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Epitope posted:How hard is it for y'all to hang out a shingle? Am I naive to think all you need is a computer and some software? that's my plan unless I find some cool job in the near term.
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Jan 20, 2023 21:43
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Epitope posted:How hard is it for y'all to hang out a shingle? Am I naive to think all you need is a computer and some software? Make sure you are properly and adequately insured. You will need professional liability insurance if you gently caress up.
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Jan 21, 2023 02:29
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Yes. You absolutely need insurance. Also clients. I've heard it may take 2 years or so to get enough clients to be entirely self sufficient.
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Jan 21, 2023 05:58
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It might be rough but it seems like you would want to start getting clients and working on weekends to generate some buzz and what not.
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Jan 21, 2023 06:43
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I just went through hanging out my shingle (tax prep only business). I've spent roughly $5k on stuff so far. Some things I went with lower cost/higher work options, some things I spent a bit more for easier solutions. If I had to estimate you could do it probably as low as $3k, maaaaybe 2 if you really go as budget as possible. A decent chunk of that was one time cost, I'm anticipating about $3k yearly ongoing cost with my current setup. Definitely an amount that's easy enough to recoup, especially if you have a start on building a client list. This is also virtual only, so no office rent. That would change the math significantly.
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Jan 22, 2023 23:19
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black.lion posted:But I love bookkeeping, it's like my favorite thing to do, the idea of just having a ton of books that I do monthly and then handing off for tax prep to some other poor fool sounds idyllic I would (figuratively) kill to have a local practitioner like that. Someone who does a good job, is willing to do payroll, and doesn’t want to try to screw up the tax side.
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Jan 23, 2023 00:45
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black.lion posted:Last year I got my license & got some equity in this tiny firm (the only firm I've ever known) Would like to be able to do what you can do. EDIT I GOT THE EMAIL I AM OFFICIALLY A COLLEGE GRADUATE Annointed fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Jan 23, 2023 |
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Jan 23, 2023 02:09
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Grats Annointed! I'd refer so much business to a good bookkeeper, I have a bunch of clients who invest from outside the US and we form structures for them, but they always want us to do the bookkeeping in addition to the tax once its set up, and we just can't for a reasonable price.
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Jan 24, 2023 00:05
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Annointed posted:EDIT I GOT THE EMAIL I AM OFFICIALLY A COLLEGE GRADUATE Congratulations 
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Jan 24, 2023 00:25
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As we approach February, I feel guilty. My new job isn't ramping up. It's actually slowing down. We have a self set goal go have everything done with year end by the end of month. We were supposed to be done by now but hit a hurdle. Still, February and March seem set to be quiet, god willing. My old boss was very nice. Never got mad at you for anything. Let you get away with a lot. But the pay and workload were crazy. 700 clients just for me, having to help her and the financial advisor do tax work, no assitant for the COVID years because she laid them off and we could you replace them, and, after all that, I only got 60k a year at that place. She isn't a bad person and I know she will work herself to sickness in my absence because she literally passed out last year. But like I couldn't keep doing it. The busy seasons were too miserable. I spent a year training a new guy in 2021. And she was supposed to have an assistant but fired them a week before I got the job offer, instead of just training them. They knew I was leaving since late July so they had 6 months to find a new guy. But considering she refuses to put salaries on job offers and loathed to pay more than 60k, sometimes would give bids in the 50s, and straight up balked at once guy with 10 years asking for 80k, she probably can't find someone to take my work load. I can't even consider helping because, if I did, my nonsolicit will reset and I want to keep options open to start a firm in 2024. And I frankly don't want to help. But my new job...the work is easier. More boring. The people are assholes, though. Real jerks all around. But they pay 90,000 a year. And I work pretty much 9 to 5, occasionally staying 10 minutes late every so often. I may hate my coworkers but the job is easy. And I can bounce in a year or two for greener pastures. Just a weird spot for me. I don't really expect a response. Just thinking about it because they accidentally sent me the tax reminder for the year since I used to use their software for taxes. Unsurpisingly, they didn't tell anyone that I left. My old boss prefers not to tell people those things unless they ask. She always thought people would quit our firm if they knew their preparer left. Led to a lot of angry clients that I had to deal with. I really feel sorry for my replacement. Covok fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Jan 25, 2023 |
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Jan 25, 2023 00:10
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Sounds like the old boss was an rear end in a top hat to me!
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Jan 25, 2023 03:30
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Covok posted:As we approach February, I feel guilty. My new job isn't ramping up. It's actually slowing down. We have a self set goal go have everything done with year end by the end of month. We were supposed to be done by now but hit a hurdle. Still, February and March seem set to be quiet, god willing. Don't feel guilty about your old boss, channel that into wishing me luck so I don't die this tax season, thanks and god bless.
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Jan 25, 2023 03:48
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Actually do any of you goon bookkeepers want a possible goon enterprise (tm) as a client? PM me.
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Jan 25, 2023 04:26
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A thing that's great about being a tax preparer is getting to touch base with all of your various clients once a year and find out how they're doing. A thing that sucks is when you find out that a client that you really liked passed away 2 months ago at only 50 years old. Kind of fucks up the whole day.
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Feb 2, 2023 18:45
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Epi Lepi posted:A thing that's great about being a tax preparer is getting to touch base with all of your various clients once a year and find out how they're doing. A thing that sucks is when you find out that a client that you really liked passed away 2 months ago at only 50 years old. Kind of fucks up the whole day. Oof... sorry to hear 
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Feb 3, 2023 00:12
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Epi Lepi posted:A thing that's great about being a tax preparer is getting to touch base with all of your various clients once a year and find out how they're doing. A thing that sucks is when you find out that a client that you really liked passed away 2 months ago at only 50 years old. Kind of fucks up the whole day. Sorry to hear that.
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Feb 3, 2023 01:01
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italian quid posted:Has anyone done the CPA program in Canada? I'm just looking on a gauge on the difficulty of the program versus the CFA exams Circling back to this, I just finished doing a PREP course through CPA and now I'm curious on the difficulty between the PREP and PEP stuff. Sounds like PEP is more case oriented which is fine but is there any difference in difficulty beyond learning how to write a response
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Feb 13, 2023 21:34
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My tax software is assuming that a few tax extenders like the Tuition and Fees and Mortgage Insurance Premium deductions are going to be passed at some point. Anyone more plugged in know whether this is a pipe dream or if we do expect those items to pass? If so, any idea how soon we can hope for it? I'm a little annoyed that these items are being reflected in calculations when we they may not be passed.
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Feb 16, 2023 22:29
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Epi Lepi posted:My tax software is assuming that a few tax extenders like the Tuition and Fees and Mortgage Insurance Premium deductions are going to be passed at some point. Anyone more plugged in know whether this is a pipe dream or if we do expect those items to pass? If so, any idea how soon we can hope for it? I'm a little annoyed that these items are being reflected in calculations when we they may not be passed. Mortgage insurance premiums, perhaps. I have serious doubts tuition and fees will be, as they were specifically removed a couple years ago when they streamlined the education benefits. The big thing I’ve been expecting in an extender bill is to push off the 174 amortization rules that went into effect this year that probably nobody really wanted to go into effect.
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Feb 17, 2023 12:50
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italian quid posted:Circling back to this, I just finished doing a PREP course through CPA and now I'm curious on the difficulty between the PREP and PEP stuff. Sounds like PEP is more case oriented which is fine but is there any difference in difficulty beyond learning how to write a response I'm currently in Capstone 1, hoping to write the CFE in May 2023. AMA. I have to start with the caveat that the first three modules I took were all online only so my workshop and exam structure changed throughout. The basic structure is that over an 8-week module, there's a multiple-choice quiz due every Tuesday night, and a practice case and an integrated problem due every Friday night, with an online Zoom module on a Saturday and Sunday 9-4 later (with two 15-minute breaks and an hour lunch). The "requiring 75% to qualify for the exam" sounds daunting but they already give you a 50% boost on every assignment you submit so even if you get 1/2 on an assignment, it counts as a 3/4. I know you were asking about the difficulty, but I wanted to reiterate that in case there was anyone else who was curious. (Word of warning: Capstone 1's weekend workshop is almost immediately at the beginning of the module. Compared to the other four, it was like throwing us into the deep end so be prepared to have even less free time). Having said that, the case orientation does seem scary but the idea is that all of the practice cases and integrated problems are to help you get into the mindset of what they expect on the exam. It's not hard (though there is someone in our other office who supposedly just failed the Core 1 exam, so  ), but you do need to actually debrief after you get the sample answer after and your assessments because they want to see your improvements. There are times when you will get RC's and NC's because of something you missed and only get 1/2 on modules. That's OK, because the whole point is that as long as you submit the work and do enough of a good job you can continue going. Assessments and debriefs help you figure out where you're weakest. I've had to go over revenue recognition more than a few times because one case tripped me up on recognizing revenue as an agent versus direct sale.As for difficulty, there's the expectation that because it's a case you'll more likely have access to proper reference material* in real life, but the hardest part is really just analyzing what they're looking for and planning. They keep emphasizing planning because it's true, it'll save so much time instead of writing your response from scratch. 90% of the time it's expected that you're writing for a client or something who isn't an accountant so they don't want to see to much technical jargon, but always be mindful of your role so you don't end up overexplaining things if, say, you're writing an assurance memo to a firm partner. Remember, they want you to pass on these exams so they prep you a lot -- I actually found the exams easier because in some cases they'd actually give you a list of what the client is looking for in the case instead of having you hunt for it. As long as you can show clear reasoning, planning, research, and being able to apply and communicate effectively, you should do fine. It's not about getting the "right" answer so much as showing that you can do this kind of work in the real world. Before I forget: please don't be one of those people who overthinks the workshops. They will break you out into groups to do small assignments like "present some research you did" and I have had group members that thought way too much about it. You're being graded on participation, not quality. We had one guy in our Capstone 1 module who would sit there and ask the facilitators questions about things that were way in the future. One of the facilitators had a slide about "what comes after your designation" which includes professional development stuff and this guy had about five questions. I wanted to tell him, "Buddy, I'm sure they'll go over this in the future. One step at a time!" *The online-only pandemic exams had us submit two cases in Word and Excel to the dropbox by a due time but we could access anything we wanted as a reference, including the ebooks (though we still had to cite the appropriate standards or ITA). The later exams were in-person with their software that locked you out but still had access to the searchable IFRS, ASPE, and ITA materials plus multiple-choice which you could do in any order as long as it was done by the end of the exam.
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Feb 17, 2023 18:37
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Does anyone know if the HR Block tax course is at all decent? Or, if there's a better option to get someone relatively ready to prepare simple tax returns in 100 hours or less, I'd be welcome to suggestions. Not for me, I'm a CPA. I have some legacy employees who are reasonably diligent workers and have good relationships with customers so I don't want to fire them. But they're making errors to the point where I'm realizing they need to just really get refreshed on some fundamental concepts.
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Feb 18, 2023 22:41
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It's a decent course but it's 100% done with the intention of you working for them, to the point you have to sign a thing agreeing you're not taking the course to go work for someone else. They'll kick you out if they think they're training employees for someone else.
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Feb 19, 2023 02:45
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Winged Orpheus posted:It's a decent course but it's 100% done with the intention of you working for them, to the point you have to sign a thing agreeing you're not taking the course to go work for someone else. They'll kick you out if they think they're training employees for someone else. OK, well, that won't work then. I think I'll make them take the intuit course then. I previewed the exam questions and it's pretty basic but I'd be really pleased if these guys could get even to that level. Also the Intuit course is free and the HR Block course is $150.
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Feb 19, 2023 18:01
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Hellblazer187 posted:OK, well, that won't work then. I think I'll make them take the intuit course then. I previewed the exam questions and it's pretty basic but I'd be really pleased if these guys could get even to that level. Also the Intuit course is free and the HR Block course is $150. Isn't it like $150 for 80 hours of instructional time? I took the HR Block course when I was a sophomore and I found it really valuable, though the person teaching it had been teaching it for like 20 years.
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Feb 19, 2023 18:29
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Yes, $150 is definitely a good price for the course, if the content is good which it seems to be. But if they make you sign a thing that says you plan to work for them then it's not ideal for my situation. This would be the online course, though. We're located outside of the US so in person instruction would not be possible. I wonder if that pledge is different for the online students.
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Feb 19, 2023 19:05
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Hellblazer187 posted:Yes, $150 is definitely a good price for the course, if the content is good which it seems to be. But if they make you sign a thing that says you plan to work for them then it's not ideal for my situation. Just have them sign, it's not like it's a non-compete. Have them apply and do the interview from Trainspotting. H&R block is a horrible unethical company.
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Feb 19, 2023 21:17
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Not sure if this goes here or not, but maybe! I did really appreciate Bookkeeper Chat a week or two ago. US-based by the way, if that matters/helps. I have a BS in Accounting (heh) but I've only ever really done turbo-corporate-manufacturing-company Weird poo poo That Isn't Really Actual Accounting (SOX Admin, Costing, Forecasting) - I mean, I know they're Accounting-Adjacent enough, but I keep ending up in roles where I'm almost more of a System Admin than anything else. Some very deep SAP experience, but in heavily-customized instances (  ), semi-obscure bolt-on modules, or MM/Operations/Orders/Invoicing screens.From what I gathered lurking this thread for years is that I probably belong in the Corporate Megathread rather then here. Naturally, I lurk both  I suppose if there was interest I could post about the corporate poo poo but I don't post much and this thread seems like it has a nice vibe going already. Anyway, on the the content of the post: Given that I am basically Not An Accountant And Never Have Been (didn't post my first journal entry until like my 4th corporate role), when my buddy who owns a small business (coffee shop) approached me it went like this: : Hey I've been doing my own books and I'm getting buried and gently caress this poo poo, I hate it, I'll pay you instead : Sure, it's an aspect of the profession I've never even gotten close to so it'd certainly be good personal development for me but, full disclosure, I won't have a loving clue what I'm doing at the start : Me either, but you probably know more than me already. I figured it out myself, you'll be fine. Hired!And so here I am. I have a close friend who runs a bookkeeping business and has been doing that sort of work for 5 years now so that's an excellent resource I have to lean on as I get up to speed. But, I'm also a big proponent of self-servicing my own research whenever possible. I'm wondering what online resources would be good for me to reference? For example, we've changed the classification of some things between different expense categories already. Working through other things today when nobody else is available, I tried asking Google "are cleaning supplies COGS for a restaurant" but that produced conflicting answers. My knee-jerk inclination is "no, it's an overhead expense" but at the same time, they're pretty loving crucial to a place that serves food/beverage and the consumption would vary based on volume, so . . . maybe? Thinking back to Intermediate Accounting (or Tax, or one of the other Hell Classes) I recall having to do a bunch of research on a website of some sort that was like The Unholy Bible for GAAP or some poo poo. I figure I'm not the first idiot to ask this question and there HAS to be some sort of Official Guidance out there somewhere (for this and probably most of my questions) but I'm not sure where to look. Any tips on what sort of resources are out there that aren't "smallbusiness.com" or whatever the gently caress shady-sounding websites Google is shoving at me would be much appreciated!
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Feb 19, 2023 23:48
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Zarin posted:For example, we've changed the classification of some things between different expense categories already. Working through other things today when nobody else is available, I tried asking Google "are cleaning supplies COGS for a restaurant" but that produced conflicting answers. My knee-jerk inclination is "no, it's an overhead expense" but at the same time, they're pretty loving crucial to a place that serves food/beverage and the consumption would vary based on volume, so . . . maybe? I'm not being flippant but why does it matter? Like is your friend presenting his financials to someone else? If this is just for internal decision making purposes then it's really up to the business owner what he considers COGS. But generally if the expense is going to vary in proportion to the activities that drive revenues, then yes, if not, no. In this case cleaning supplies would probably be used up at about the same rate regardless of how much coffee/pastries he sells (probably increase a bit if it's super busy) so I would probably consider it part of OPEX not COGS. But of course if he takes a day off or whatever then cleaning supplies won't get used.
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Feb 20, 2023 04:00
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My tax prep boss was interested in offering me a full time financial position. What could I do to maximize my chances of turning my current occupation to that full time non profit accounting?
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Feb 20, 2023 04:30
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pseudanonymous posted:I'm not being flippant but why does it matter? Like is your friend presenting his financials to someone else? Yeah, he has a CPA he's going to be sending this all to. Just trying to make sure we have the high-level statements correct in preparation for that. I had thought that COGS was called out separately from other expenses on the tax return but now that I'm looking at the screenshot I took of the example used it doesn't appear to be . . . although I only grabbed Part II and not Part III. And also the example was for a Sole Prop and the guy I'm doing stuff for is an S-Corp so I don't know how different it is. I was told "it's mostly the same" but technically so is a banana and a T-Rex. Yeah, if it doesn't matter for tax time then that's a Future Me problem as I dig in to start setting up reporting and doing deeper analysis on what is driving revenue, expenses, which items are ahead or behind on margin, etc.
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Feb 20, 2023 07:29
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Cost of Goods Sold is line 2 of Form 1120-S, which is what you (or rather his tax preparer) would be filing for an S-Corp.
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Feb 20, 2023 08:01
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Gabriel Grub posted:Cost of Goods Sold is line 2 of Form 1120-S, which is what you (or rather his tax preparer) would be filing for an S-Corp. Alright, yeah, I thought we'd talked about that one being key. The screenshot I grabbed during the conversation was only lines 8-27. Eh, it's been a few minutes since I felt like an absolute dumbass. Surely, this time will be good for my personal and professional development as well.
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Feb 20, 2023 09:29
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This is exactly what I was looking for so cheers. I did the tax PREP course and am doing Audit PREP now and it sounds like PEP will be roughly the same as the PREP courses but maybe a bit more analytical. What you said about them wanting you to pass the exam makes sense, almost all the activities seem to be somewhat geared towards that end. To an extent I get why they have you do all the prep busy work to be able to wrote the exam (and I'm sure that probably pads their pass rates) but having done the CFA exams where they're basically like "here's the textbook, a test bank and the exam format, good luck" it strikes me as a bit too much hand holding. I guess that's a thing throughout the program though so I'm just going to have to phone it in to get to that 75% and write the exam.
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Feb 20, 2023 21:32
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I just found out I need to register for my May 2023 CFE this month. On top of that if I want a Public Accounting Licence, I need to pick Assurance for my day 2 role. poo poo. Oh well I'll just stick with tax, get audit experience after the fact that take whatever the additional post-designation exam is. Not like the experience requirement will be easy to get on its own anyway. italian quid posted:This is exactly what I was looking for so cheers. I did the tax PREP course and am doing Audit PREP now and it sounds like PEP will be roughly the same as the PREP courses but maybe a bit more analytical. I wouldn't go that far, to be honest. Overall they're not hard, but there will be individual cases that will definitely throw you for a loop (I've even had course facilitators mention this during mass emails about overall trends: "I'm not surprised this one was worse because some of that wording was just confusing even to me"). The real tricky ones will be the two elective modules because you're asked to write cases up to 120 minutes in length that go deeper into whatever you're being asked. I've heard tax is the worst but thankfully since I work in tax it was the easiest  .To be honest, the hardest part for me is the professional experience. It's not just "30 months of work? Good enough". They actually want you to justify the skills you're claiming when you submit your 6-month reports. Currently I'm focusing on the CFE and I'll worry about finding an auditing job later.
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Feb 20, 2023 22:33
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Zarin posted:Yeah, he has a CPA he's going to be sending this all to. Just trying to make sure we have the high-level statements correct in preparation for that. I took enough accounting to qualify to sit for the CPA exam but ended up running a small business instead. And doing the books along the way. My experience is that nobody really cares as long as you get these things vaguely correct. I’m in the process of handing off my bookkeeping to a CPA firm and the level of rigor applied to categorization is….not that high. At least for things like cleaning supplies.
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Feb 21, 2023 08:34
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Well, just registered for Capstone 2 and the CFE. Because no one's covering my fees, I'm out $3,277. Hopefully it takes a few days to clear because my credit card statement date is tomorrow and I'd rather have an extra month to pay it. Ended up registering for the taxation role because to hell with it, I'll just look into getting my Public Accounting Licence once I get the requisite auditing experience anyway.
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Feb 21, 2023 20:50
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Mandalay posted:My experience is that nobody really cares as long as you get these things vaguely correct. I’m in the process of handing off my bookkeeping to a CPA firm and the level of rigor applied to categorization is….not that high. At least for things like cleaning supplies.  Normal non-accountants aren't going to care that much as long as you stick it somewhere reasonable. Experienced bookkeepers aren't going to worry about it much because they've realized it's not worth anyone's time to obsess over expense line item captions, as long as the material poo poo is in a logical place. For small businesses, the place where expense categorization gets somewhat important is just making sure you don't mix in any non-deductible expenses with deductible expenses when it hits the tax return. Zarin posted:For example, we've changed the classification of some things between different expense categories already. Working through other things today when nobody else is available, I tried asking Google "are cleaning supplies COGS for a restaurant" but that produced conflicting answers. My knee-jerk inclination is "no, it's an overhead expense" but at the same time, they're pretty loving crucial to a place that serves food/beverage and the consumption would vary based on volume, so . . . maybe?
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Feb 22, 2023 15:31
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I'm a property accountant for a company where we have multiple different monthly reporting deadlines for different properties, and man am I getting sick of it! It actually makes me miss tax, where at least the deadlines were concentrated. The deadline treadmill just never ends and it makes it hard to take significant vacations. I haven't taken a week off since January 2020- admittedly partly my fault, but the consequences from taking a bunch of time off are just rough. Don't really have much else to say, just venting. Even considering going to coding bootcamp because I'm not totally convinced I'll be able to find an accounting job with both good work life balance and a solid salary.
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Feb 23, 2023 04:03
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Blotto_Otter posted:
Heh, he's not a normal non-accountant then; very detail-oriented. But, we vibe in that way. I think he's fine getting just the broad strokes correct if that is truly good enough for tax time (and it's sounding like it is); I'll spend the rest of the year classifying stuff in a way that works for the reporting he (we) would like to see. In looking at it a bit more, I guess I just didn't want to over-state or under-state whatever tax benefit COGS provides, and the goal was to try and clean everything up, do any reclassification necessary, and put a bow on it before he files. Given that that's two weeks away, we're probably gonna opt for the more high-level option Blotto_Otter posted:In the long run, everything is a variable expense. If you argue it long enough, all of a business' expenses can be linked in some way to the hamburgers that it manufactures. Life is short, toss that poo poo into overhead and call it a day. Fair enough, and I appreciate the candor. Another issue is that it seems like he was trying to do ALL classification via QBO Category (account) and I think I've convinced him that we can do a better job using other functionality for that and the accounts themselves can be much more broad/high-level.
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Feb 24, 2023 03:30
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I've found that small business owners tend to get way too detailed/philosophical about their expenses and end up using and creating tons of unnecessary expense accounts. Also expensing things that are not expenses.
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Feb 24, 2023 05:20
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