Tax School

[billbrennan]

Hi my name is Bill,

I am a CPA with a full staff and was looking to send one of my new employees to tax school. I usually use Pronto, but have a few calls in and have not heard back from them. Does anyone know if they're still up and running or if not, can someone suggest another tax course or place that is cost-efficient and highly recommended?

Thanks!

[Snaggletooth]

The H&R Block school is always around. And yes, they don't much more than break the surface in the allotted time, and the training will not be for complex issues. However, it may be affordable pricewise, and you've got to ask yourself "Will this new employee encounter things during during the employ.?" Of course, if this happens, such matters should be referred to you.

[Rapid Robert]

The H&R Block school is always around. And yes, they don't much more than break the surface in the allotted time, and the training will not be for complex issues.

The latter statement is not true in states like California which regulate unenrolled tax preparers, the class is 60 hours minimum and includes state tax preparation as well (an area that is often overlooked by newbies). They also cover basic depreciation as part of Schedule C & Schedule E preparation. Plus, H&R strongly selects for people who are likely to become H&R employees, not sure if it is still a requirement or not.

Just as important is learning your software, which isn't likely to be taught in just any old class (H&R won't teach you Lacerte, that's for sure). Assuming your employee is not starting from zero, you also might consider giving them Pub 17, access to TheTaxBook web library, and a half dozen typical completed returns for your practice, then let them "reverse engineer" the returns by entering them from scratch into your software, which forces a lot of practical learning. Since you will most likely need to pay your employee for training time, having them do the work at your site gives you more control and you can guide them to "your way" of doing things.