As a CPA, tax professional, or enrolled agent, your earning potential is a critical aspect of your career growth. Tax season may not be the first thing on your mind when it comes to increasing your income, but it should be. By being proactive and anticipating the challenges your clients will face, you can grow your tax resolution business and boost your annual income in the process.
Now is the perfect time to expand your services and help clients with more than just their tax returns. While the IRS doesn’t take a break during tax season, your in-office traffic and client interactions increase, providing you with more opportunities to showcase your skills and promote your additional services. Your clients who are being pursued by the IRS need your help now more than ever, and offering tax resolution services not only builds your business, but also provides invaluable support to those facing down the IRS alone. In this article, we’ll explore the potential benefits of offering tax resolution services, how it can boost your earning potential as a CPA, and how you can leverage accounting software to streamline your workflow and enhance your productivity.
Your Clients Need to Know Where to Turn
As notices start to disseminate from the IRS, your clients need to know that you’ve got their back. But the only way they can know about the services you offer is if you tell them. Start sending emails to your clients and getting the word out that you can help. As an IRS Solutions member, you have access to helpful templates like the ‘Just Checking In’ email template and a Marketing Toolbox full of strategies and marketing resources to advertise your services. For example, during tax time, putting a sign on your desk or adding a welcome letter to your tax packet can help spread the word that you can help not only your clients, but their friends and family members with their tax resolution needs.
You can also take preemptive measures. Whether your client is only now being caught for their failure to file a few years back, or they underpaid on their taxes through the year and now owe way more than they can pay, getting a notice from the IRS can put your clients into a panic. If you took the time to have them fill out a Power of Attorney (form 2848) for tax purposes or Tax Information Authorization (form 8821) before they’re notified, you’ll receive the notice as well, so you can reach out and remind them that you’re ready to help.
You Are Worth What You Charge
Notify your clients about the tax resolution side of your business before those IRS notices reach them, and you give them peace of mind—something clients are willing to pay for, according to EA Drew Foster, co-founder of IRS Solutions Software.
“It’s the peace of mind they’re paying for too, not just the fact that you’re giving them an hour worth of work.” But knowing what to charge is key, because, as Drew points out, while tax return services have become a commodity for which customers can shop around, “Not everyone does tax resolution, and people aren’t going to price shop.”
Unlike with tax returns, where you’re legally prohibited from charging fees based on how much you can save your client, you can charge a flat fee for tax resolution services with an agreement that you get a percentage of whatever money you save your client. And you are saving your clients big money, often over mistakes they made unknowingly.
For example, one client decided to take the remainder of what he owed on his mortgage out of his retirement accounts so he could pay off his house. He didn’t realize that the $300,000 he withdrew would be counted as income and subject to income tax. His tax preparer, equipped with IRS Solutions software, was able to negotiate with the IRS and have him placed in an uncollectible status to keep him from losing his house and all that he’d worked for.
That’s why you need to charge based on your value and talk about your value to your clients. You have the education, and with IRS Solutions, you’ve purchased the tools to make sure you can resolve your client’s IRS woes. By doing that work, you’re helping people not only with their finances but also with their livelihood, which has a positive impact on their families and lives. You should feel good about offering tax resolution services.
“You should value that as part of what you’re charging for,” said David Stone, EA and co-founder of IRS Solutions Software. “Not every accountant is willing to put in the time to better themselves so that they can help their clients.”
How IRS Solutions Can Help
IRS Solutions has FREE Tax Resolution Pricing & Marketing Survival Guide to build your menu of services and help you figure out what to charge. We also offer a Tax Resolution Calculator to determine how much you could boost your annual income by offering these services to your clients.
To get started, visit our website and enter your info to get a download link. IRS Solutions is available in affordable monthly and annual subscriptions so you can serve your clients year-round by providing tax resolution services with confidence.
Don’t Miss Out! Sign up with IRS Solutions Software and gain access to incredible features AND informative monthly Case Study Webinars conducted by a tax resolution specialist on the 4th Thursday of Every Month from 10am-11am PDT.
