Client Organizers: Success or Failure?

[MAJ]

So, we started talking about this in relation to another post.

Who uses client organizers?
When do you send them out to your clients?
How successful are you in getting them back?
What do you include in them? What type of information do you ask?
The ones I've generated usually end up being anywhere from 4-12 pages.
Do you ask they send them to you prior to meeting for the appointment?

I have not had much success with them and I am trying to figure out why or what I am doing wrong.. Not to mention the cost of mailing them these days!!

I've requested TRX (TaxWorks) to include a password protected PDF generator in their software this year. Good luck to me.. Nitro PDF Express for $49.00 may be the right answer so I can just email them to most of my clients.

[JoshinNC]

Organizers

Who uses client organizers? - we do
When do you send them out to your clients? - when they ask for them, we bring it up and they are interested or are a new client
How successful are you in getting them back? - 90%
What do you include in them? What type of information do you ask? - we use the TTB provided one
The ones I've generated usually end up being anywhere from 4-12 pages. - 7 or pages, I think
Do you ask they send them to you prior to meeting for the appointment? - no, bring to the meeting

We also have it posted on our site so clients can download them

[JohnH]

Is there any significant difference between Nitro Express and pdfFactory from Fine Print? Price is about the same, and I'm just wondering if Nitro Express offers any added value.

[taxcraft]

Organizers

I send out organizers to everyone about the middle of January. In the case of an omissions trial I hope my attorney will point out the possible client fraud because he/client deliberately refused to complete the questions. I want every speck of evidence to support my position of due diligence. I have a long history of sending out the questionnaires. My goal is to bury them in written evidence favorable to me and not to them.

[Nashville]

Don't Use Them

I can see the advantages of documentation from the client's own pen, but I believe the downside exceeds the upside. And I realize I am in the minority here, so read on for interest and not necessarily for recommendation.

My clientele is upper-income, in fact in many cases above MY paltry profits. Most of them are self-assured types to whom TurboTax appeals. Many of them have used it before and will never go back.

Many of these organizers are more consuming to fill out than for the client to just do his own taxes. We all know better and we all know it shouldn't be this way, but the client is the one who chooses us and who pays for the service. The organizers are better documented, but the client decides how much time he wishes to spend on the entire experience.

Much of the data on the organizers also has to be corrected. He doesn't know what falls under the captions and frustrates himself or just "wings it" when filling the thing out.

I can't slogan myself as a "worry free" appointment, because as we all know there really isn't such a thing. But sending them an organizer is clearly a step 180 degrees away from a "worry free" tax appointment.

[Jiggers]

Organizers

I am very selective on who I send Organizers to. Very few clients that I trust will complete them properly.

I have seen duplicate, triplicate, and more times the same information in the same organizer.

The first page the client comes to shows mortgage interest, property taxes, and health insurance, all for Schedule A. He enters everything.

Then since this information is for his Schedule C or Schedule F, he enters the same information, including the portion of interest and taxes pertaining to his residence!

Then since he also has a home office worksheet in his organizer, he puts the same interest and property taxes on those sheets.

[JohnH]

Most of my clients have been with me a long time and I have a pretty good handle on their basic filing situation. Therefore, I send them a one-page checklist that they can use to help them remember what they need to send me, but it only has checkboxes - not even a place to write in any numbers. It also has a spot for birthdates and SocSec numbers for taxpayers and dependents. I email it to many of them and snail mail it to the rest - I get about half of them back with their tax info.

If I had a high client turnover or rapidly expanding practice, I'd probably tend toward using more elaborate organizers as a partial CYA measure. But I wouldn't depend on the organizer to provide a high degree of protection. And I'd expect some clients to look at it and decide "If I'm going to fill this thing out I may as well buy Turbo Tax & do it myself" or else go somewhere else to get their return prepared.

[taxmandan]

I only send organizers to my businesses (Sch C, 1120S, 1065). The 1040 clients get a two page list of questions that relate to tax issues and the relevant form they should have relating to that issue (1009C, W-2, etc.). Most of the organizers have at least some information entered by the client and more and more clients are using them each year.

Everything gets mailed in January with my welcome back letter and an engagement form to sign. That keeps the postage down to 1 ounce first class for the 1040 clients.

[MAJ]

Organizers

I may consider a smaller organizer this year to my clients I can email as long as I can password protect the document when I sent it. As well as a check list. A few years back I used Tax Act Pro which had an organizer that only utilized the specific lines that a client had data in the year before. That was nice because it kept the size down. But for the clients that had some type of change it may cause you to overlook things. There are definately clients who would just ignore them.

As a secondary means of providing Due Dilegence I scan & keep all copies of every document. I have a short paper for Schedule A deducitons I ask them to review & fill out while I'm doing data entry. This allows them time to think about charitable donations & medical expenses and puts it in their handwriting. Scanned & kept.

My EIC clients get questions no matter what from now on. And anything remotely questionable requires some type of supporting documentation with respect to EIC income.

I'm tyring to take the down time now during slow time to get better organized and figure how to better manage my time so I can squeeze more clients in. Mail ins are the way to go - that's for sure... I will try to increase that this year with the mailers.

ON average about how long do you spend with a standard 1040 / Schedule A Client??

[JohnH]

Mail ins are extremely helpful - amazing how much time you save when the info comes in without the distraction of the clientl. Also, a secure drop for anyone who wants to leave their info at your office at 2am.

You've already mentioned email in another context, and I agree wholeheartedly - can't say enough positive things about it. I do everything I can to get the clients accustomed to communicating via email. I'll get their email address and will resort to it for even the simplest follow-up questions. My purpose is to migrate the clients over to email when they have a question for me (in the off-season for example). I'll generally respond to an email within an hour or less (even if only to say I'm thinking about their question), whereas I may take 24 hours to return a phone call. People notice this sort of thing and will readily change their behavior if just given a little nudge.

My main efficiency-enhancer is to devise every way possible to keep the clients out of my office so I can get some work done.

[RitaB]

None for me

I don't send out organizers, either. I don't have any confidence that my clients could complete them. One year, I got a new client whose prior accountant sent them out, and he brought it in. Thought he had done a bang up job. It was the worst mess I've ever tried to decipher. Like Jiggers said, information duplicated all over the place. The guy was a doctor. Had no clue. I was amazed.

[MAJ]

Nitro PDF

Is there any significant difference between Nitro Express and pdfFactory from Fine Print? Price is about the same, and I'm just wondering if Nitro Express offers any added value.

I am currently evaluating Nitro PDF (Full Version) for the company I work for. This may replace Adobe Acrobat Full Version.

The Nitro Express from what I can see has secuirty to password protect documents as well as convert from certain file types to others. I will examine more and obtain an evaluation copy and provide some additional review material here. Here's a link to an overview of the product: http://www.nitropdf.com/express/overview.htm

Who else uses 3rd party PDF generators? Do you password potect any financical documents when/IF you mail them?

[MAMalody]

I use tax organizers for all clients. The organizer goes with my software and is organized in the same way as the organizer. I get all of the organizers back. As a rule, they are filled out okay.

[MAJ]

The guy was a doctor. Had no clue. I was amazed.

Wait - The Guy was a Doctor & had no CLUE & YOU were amazed!?? Now I AM!!

Sorry - Couldn't resist! My findings seem to point that the more educated "SOME" people are the less common senese they have. My Mom is the defacto case in point on that theory!!

What do you call a Doctor who graduted 500th in a class of 500?? Yup! Doctor!!

[equinecpa]

I only use organizers for one or two clients who request them. I do offer them to new clients as well.

This year I do want to devise some kind of questionnaire that will hit on major 2010 tax changes...I found this year it was tough to remember to ask clients did you buy a new car, make energy efficient house improvements etc. There are so many little changes it's hard to remember them all. I'm hoping to send this out in January when the Feds have hopefully finished making all their changes...