When I am working with a new client I take them through the 3 phases of tax representation . I share what those 3 phases are with my clients so they know what to expect. I teach tax professionals who I mentor to do the same. Those 3 phases are: 1 - Transcript Investigation 2 - Compliance 3 - Negotiation with the IRS After doing this for over half a decade it seems simple to me. I've come to realize that a lot of tax professionals don't follow this process. They attempt to go

An occupational phenomenon that results from chronic workplace stress. That's what the World Health Organization, also known as WHO, labeled burnout in 2019. If you have survived a tax busy season you know that can be a very stressful time. So does that mean that you have to be a victim of burnout just because you work in the tax industry? The answer is no, but ultimately the choice is yours. The majority, but not all, tax professionals that I know who have become Enrolled Ag

Tax Representation leads are just different. They don't proudly brag about their problems, making them difficult to find if you don't know where to look. Yes, we can use tax liens to find out who in our area owes over a certain amount. But then what? Are you going to use scare tactics to scare them into working with you? If that's your cup of tea and the way you like to move, best wishes to you! That's not the way I like to approach it. I don't want anyone to feel pressured

Once I pass the Special Enrollment Exam and receive my EA license I will have clients coming from everywhere. That's the fairytale that most new Enrolled Agents I meet believe. They don't understand that is not how it works at all. After the receive their license and the fairytales don't start rolling in they go into panic. Maybe I shouldn't have done this. I don't know how to get clients. How can I get clients? Well, I will tell you this. They do not fall out of the sky. Mar

When you start a business or launch a new service offering you are eager to help everyone that you possibly can. We take on work that we can't manage alone because it is not easily identifiable. If you are reading this you are probably fairly new to doing tax representation work. Tax representation is a unique service offering. The workflow and communication process is much different than tax preparation. Understanding the journey that a taxpayer goes through is key to creat

How much should I charge? This is a common question I get from tax professionals, new and seasoned. I also see it in various tax groups when it comes to tax preparation and tax representation. But I get it. It took me a while to become comfortable with my tax representation prices. That allowed me to be confident in quoting clients and delivering value. Today I'm going to walk you through the process I use to price a tax representation case. Note, that this is a framework. Wh

When you receive your EA license you become one of America's tax experts, according to the National Association of Enrolled Agents . But the license doesn't make you the expert. The knowledge you gain by helping clients makes you the expert. So if you're feeling like an imposter now, don't worry we'll get you helping people in no time. Check out last week's article to learn how to get your first tax representation client . But what do you do once they start reaching out? You'

Nobody is above making mistakes, especially in this tax business. However, it is my goal to help as many Enrolled Agents as I can avoid some of the mistakes that I have made in my career. If you're currently making the mistakes I made I hope that my transparency helps you stop. Last week I had to deal with a nightmare client. I shared this with my community. After reflecting I realized that the client had become a nightmare because I allowed it. Today I'm going to share with

For the past 4 weeks or so I have been going live each week on LinkedIn and Facebook to give insight into being an Enrolled Agent. Before...

Analysis paralysis gets the best of us at one time or another. I see it all too often with my fellow Enrolled Agents after they pass the...

CPA, EA, AFSP, USTCP... there are so many different professional credentials that exist right now that if you’re searching the internet for tax help it can be very easy to get confused and even flustered if you don’t know what they all mean. Sometimes, professionals, myself included, get so caught up in tax jargon that we forget to break things down so the average taxpayer can understand. Charge our heads not our hearts!