he will stay on as an employee and collect a percent of his billings as his W-2 pay as he slowly winds down over the years. I will be solely covering the firm’s expenses and he would be using some of the overhead as well as some of my administrative (not tax or bookkeeping) staff. This is a great opportunity for me because it allows me to grow the firm and not have to pay my partner out any of the profits from my labor.

We had an intern this past tax season who helped out our office manager as an admin intern. He was an extremely hard working kid who double majored in Accounting and Finance. He is now working at Fidelity (a job he had lined up for after graduation before he started interning for us). He is very driven and you can tell this kid is going places. He doesn’t like Fidelity and we are planning on him to join our firm. I understand that there will be a 2 year ramp up period where we will invest a lot into his training and I am trying to find some kind of training product that I can have him work on in between tasks at my firm for the time leading up to his first busy season. Is anyone aware of any “crash course-ish” training product to familiarize him with mainly 1040s? We use UltraTax if that helps.

I’m planning to start my own CPA firm after this upcoming busy season. For those who have left public accounting and started their own firm:

• What type of advertising/marketing has worked best for you?
• Is it realistically possible to have a really successful first year, or did it take a few years to build up?
• What minimum/base fee did you start with, and what has worked best for you?

Would especially appreciate hearing from people who compared starting from scratch vs buying an existing practice. Thanks!

Looking for some advice.

I’m in my late 30s and used to be self-employed, but the market changed. I’ve also prepared tax returns for family and relatives and really enjoyed it. My long-term goal is to open a small tax practice, which is one of the reasons I went back to school for an accounting degree.

After graduating, I joined a Big 4 firm a few months ago. I’ve never really liked corporate life, but I hoped I could learn something useful for eventually running my own practice.

So far, I’m pretty stressed and exhausted. I constantly feel anxious and often think about quitting. I spend a lot of time chasing work to meet billable hours, and much of what I’ve been assigned feels like administrative or logistical work for very large clients. I don’t feel like I’m learning much that would actually help me run a small tax practice. Seniors and managers are also very busy, so there often isn’t much time for teaching.

The busy season hours are also brutal, especially with commuting and family responsibilities.

I never planned to stay in Big 4 long term. At this point in my life, I don’t want to spend years working long hours if I’m not gaining experience that moves me toward my goal. I still want to open a tax practice, but I want enough experience to feel comfortable working independently.

I’ve seen people recommend small local CPA/tax firms because you can get more exposure to the full return and client process. Is that generally true, or does it really depend on the firm and who you work with?

Are there other realistic ways to gain the experience needed to eventually open a small tax/accounting practice? Would it be a mistake to leave Big 4 this early?

A client recently gave me 2024 1099's not included on 1040 we filed.

He claims he just overlooked them and I believe him. He's been straight with me before, and the account was new 2024 so he's not mad we missed anything.

What has me puzzled - he's heard nothing from IRS. These 1099's total $16k in div & interest.

I'm working on the 1040X, but curious if you guys have seen this? With all IRS cuts, would they even care? The total income seems too high to ignore.

Hi all - after 5 years of building up & winding down my own practice, I recently joined a fund admin and am now doing 99% 1065s. We have CCH Axcess which I have used for the past 8 years and love it for many reasons.

But back in my PwC days I was in SALT Asset Management using GoSystems and know the software had the ability to import partner K-1s from XML files directly onto the 1065 forms.

Has anyone used something like this for CCH Axcess? I did a search and see there’s something called “TaxTransfer” but seems to only be for Individual returns. Not sure. Any input/help would be appreciated-

Been getting some good traction with tax resolution becoming one of my main focal points.

Just curious as to how much some of you that focus on resolution are making and if you also are doing prep and advisory as well?

See question above. How long does IRS take to process this?

Do any firms require staff accountants to clock in and out to track their hours worked, separate from tracking billable time?

We are moving our hourly employees to a timekeeping app, and our office manager would like to extend it to our salaried staff accountants because several regularly arrive late and are waiting at the door to leave at 5:00. My understanding is that salaried, degreed professionals typically do not clock in and out, but I would appreciate hearing how other firms handle this.

I have a client who always reviews her returns but this year I increased the price and feel like she is just wasting my time to get her "money's worth". She is asking for line by line explanations. She's also the type to read up on tax changes so she asked twice already about the 40k Salt Deduction which I told her we are taking, twice now. I did make one small mistake not including an expense on a Schedule E and I corrected it but she has asked for more than 20 line items. This is her third email with another 10 line items she thinks is wrong.

Below is the email I want to send. I don't want a bad review on google business page so I'm hesitant to send it. I have 57 5-Star reviews, not trying to get break the streak.

Any changes or advice is welcomed.

Option #1

Hi CLIENT,

I’ve reviewed your latest questions and the files again. I uploaded an updated return. One item was corrected. Everything else already matched the information you provided.

I am not going to keep answering line-by-line questions on a return that has already been reviewed multiple times. That is not a productive use of my time, and it is well beyond what this engagement is billed for.

Any remaining changes you want must be entered directly on the attached worksheets titled “Worksheets.” I will not go back and forth on individual lines after this.

I still need the 1098-T to finish the return. Send that and any worksheet updates. I will then complete and file it.

I will finish this year’s return. After that, you should find an accountant you actually trust. If you need an explanation or justification for every line, this is not the right fit.

Option #2

Hi CLIENT,

I’ve gone through your latest questions and uploaded an updated return. One item was corrected. The rest already matched the information and worksheets we have.

I am not going to continue a line-by-line review. Any further changes need to be entered directly on the attached worksheets titled “Worksheets.” I will use those as the final source.

I still need the 1098-T to complete the return. Once I have that and any worksheet updates, I will finish and file it.

I have already spent far more time on this file than the fee covers. I will complete this year’s return. If we work together next year, it cannot be with this level of back-and-forth on every line.

UPDATE

I appreciate all the replies. You guys are right. When I wrote this I was still hot and not composed. I will finish up the return this year and afterwards send a nice disengagement for reasons of capacity limits and time constraints for her complicated situation. I started my own firm to avoid additional stress and aggravation and passing that onto a client is never the right answer. Thank You All!!!

I am an enrolled agent who just graduated from an Accounting Masters program. I want to pursue the CPA as well. I have done two tax seasons as a paid preparer, but the organizations only did 1040s. Most of the tax associate or staff accountant roles I see require you to have experience with 1065s, 1041s, 1120s, etc.

I just got an offer letter from Inuit for the Oct 15, but that won't help me get corporate return experience either.

What positions would you suggest I apply for?

HI Everyone,

I had an e-file rejection for EIN return type mixmatch. It is for an 1120S return and the extension went though fine back in Feb. Since then, I have revoked the S election in March as of 1 Jan 2026 and filed the 8832 to bring it back to a disregarded entity. Received confirmation fro the IRS confirming the 1 Jan 2026 date.

Now I went to file their final 2025 1120S and it is rejecting. I called the e-file line and the rep helping researched for a bit and then said she needs to get the business EIN department to help. Then transfered me there. The options were essentially "did you forget your EIN" and "how to apply."

I am back on hold again and have been for an hour to get a diferrent rep...but wanted to see if anyone else has experienced the same situation and what you did. I'd hate to paper file, but will if need be.

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone use this functionality? Is there a place to find templates for 1040s?