How to find a quicken savvy accountant?

I'm using an accountant for taxes this year for the first time and am thoroughly unimpressed. My taxes have gone on extension and it's irritating because I'm expecting a pretty hefty refund. This is also an all-manual shop, so aside from teh ease of being able to fax them reports from what I've done Quicken's not adding as much value for me as it could and , something's telling me that there may be a more efficient way to communicate with my accountant.

Now, I know some full time small biz owners who use business accountants that set them up with Quickbooks, and their communicaiton channel to the accountant is in the form of a quickbooks file.

My little ole side businesses aren't fancy enough to require Quickbooks, and as a sole proprietorship, everythings mixed with my personal tax return anyway. As such I would be interested in finding an accountant that I could communicate with by handing them a CD with my latest quicken file on it.

Do such folks exist, and if so is there a good method of finding em? I'm in a big city, so it can't be that hard!

Any success stories out there?

Best Regards,

Reply to
Todd H.
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I'm horrified that you'd even /consider/ using an accountant that does tax prep manually. Taxes are so complicated that I thought all accountants would be using software packages to prepare and file - at least mine does and he is a crusty old guy in semi-retirement (he own the partnership, but only seems to come into the office January - April every year ;) ). He doesn't understand or care particularly much about Quicken, but he will take anything that has tax-line items and work with it, as well as the supporting documentation.

Reply to
Mike B

Maybe you should be interviewing the acccountant to make sure that they can handle Quicken files before you agree to use them. I would also agree with Mike that any shop that does a fair amount of taxes should be using some sort of software.

Just out of curiosity, why did your return go into extension? Did you get it to the accountant at the last minute or was it because they are a manual shop? I would reconsider having them do your taxes for 2004 if it was their fault that they had to file an extension. I also would not pay them anything if it was their fault.

Reply to
Laura

I'll take that assignment. We use CCH ProsystemFx, and pay around twelve thousand dollars per year for tax software. My email address is live, reply if you are interested

Reply to
Z Man

I'm quite surprised to hear that you managed to FIND an accounting firm in this day and age that does NOT use computers.

If you took a dart and threw it at the accountants section of the Yellow Pages, I daresay the firm you hit would be computerized.

Steve

Reply to
news.optonline.net

This is the wrong time of year to be interviewing CPAs. I did talk to one earlier and found what I usually find: CPAs have their own idea of what software is "good" and they don't want to import my Quicken/TurboTax work. They want to input everything (actually, they hire family members for this!) and claim that this guarantees that every thing is done properly. They do not want to be responsible for a filing that depends on ME having put everything in right.

[Vote for a flat tax. Put CPAs out of work!]
Reply to
William W. Plummer

Heck no! I rate the money I pay my CPA for tax prep as some of the best money I spend every year. I look at the forms that come back and it would take me a week and I still may not get it right. Come January they send me a form and I just fill in the boxes (each box also shows the answers from last year next to it) and mail it back to them. A few weeks later I get my copy and they file it electronically and I get my refund in my bank account.

No way am I going to sit here adding line 7 to line 23 and subtracting line

17 if line 19 is greater than $2,000 and I have submitted Schedule A and filled in worksheet B......
Reply to
Mike B

"Mike B" wrote

Are you being serious or facetious?

Reply to
Rick Hess

Serious about finding my CPA good value for money, facetious about the specifics of the complexity of IRS forms. I do find them mind-numbingly tedious, and would not want to try and figure them all out. I'm sure it can be done, but not in the time it takes me to stuff the required paperwork in the envelope my CPA sends me.

Reply to
Mike B

I thought this is what programs like TurboTax are for. $30 buys quite a lot of "tax knowledge." Personally, I like having the opportunity of doing "what ifs."

Peter

Reply to
P Ruetz

"Mike B" wrote

I agreed with your post (I don't want a flat tax).

I just found it ironic that you stated how complex a return can be (so complex that it's easier to pay a CPA to get it done) as an argument against a flat tax.

The last time I was in a tax class, I had to leave the room. The instructor, with a completely straight face, was explaining something that was so utterly stupidly complex and illogical, that I could not control my laughter.

Reply to
Rick Hess

Yea, in hindsight, that was a bit dumb. But CPAs was on my mind (I just today sent my electronic check for TY 2004) and I wanted to both show my support of CPAs and my rejection of flat taxes.

So let me try again:

Flat taxes are unfair on the majority of the population as graduated tax rates are more equitable on lower-income earners and the marginal value of money is higher to lower-income earners than high-income earners. The same reason I object to sales taxes - they penalize already poor people for the benefit of relatively wealthy people.

I also think that while our tax code remains complicated with little chance of ever getting straightened out and while there is a risk of an IRS audit with severe consequences, CPAs fulfill a valuable and much-needed role in society.

There now, that better? :)

Reply to
Mike B

"Mike B" wrote

Yes, I believe we can put this one to bed.

Reply to
Rick Hess

I'm glad I grew up in a dysfunctional family ;-(. That way I got used to rules being what Dad said they were, and working within them. Same with the Internal Revenue Code.

Reply to
Thomas Healy

I'm surprised when I see people use the flat tax as their solution for the complexity of our tax returns. The graduated tax levels contribute less than 0.01% to the complexity of a typical tax return. All the hassle is caused by deductions and various tax preference items. Get rid of or reduce these and we can keep the graduated income tax and still have much less complicated returns.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

Reply to
Victor Roberts

OK, but see if you can explain to us the tax calculation 1040 line 43 worksheet that coverts your AGI into a specific number of tax dollars.

Reply to
William W. Plummer

Do you mean the Tax Tables in pages 60 through 71 of the Instructions for Form 1040, or the 2004 Tax Computation Worksheet on page 72?

The tax tables do not require any explanation and the Tax Computation Worksheet instructs you to enter one number, then do one multiplication and then one subtraction. If you don't understand these very simple instructions then I wonder how you can earn more than $100,000 per year, which is the trigger for using this worksheet.

Or, are you looking for the logic behind the Tax Computation Worksheet? That comes from the Tax Rate Schedules on page 76. Let me know of you want an explanation of how the Tax rate Schedules flow into the Tax Computation Worksheet though an understanding of this logic is not necessary for people to compute their taxes on line 43.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

Reply to
Victor Roberts

Many of us have changing tax situations and need to know how our tax will be effected. So there are questions like "am I close to having to pay AMT?", "what can I do to avoid a major tax hit?" These questions require an understanding of how the tax is computed, not just a look at the tax tables or a pencil-pusher (TurboTax).

To this end, I have tried to understand the logic in the Line 43 Worksheet. I have not be able and have concluded that it is far too complicated for mortals to use. So, a flat tax (actually, constant percent above a breakpoint) will remove all confusion.

Reply to
William W. Plummer

AMT is not related to the issue of graduated income tax rates. As far as I am concerned, the AMT can be eliminated.

There is NO situation under the current system of graduated income taxes where you have a net loss of money if your income increases - other than a few dollars due to the rounding used in the Tax Tables for incomes less than $100,000.

I agree.

So, stop using the Tax Computation Worksheet and look at the Tax Rate Schedules on page 76 of the instructions for Form 1040. The graduated brackets are all defined there in very simple terms. I agree that the AMT requires another tax computation, but that is an AMT issue and an issue of the deductions that are disallowed under the AMT, not an issue related in any way to the graduated income tax.

I disagree. 99% of the confusion comes from the complex rules for what is and is not deductible, how much of it is deductible and the different rates for various tax preference items. If all those rules are removed, anyone with an 8th grade education can understand the Tax Rate Schedules.

People who argue that a flat tax will make taxes simple, without also addressing the very complex rules regarding deductions and tax preference items are throwing up a smoke screen for their real agenda, which is to reduce taxes on the rich and have low and middle income people make up the difference.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

Reply to
Victor Roberts

Let's say the "flat tax" is 20% of income (NO DEDUCTIONS) above $30,000. If you make $30K, your tax will be $0. If you make $100K, your tax will be $14K If you make $200K, your tax will be $34K .

So, the rich guys DO pay more than the low wage earners. This is double unfair because they also pay most of the tax money while many at the low end get a free ride.

Note: a truly "FAIR" tax is one where everybody pays the same amount, say $5000.

Reply to
William W. Plummer

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