ideas to increase efficiency

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#1
zl28  
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Always looking for ideas to increase efficiency.

Here are 2 for me, interested in others.

1. Many customers are on Gusto; get their w2's early downloaded into my doc mgr and enter data on my tax software

2. have someone start copying over the license data to the new current year tax program and if a license has expired; write to the client in Jan to get this info now.

Anyone else got some ideas to increase efficiency?
 

#2
ATSMAN  
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Getting more efficient in our business is always good. It depends a lot on the type of clients you have/ want??

1) I have relatively few clients that are outside driving distance from my office, so I have to maintain a regular setup with drop off/pickup etc. I have a drop box or they can use pony mail.

2) For my clients that are outside driving distance or prefer to do work electronically, I offer a fax/email or secure upload of tax documents. I provide them with an organizer first week of January and generally speaking they upload/fax/e-mail me the tax documents as requested. The biggest challenge is getting them trained to not upload every document that they may think is necessary (credit card statements, bank statements etc. as an example). I give them a checklist with the document # or type and those who read it carefully appreciate it. I still have a bunch of clients that prefer the old fashioned fax instead of electronic upload!

3) I have a part time person doing data input/filing/mailing etc. and that makes more time available to do 1-1 consultation or work on returns.

4) You have to give your clients a deadline to send documents as the filing season progresses and stick to it. Otherwise they will go on extension.
 

#3
smtcpa  
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For the first time this year, I sent out emails to my corporate clients offering discounts (not more than 10%) to get me their corporate info by 1/11 or 1/25, with 10-20% price increases of they get me info after 2/1, in an attempt to spread out the workload. I've had a great response and expect to be very busy by 1/4.
 

#4
zl28  
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that's good smtcpa...like that....i don't offer any discounts but maybe not a bad idea to approach a few clients who would be receptive to the idea instead of telecasting to the whole practice....kicking butt in Dec and Jan are critical for a good tax season (and also to get a Sunday off)...thanks for post
 

#5
zl28  
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atsman - More and more clients are uploading...which i would probably due if i were a client of a CPA...Intuit Link has this feature....it's nice as compared to the alternative which is to have clients emailing you everytime you get a tax documents.....Unfortunately, last year was the first time i used intuit link even though it's been around for a while....it was a big help though!

that's good you have a qualified p/t person to help with the input!
 

#6
zl28  
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anyone heard of a macro keyboard?

i type the same stuff over and over to each client....i was looking for a macro keyboard where i can hit a button

and it'll type out my usual verbage for when i send a return to a client
 

#7
makbo  
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zl28 wrote:i type the same stuff over and over to each client....i was looking for a macro keyboard where i can hit a button
and it'll type out my usual verbage for when i send a return to a client

It took one search of the Help in MS Word to find what you are looking for (see below).

The poor person's version is to just keep your boilerplate paragraphs in a Notepad text file, and copy and paste them using the keyboard into your client messages.

"Use Quick Parts and AutoText in Word
On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts, and then click Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery, change the name and add a description if you like, and click OK. Note: To save a selection as AutoText, on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts > AutoText > Save Selection to AutoText Gallery ."
 

#8
ATSMAN  
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zl28 wrote:anyone heard of a macro keyboard?

i type the same stuff over and over to each client....i was looking for a macro keyboard where i can hit a button

and it'll type out my usual verbage for when i send a return to a client


I use templates in Outlook(email) and Word for a bunch of letters that have 90% of the same boilerplate language and just edit what needs changing. Word has Macros but they are a bit difficult to use.
 

#9
makbo  
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Since many of us value precision of terminology in this forum, I'm going to point out that a "macro" usually refers to a sequence of program instructions or steps (actions) to be performed.

Inserting boilerplate text into the current document from a collection is usually a much more simple task, and is not referred to as a "macro" in the MS Word documentation (even if it could technically be interpreted as a one-step "macro").

Point being, difficulty of using macros isn't really relevant to the task of inserting boilerplate text, at least not in Word. I just tested it -- creating AutoText is extremely easy, and then using it is two clicks of the mouse.
 

#10
smtcpa  
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zl28 wrote:anyone heard of a macro keyboard?

i type the same stuff over and over to each client....i was looking for a macro keyboard where i can hit a button

and it'll type out my usual verbage for when i send a return to a client


I use a Word document and Gmail has a feature called Canned Responses that I use a lot.
 

#11
zl28  
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i just started using those canned responses; like it...anything that saves time

Here's another one i like to use

todoist

it's a to do list, but has 20 separate categories you can can set up

so if you have a new big client, that can be a separate list
can have a list for your personal life
a list for example of a litigation client working on
your regular to do list

i think if you check it out, you'll find it very helpful
 

#12
smtcpa  
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zl28 wrote:Here's another one i like to use

todoist

it's a to do list, but has 20 separate categories you can can set up



Good reminder, I started using GQueues 2 years ago. I've tried a bunch of to do programs and this is the only one I've loved and stuck with. Best part is it integrates tightly with Gmail and you can save emails as tasks. There is an unlimited number of ways I can set this up and it is awesome.
 

#13
wel  
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I've tried to use templates for email and notice letter responses as much as practical. I've also saved a spreadsheet with several worksheets with workpaper templates of book/tax reconciliations, basis schedules, etc. so that I don't need to recreate with every new client.

I wasn't aware of the Gmail canned responses or GQueues.
 

#14
zl28  
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i like that concept of GQuesues...only concern is does Gqueues now have access to looking at my emails?
 

#15
smtcpa  
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zl28 wrote:i like that concept of GQuesues...only concern is does Gqueues now have access to looking at my emails?


I don’t know. You can use it without connecting to your gmail account.
 

#16
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macro keyboard: Kinesis I only use the macros for pw's that I can't store in software and copy/paste. if my face recog or pin fails, i have the pw for my pc stored in keyboard macro.

Also use the keyboard to store key stroke combo's such as Ctrl T to apply tickmark is some tax apps. save it to a function key that's on the side of the keyboard.

Text phrases and entire paragraphs I store in Spartan M8 "multi clipboard" app from a one person shop in Scotland. Can synch to OneDrive across machines. (i don't because i use "files on demand" feature of OneDrive which creates too much traffic synching all the time. (there is a new windows 10 multi clipoard cloud based, that doesnt work well yet)
 

#17
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How about shared checklists for clients to record what they've uploaded/emailed/mailed and what they're working on and eta?
Some of my clients want me to use their google docs for that, but I'm overloaded with just email and Citrix ShareFile and MS SharePoint

ShareFile has a workflow checklist, but last year it was too crude to be of my help.

Anyone using Sharefile know if your client needs to have Excel installed locally for them to open an Excel file stored on ShareFile and edit it. I assume my license is not enough.

This year i told business clients that i'd rather that upload doc pdfs and excel files one by with description titles, rather than them scanning a whole bunch of docs into one pdf and our having to rearrarge and separate them into separate LLCs, rentals etc.

Also telling clients to upload original unencrypted pdfs, not scans. I'd rather scan their paper originals than rearrange poor quality mushed together scanned docs.
 

#18
zl28  
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that sounds very good....i'd like to use a macro for my email which i seem to enter very often during the day.

are you using the new kinesis keyboard that has some macro keys?

i'm going to look into the multi clipboard - much apreciated!
 

#19
zl28  
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i was using sharefile for the uploads; but all the messages were making me crazy....Intuit Link is great if you use intuit tax software....every day i get just one email of the folks that uploaded data.....not 50 emails.........and as i enter what they upload, i can click a box that says to me - don't look at this in the future. If you use lacerte or proseries i highly recommend.
 

#20
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Kinesis Free Style Edge. Programming a little arcane but call them and they'll walk you thru it.

Yeah, the constant ShareFile notices was numbing. It got to where I'd ignore important ones. Now I set up rules in Outlook to move ShareFile notifications to a couple of different mail folders. But mostly I told clients to email or text me when they upload something important :)
 

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