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Installment Agreements for Tax Pros: IRS Form 9465 and Form 4

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IRS Form 8821 vs 2848: A Guide for Tax Information Authorization

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Choosing the Best Client Portal for Accountants

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Tax Audit Software: An Accountant’s Crystal Ball

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How to Expand and Promote Your IRS Tax Resolution Practice

Imagine this: you’re at a cocktail party, and someone asks what you do for work. You say, “I’m a tax pro,” and what do they envision? Chances are that your companion has an outdated idea of what a career in accounting entails. They might imagine you working long hours (evenings and weekends, too!), wearing a green visor and sitting under a banker’s lamp, using an adding machine to prepare one tax return after another, hour after hour, and day after day.  

Even worse, it’s not only laypeople who are mistaken. This common misunderstanding is limiting students’ choices to pursue a career in tax work and is causing an industry-wide labor shortage. In a recent article titled More Predictions about the Profession’s Futurepublished in The CPA Journal, CPA Yigal Rechtman worried that the future of his profession is at risk and offered some thoughts about what’s driving the decline, writing, “The current impediments to growth are mostly driven by the perception of prospective entrants to the CPA profession.” Research supports Rechtman’s assessment of the effect of this negative perception. The International Federation of Accountantsreports that “one impact felt by professional accountancy organizations is a diminishing pipeline of graduates ready to enter certification programs.” The IFAC attributes this to “fewer young people than historically has been the case [being] attracted at an early age to pursuing a career as an accountant.” 

These people don’t know that the work itself has changed, as has the cutting-edge technology that top firms are using to get it done.Do you? These days, to maximize both profits and professional satisfaction, you’ve got to focus energy in two directions: broadening your services to create more revenue streams and attracting new business from existing and potential clients. The team at IRS Solutions, a Tax Pro’s Best Friend, has some tips to help you.

Expand Your IRS Tax Solutions to Include Tax Resolution

The best thing you can do for your practice is to find ways to serve your clients beyond tax preparation. Tax prep is valuable and important work, but if you’re still making it the primary focus of your practice, there are drawbacks to consider. Chief among these is the seasonal and inconsistent nature of the workload and attendant income. It's great in the spring and fall– although it might come at some cost to your family or social life – there’s much less going on and coming in during the rest of the year. You’ve got to budget for those lean months.

Many of your colleagues have gotten off the tax prep roller coaster by shifting to a practice in tax resolution.Professionals who specialize in tax resolution help grateful clients in a wide range of difficult situations.No two days in tax resolution are exactly the same. You might help a client in need of tax resolution services by:

Submitting a successful Offer in Compromise (OIC), determining that the client’s account status should actually be Currently Not Collectible (CNC), or even that CSED (Collection Statute Expiration Dates) have elapsed without notice.

Proposing a payment plan for back taxes.

Getting your client qualified for a first-time abatement.

Protecting client assets from liens and their wages from garnishment.

Supporting your client in a defense against an IRS audit.

Protesting an error on an IRS transcript.

Be Your Own Best Advocate

Once you’ve decided to add tax resolution services to your practice, there’s only one thing left between you and the professional life you’re ready to create: you’re going to need clients. There is a stigma around tax difficulties, and people are often reluctant to reach out. You've got to spread the word that you are available to help anyone who needs your services. While some firms hire outside agencies to handle their marketing, more do the work themselves instead. That’s why membership in IRS Solutions includes access to our exclusive Marketing Toolbox.

We have created a Marketing Workbookas a roadmap to kickstart the marketing of your tax resolution services, grow your business, and succeed. In it, you’ll find ten steps you can take to attract clients to your practice.

OurMember’s Marketing Toolbox, which is included for FREE with the software,provides even more resources to help you promote your tax resolution services, constantly updated with new options. 

Here are four areas where you can take action right away:

Email 64% of small businesses use emailto communicate with current and potential clients, and it remains an extremely effective marketing tool. 99% of those who use email check their inbox every day. Some even check their email up to 20 times a day. Don’t be ashamed to let your clients know about your services. IRS Solutions has put together an infographic for you to share with your clients, friends, and family so that they will know what you can do for them. 

Social Media

More than halfof the world’s population uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Social media posts are a great way to let people know about all the different services you offer and to help them connect with you. But constantly ideating and generating fresh content can be exhausting.  Reduce the amount of time you devote to this task by leveraging the IRS Solutions Marketing Toolbox. We give you a planning calendar complete with images and captions for you to post.  By using Facebook posting in advance, you can create your posts two months in advance. You can view this in action by viewing this demonstration on How to get an IRS Collection Client. Our members rave about the posts that they are given to share with their clients and friends. 

Client Communication

Your existing clients are your best new clients! They’ve already seen you in action, and they trust you. Let them know about the new services you offer with a personalized letter sent in the mail. You can also ensure that new clients know about your range of services when you include an easy-to-read infographic in their onboarding paperwork. Printable copies of these communications and more are included with your IRS Solutions membership.

Online Reviews:

You work hard on behalf of your clients, and they know it. Follow up successful work with an e-mail thanking your clients for their business and include an invitation to leave a 5-star review online or to tell friends and family about your practice on social media.  

Try the Best Marketing Tools for Your IRS Tax Solutions

Find out how the easy-to-use IRS Solutions software transforms your day.  With the added bonus of the Marketing Toolbox, you are well on your way to easily and effectively promoting your practice. Schedule your demotoday.

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3 Reasons Your Tax Practice Needs an IRS Offer in Compromise Calculator

Tax resolution professionals know that one of the most important services they can provide their clients is proactive, successful negotiation with the IRS. In many cases, that means an Offer in Compromise (OIC). Like any agreement, a great OIC is one in which neither party entirely prevails but in which all stakeholders walk away feeling satisfied. 

Consider the case of a taxpayer who has fallen into arrears. Coming to the table, the IRS would love to collect every dime of back taxes owed to the United States government, if possible. The taxpayer, on the other hand, would be happy if they could walk away from the situation with no financial consequences. Sometimes neither scenario is feasible. The IRS hopes that if your client had the resources to pay their taxes in full, they would have done so by now, and so do you. The agents working on your client’s case are willing to negotiate, but only to the point allowed in their guidelines. You’ve got to submit a proposal that your client can afford and that the IRS finds palatable, but how will you determine what that looks like? The best way to make it happen is with an IRS Offer in Compromise calculator like the one that’s built into IRS Solutions.

 

Easily and Quickly Determine Client Account Status

One of the first things you’ll do for a new tax resolution client is to determine the status of their account. That might mean concluding that their case is Currently Not Collectible (CNC) or determining and leveraging accurate Collection Statute Expiration Dates (CSEDs). In many cases, you’ll need to determine the client’s eligibility for an Offer in Compromise (OIC) to settle an outstanding debt, then craft and submit that offer on their behalf. 

The best way to make that determination is by using specialty software. There are several options available to you. IRS Solutions was created by tax professionals for tax professionals and includes everything you need to succeed, including solution recommendations. After you’ve gathered and input your initial client data and used our ultra-fast API to retrieve and translate their IRS transcripts, you’ll get an IRS options summary. This will let you know what you can and can’t do and advise your client of the best next steps. The system will also generate a detailed, easy-to-understand report for you to review with your client, showing them that you have analyzed their case and helping them understand the path forward, and let them know why you are the best person to assist them.

 

An IRS Offer in Compromise Calculator Boosts Chances of Acceptance

If you determine that an Offer in Compromise is best for your client, the next step is determining the best offer you can make on their behalf. In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service has accepted only around 30% of the OICs that it has received. The odds are greatly increased if you submit an offer of what the IRS is willing to accept as using IRS Solutions Software takes all IRS guidelines into consideration.

A successful OIC will have to take several factors into account, including balance due, current assets, income and expenses, and the client's CSED. The amount owed will come directly from the IRS. Be sure to counsel resolution clients that they must be fully transparent when disclosing assets and income. The IRS will not look favorably on bad-faith dealings. They’ve also got to keep expenses to allowable, modest levels, adhering to IRS allowable living figures for budget items such as rent, food, car payments, and insurance. They must disclose not only salary figures but also alimony, rental fees on property, and all other sources of income.

You’ll also need to determine whether your client can afford a lump sum (five or fewer monthly payments) settlement or require a payment plan. IRS payment plan options range from six to 24 months in duration and are determined based on a combination of assets and monthly remaining income. There was a time when you had to sit down with paper, pencils, and an adding machine to use those figures and manually calculate your offer, then put it in an envelope and cross your fingers.

Today, there’s a better way. IRS Solutions members can have their clients easily enter their asset, income and expense data themselves.  The secure portal will help clients answer questions at their leisure and members will receive notification when completed.  IRS Solutions software will take into account what is owed and what their financial situation is and then make an optimized recommendation; giving members a full report to give to their clients. 

 

Live Your Best Life In and Out of the Office with an OIC Calculator

According to the Association of International Certified Public Accountants, the numbers of people entering the profession continued to decline in 2021. Quality of life and job satisfaction issues are among the reasons for this drop-off, particularly the long hours and seasonally erratic workload traditionally associated with life as a financial professional. Not coincidentally, these are also common reasons for transitioning to a practice that specializes in tax resolution. 

Tax resolution specialists typically earn more in fewer hours per week than their peers do. To achieve this goal, you’ve got to make smart choices about prioritizing work for yourself and your staff, spending as much time as possible on revenue-generating tasks, and as little as possible on chores that eat time without adding to the bottom line. An OIC calculator takes one time-consuming task off your to-do list, freeing you up to devote those hours to more professionally and personally rewarding tasks. 

What could you do with those reclaimed hours? Whether your goal is to attract and serve more clients or to leave the office a little bit earlier each day to spend more time with your family, adding an IRS Offer in Compromise calculator to your practice can help you get there.

 

Additional Resources

We dive deeper into working an Offer in Compromise and the benefits of an IRS Offer in Compromise calculator in these 2 guides:

8 Tips to Boost Offer in Compromise (OIC) Acceptance Rates

6 Tax Resolution Mistakes When Working an OIC

Try Tax Resolution Software with a Built-In Offer in Compromise Calculator

Are you ready to find out how using tax resolution software with an OIC calculator can transform your practice? We'll be happy to give you a one-on-one tour of IRS Solutions, a Tax Pro’s Best Friend. Schedule your demo today.