A Tiring Problem

[SueBaby]

Two clients that I have are still lingering to do their taxes; on the last minute. I have called, called and some more calling to get them in here to finish up the year. They always have an excuse or some work to do.

They have even made an appointment and canceled or don't show up at all-----then start the calling again.

QUESTION: Should I just ignore them and don't worry and don't call again or wait til lthey call OR just forget the whole thing and if they miss the date OH WELL!! NOT my taxes; but I do want to finish out this year to start the next year.

By now I am getting ready for the following year not to worry about lagging clients. NO more extensions after this year for me

[travis bickle]

Stay with the extensions, Sue

They always have an excuse or some work to do. . . .They have even made an appointment and canceled or don't show up at all-----then start the calling again. . . .By now I am getting ready for the following year not to worry about lagging clients. NO more extensions after this year for me

But change how you manage your time.

When you get ready to send out letters to your clients, inform them that during the off-season, you will have the office open only X number of days per week (let's say M T W T only).

Continue that if someone wants to come in on a M or T (for example), AN APPOINTMENT IS REQUIRED. W or T can then be for walk-ins, etc.

Explain to your clients that you need to adhere to this to accomodate the many demands you face -- personal appointments, preparing for audits, research, taking CPE courses, etc. etc.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS, IF THEY WANT YOU THEY WOULD HAVE COME IN.

[ChEAr$]

Today

is October 8th, a week before the Oct 15 extended deadline, assuming extensions are
in place.

Hmm... now.....

let's see........

Okay, i thought about it. Forget 'em. Unless you like baby sitting.

[SueBaby]

is October 8th, a week before the Oct 15 extended deadline, assuming extensions are
in place.

Hmm... now.....

let's see........

Okay, i thought about it. Forget 'em. Unless you like baby sitting.

Thanks I was going to forget them but now I know I will----don't like baby sitting anyway. One will surely get mad but like I said NOT my taxes!!

[RitaB]

Good Suggestions, Travis & Harlan

I actually like doing extensions because it spreads out our work some. Of course, this is my full time, year round job. (Lucky me.) I can't get them all done by April 15, so extensions work for me.

However, after 14 years of this, I still have about ten clients that ALWAYS wait till now (or later!) to bring their stuff in. It's the same ones every year; they never get their act together. I do not call to remind them (yes, I would if it were the first time they had filed an extension), and I charge more when their records are a mess (which is the case for most of them). I also charge more the later they finally show up.

It seems to me that these ten clients know they are a PITA, and are kinda proud of themselves. You know, they are just too busy to bother with things the little people have to do, like taxes. I reward their attitude with higher fees. Makes ME a little happier.

[Nashville]

Image is Important

I have called, called and some more calling to get them in here to finish up the year. They always have an excuse or some work to do.(

Sue, all of us understand and have got clientele with typical human nature problems, many of them with procrastination and flippancy with respect to their taxes.

I'm not a big fan of image, but the sad fact is that image sells, and does a better job than substance, unfortunately. You are hurting your image as a professional by calling and calling and calling. The MOST effort you should spend on this is to mail out a reminder sometime between Sep 15 and Sep 30 for those who have extended.

One incident (more so than others) sticks out in my mind: A client who was dissolving a partnership and desperately needed professional tax advice. Trying to make an appointment with her: "Not Wednesday night I go to church" "Not Thursday night I'm going to take my nephew to a movie" "Not Saturday my daughter plays soccer". This same woman also needed an attorney. She took off work without pay to meet her appointment, and then sat in his office three hours without complaint before she could see him. I finally told her doing things wrong could result in her having to pay an extra $12-$15K in taxes, and when she thought that was important enough, then she could CALL ME and make an appointment at joint convenience. That got her attention.

Serving the public and enduring the aforementioned frailties of human nature is a pain, and although this board will relate many of us who "fire a client" the true facts are that NONE of us really like to do this and curtail our revenue. Notwithstanding, you should give the appearance that you are there for them and happy to serve them with cordial and professional service. You shouldn't be begging for them to give you a minute of their time like you're collecting for the March of Dimes.

[Nashville]

Rita

Good grief R Cooper, where you been? Haven't heard from you since tax season!!

The extension crowd (and yes they are the same ones every year) unwittingly contribute to the smoothing out of pressure for the year 'round tax office.

I sometimes tell my clients the difference:

i) try to reach me BEFORE April 15th, and my secretary will try her best to make time for you and squeeze you in...and don't break the appointment because heaven knows when she'll be able to make another one for you. I will condescend to spend some time with you at my convenience.
ii) reach me AFTER April 15th, and I'll be at your doorstep begging you for work, and will meet you in the middle of the night if need be. Please, Please let me do some work for you.

[SueBaby]

Sue, all of us understand and have got clientele with typical human nature problems, many of them with procrastination and flippancy with respect to their taxes.

I'm not a big fan of image, but the sad fact is that image sells, and does a better job than substance, unfortunately. You are hurting your image as a professional by calling and calling and calling. The MOST effort you should spend on this is to mail out a reminder sometime between Sep 15 and Sep 30 for those who have extended.

One incident (more so than others) sticks out in my mind: A client who was dissolving a partnership and desperately need professional tax advice. Trying to make an appointment with her: "Not Wednesday night I go to church" "Not Thursday night I'm going to take my nephew to a movie" "Not Saturday my daughter plays soccer". This same woman also needed an attorney. She took off work without pay to meet her appointment, and then sat in his office three hours without complaint before she could see him. I finally told her doing things wrong could result in her having to pay an extra $12-$15K in taxes, and when she thought that was important enough, then she could CALL ME and make an appointment at joint convenience. That got her attention.

Serving the public and enduring the aforementioned frailties of human nature is a pain, and although this board will relate many of us who "fire a client" the true facts are that NONE of us really like to do this and curtail our revenue. Notwithstanding, you should give the appearance that you are there for them and happy to serve them with cordial and professional service. You shouldn't be begging for them to give you a minute of their time like you're collecting for the March of Dimes.

I fully agree with you BUT this is after I sent out a reminder of their appt and they still broke it (twice) and didn't even call to tell me. I get dressed and get in my office only to wait and wait on my time then they don't show or call either. Then I do get a little beside myself when I have other important things to do. During taxes is THEIR time but after taxes is mine; that means I set the appt for them when I can or want to see them and it is never good for them. So people like that changes my rules.

[AuditorTurnedGood]

I am lucky,

the only clients I will extend are those that are waiting on K-1's from entities I don't do the returns for, which is the same three people each year. All of my clients are informed when I come on that "I just haven't had time to get the records together" is not going to fly as a reason to extend in my book, unless something extraordinary happens. We get it in the can by April 10th, or bust. That said, I'm finishing up returns today and tomorrow. Biggest issue with extensions: we're constantly chasing a deadline!

P.S. Skipping out on a meeting is about the most disrespectful thing a client can do to us. That's why mine get charged whatever time I spend waiting for them if they don't have a good reason (sudden illness, death in family, true emergencies, etc)

[RitaB]

Been on the down low, so to speak

Good grief R Cooper, where you been? Haven't heard from you since tax season!!

I did sorta drop off the face of the earth there, for a while, huh? Been going thru some personal issues (divorce), but I'm ok, just haven't had a lot to say. (Well, to YOU, anyway. Haha!)

Anyway, thanks for asking. It is nice to be missed.

I did manage to get through tax season and even get my own tax return done, so Sue Baby, your slacker client can get it together, too. I would be so furious in your situation! Very inconsiderate.

[Lion]

Hey, Rita

Hey, Rita. Been there, done that. You do come out the other end. Hang in there!

[Davc]

I fully agree with you BUT this is after I sent out a reminder of their appt and they still broke it (twice) and didn't even call to tell me. I get dressed and get in my office only to wait and wait on my time then they don't show or call either. Then I do get a little beside myself when I have other important things to do. During taxes is THEIR time but after taxes is mine; that means I set the appt for them when I can or want to see them and it is never good for them. So people like that changes my rules.

Don't bother to get dressed next time.

[ChEAr$]

Hey, Rita. Been there, done that. You do come out the other end. Hang in there!

Oh my; I am SO confused now, Rita.

[JohnH]

This old standby never fails to relieve the pressure (and renew a few ideas about how to handle these situations)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TkuZ5oI9uY

Personally, I don't mind billing them in Nov, Dec, or whenever they're ready to get their info to me. It's all just billable hours - timing is up to the client. Penalties are their responsibility as well. I remember preparing one 2007 return in Feb of this year.

[OtisMozzetti]

defensive techniques

They have even made an appointment and canceled or don't show up at all-----then start the calling again.
(

One defensive technique is that I always call clients 48 to 24 hours before any appointment as a "friendly reminder". If all I get is an answering machine, the message boils down to the friendly statement that the client needs to call me back before such and so time in order to reconfirm his or her appointment. Thus, if the client is going to cancel, I usually at least find out in advance. Moreover, the friendly reminder call is often an opportunity to remind the client to bring along those documents which will make our meeting go smoothly, and to clear up worries that the client may have.

Even with that technique, there need to be some consequences for clients who make appointments and then don't show up. Those consequences need to involve getting those clients to pay the charges (easier said than done, I know) for their "no show" behavior.

Even the client who changes a scheduled appointment three or four times needs to be made aware that there is some piper to be paid. For one thing, that client may likely have to "fly standby", i.e. may have to walk in without any future appointment.

Another useful exercise if and when the client does show up or speak on the phone is to politely but very assertively point out to the client that I consider my time and expertise very valuable, too valuable to tie up with "no show" appointments, or with excessively rescheduled appointments.