TacticalCPA wrote:Hey Everyone,
I am working on the firm right now and wondered if anyone requires the clients to sign an itemized list of all documents collected from the client or given to the client.
I have not seen this practice at any firm I have worked at but do recognize it as an area of "he said, she said" with documents being lost by either side. What is the best practice and how can you build an efficiency in the field when collecting documents from the client?
For 90% of my clients it is not necessary because I scan all input documents that are submitted BUT I do have a few clients that are forgetful AND they never accept responsibility that they missed a document (mostly 1099s). So for those I have a checklist of the documents received and have them sign it when they are signing the 8879.
This tax season, an unexpected problem happened with one taxpayer who gave me a different bank info for direct debit, except that the bank restricted any ach debit if the amount or # of debits exceeded a certain level in a statement period. As luck would have it IRS ACH debit was rejected and client did not find out until the next statement period and now they want me to pay the penalty because I recommended ACH debit instead of mailing a check that they did previously! So now I have to figure out how to protect myself from these type of claims.