Prospects / New Clients close to deadline

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#1
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Curious as to what everyone's policy is regarding accepting brand new clients a few weeks out from the deadline.

Friday is exactly three weeks from 3/15...hard to think about i know.

I'm still getting partnership and S Corp prospects emailing / calling me. One guy with what appears to be a pretty complicated partnership return contacted me through my website.

Do you accept new clients with the understanding an extension may be necessary as we're late in the season (for passthroughs) and new clients require a higher level of attention to detail than repeat clients?
 

#2
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The only way I take on new clients at this point is with the agreement that their return will be extended.
 

#3
Joan TB  
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Yes, if they agree to extend. I actually detest clients that are paranoid about extensions. I only have a couple of those.

Every year there are those that ALWAYS extend, but there are also ones that usually get me their info in time, but for some reason this year is different. I see no reason to subject myself to the aggravation for something that can easily be solved with an extension.
 

#4
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depends on many factors, how ambitious are we, do we want to grow business, are we content where we are at. also, if you are turning away partnership returns with 3 full weeks left that sounds like you are more than super busy.
 

#5
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I believe I have the capacity to take on most by the deadline, and am more than hungry. Definitely not turning anyone away because of workload.

My fear is over committing. To mitigate this I believe I'm going to inform all new passthrough prospects that pop up this week that an extension "may be required". As we get closer to the deadline this will go to "probably will be required" and finally "will be required". That will put the ball in their court and allow them to make an informed decision.

I have turned away a couple of prospects this season, but it was for reasons other than workflow/workload.
 

#6
ATSMAN  
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I will not accept an engagement to do a 1065 return after 2/15. If it is a very good referral and they agree to an extension, I may consider it but I try to get these prospects for the following year. It gives me a chance to review their books and records over the summer.

Last year I had the boyfriend of a good client show up at her appointment to see if I would file his 1065 return a week before deadline! He was NOT at all happy with my answer!
 

#7
smtcpa  
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My deadline was 2/15 to get everything in order to make the 3/15 deadline. I implemented an incentive this year to get corporate info earlier so I wasn't twiddling my thumbs for 3 weeks. Now, I am a bit ahead of the game so I could possibly accept some new clients and still get them done or done very shortly after 3/15. But generally, I will extend the corporate and personal returns if I don't get info by my deadline.
 

#8
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I will accept with understanding they are likely to be extended. If they are not willing to extend, they need to go elsewhere.

I received one 1065 yesterday, which is fine. Waiting on another 1120S that is likely to be extended, and all others probably will at this point.
 

#9
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85 percent of the time I somewhat regret taking last-minute clients. 10% of the time I horrifically regret taking last minute clients.

Note that I have a high volume practice already.

But even before I was over-saturated, I would turn away last minute clients because I didn't want to build a book of procrastinators.
 

#10
novacpa  
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CornerstoneCPA wrote:I will accept with understanding they are likely to be extended. If they are not willing to extend, they need to go elsewhere.

I received one 1065 yesterday, which is fine. Waiting on another 1120S that is likely to be extended, and all others probably will at this point.


I had a new one who said, "we've got 15-days until its due" - I responded, "you don't understand the stampede that happens at deadline time, I'd like to avoid more of that".
 

#11
Preppie  
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novacpa wrote:
CornerstoneCPA wrote:I will accept with understanding they are likely to be extended. If they are not willing to extend, they need to go elsewhere.

I received one 1065 yesterday, which is fine. Waiting on another 1120S that is likely to be extended, and all others probably will at this point.


I had a new one who said, "we've got 15-days until its due" - I responded, "you don't understand the stampede that happens at deadline time, I'd like to avoid more of that".


I tell them that if they want to be treated like my only client we can add three zeroes to their fee and it's as good as done.

No takers yet.
 


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