Appreciate the replies everyone. I worked out of my house for nine years but had an office in town since 2004 and haven't regretted it at all. When I was at home I could never escape work, the corner office always reminded me of things to do. Plus clients would occasionally show up after hours or on Sundays ("I hate to bother you but..." ).
I hired help three years ago and so far it has worked out well. One of the persons who do taxes for me also works as a bookkeeper downtown and her hours there are very flexible so she can spend a lot of time here during filing season. Her mom is a retired secretary and she works as my receptionist during the season. After April 15th she's ready to take the rest of the year off and that works out well too. The other preparer works part time during the summer elsewhere and things work out well with her schedule too.
The vast majority of my clients understand that hours are reduced after tax season but some always call when I'm not here. I try to call everyone back the next day or e-mail them. I have to admit, I have a weakness for auto racing and follow the Indy Car Series around the Midwest and may cut out pretty early on Friday after I get payroll done if there's a race on. Most of my clients know I'm a race fan as the office is decorated with Indy 500 pictures. If someone calls on Friday I'll often get a message like "call when you get back from the track"
Didn't have a lot of extensions this year for once but this was a stressful season with the stimulus payments being a PITA. Now some people are calling wondering why they didn't get the entire amount that was pitched to the public on the nightly news. We tried to explain how it would work at the time of filing but of course most didn't hear that part, only what they saw on TV or read somewhere.
I hired help three years ago and so far it has worked out well. One of the persons who do taxes for me also works as a bookkeeper downtown and her hours there are very flexible so she can spend a lot of time here during filing season. Her mom is a retired secretary and she works as my receptionist during the season. After April 15th she's ready to take the rest of the year off and that works out well too. The other preparer works part time during the summer elsewhere and things work out well with her schedule too.
The vast majority of my clients understand that hours are reduced after tax season but some always call when I'm not here. I try to call everyone back the next day or e-mail them. I have to admit, I have a weakness for auto racing and follow the Indy Car Series around the Midwest and may cut out pretty early on Friday after I get payroll done if there's a race on. Most of my clients know I'm a race fan as the office is decorated with Indy 500 pictures. If someone calls on Friday I'll often get a message like "call when you get back from the track"
Didn't have a lot of extensions this year for once but this was a stressful season with the stimulus payments being a PITA. Now some people are calling wondering why they didn't get the entire amount that was pitched to the public on the nightly news. We tried to explain how it would work at the time of filing but of course most didn't hear that part, only what they saw on TV or read somewhere.
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