TaxProTalk.com

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 9:28am**

I am going to decline future services (i.e. "fire", but I don't really like that word) to at least one client, maybe two or three, in November for various reasons.

All engagements are closed with these particular clients. I'm not in the middle of one with any, so it's not as complicated as disengaging.

Does anyone have a generic template they use that they might be willing to share? I'm probably going to cherry pick and reword. I'm thinking something vague and diplomatic but clear that I'm not providing any services going forward, and they need to find someone else.

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 10:37am**

There's a couple of good posts with lots of sample lanaguage.

I prefer rather short and direct.

"Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the past. I've performed a review of our relationship and have determined it is in our mutual best interest for you to find a new professional with whom to work.
Please let me know if your new professional requires any information I have to assist in a smooth transition. Be advised, any information requests made after January 15th may experience a considerable delay."

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 1:29pm**

Thanks CaptCook.

I like the warning about delays post Jan 15th.

One of these clients is a procrastinator so touching on that is a good idea I feel.

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 2:14pm**

ManVsTax wrote:Thanks CaptCook.

I like the warning about delays post Jan 15th.

One of these clients is a procrastinator so touching on that is a good idea I feel.

Most of them are...that comment is built on experience, of course.
Getting an "urgent" request on March 10th for a depreciation schedule from a prior client was not what I had in mind when I offered to "help make a smooth transition".

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 3:56pm**

Please allow me to +1 when it comes to simple...

As part of a periodic review of the Firm's objectives against currently rendered services and client base, it has been identified that [firm name] can no longer provide any future services to [name of clint/entity].

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 5:32pm**

"I'm scaling back my practice a bit and won't be available to help you with your tax returns next year."

Posted: **15-Oct-2020 5:52pm**

Frankly wrote:"I'm scaling back my practice a bit and won't be available to help you with your tax returns next year."

That only works if it's actually true.
I'm not in favor of setting myself up to be caught in a lie when I get a good referral that happens to know said fired client.

Posted: **16-Oct-2020 3:06am**

"Dear Former Client,

https://youtu.be/Q8Tiz6INF7I?t=12"

On a more serious note, this tends to do the trick:

"Hello Former Client,

It was a pleasure speaking with you today. Per our conversation, we will unfortunately be unable to provide you with any professional services moving forward.

As a result, it would be prudent for you to reach out to a tax professional as soon as possible to facilitate the filing of all of your personal and/or business income tax returns by the applicable deadlines. Failure to file the respective returns by the pertinent deadlines may result in the assessment of penalties and/or interest.

To be clear, no personal and/or business income tax returns or extensions have been or will be filed by this office on your behalf for tax years 2019 or 2020. Furthermore, any and all current and future engagement letters are hereby null and void.

I sincerely appreciate your consideration and wish you all the best."

Posted: **19-Oct-2020 8:48am**

This is my base template and I modify it as needed for the specific disengagement:

Dear _________:

Please let this letter serve as official notice that Cornerstone CPA Solutions, LLC is formally disengaging from rendering any further services to the following entities:

• _______
• _______
• Any other entities associated with _______ not specifically identified

This decision was the result of an annual review of client services and quality control (ADD OR REMOVE: as well as timeliness to pay).

At this time, all physical records in possession of Cornerstone CPA Solutions, LLC have been returned to you. Additionally, copies of completed and filed tax returns have been provided to you, and uploaded to SmartVault. Cornerstone CPA Solutions, LLC will retain copies of these records for seven (7) years, but you will be charged for any further requests for copies of tax returns or scanned tax documents since they have already been provided to you.

Thank you for being a client of Cornerstone CPA Solutions, and I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Greg Bennett, CPA

Posted: **20-Oct-2020 8:55am**

Thank you everyone for your responses. There's a lot of good stuff here.

As a best practice, I plan to disable the (former) client's portal access before any email is sent, then generate a download link for the prior tax returns, which will be good for 30 days, and include that in the email.

Posted: **20-Oct-2020 9:27am**

One more thing to mention is that if you are emailing it, use some sort of registered mail, such as r mail.

You will receive proof that they received and opened it.

Posted: **21-Oct-2020 9:04am**

ItDepends wrote:One more thing to mention is that if you are emailing it, use some sort of registered mail, such as r mail.

You will receive proof that they received and opened it.

I use my encrypted e-mail for this since it tracks all of that.

I do NOT immediately disable their portals, mostly because I do not want them coming to me for copies of anything and many are not good about saving copies when I send documents to them.

Posted: **22-Oct-2020 11:01am**

CornerstoneCPA wrote:I do NOT immediately disable their portals, mostly because I do not want them coming to me for copies of anything and many are not good about saving copies when I send documents to them.

Different strokes for different folks.

While it's unlikely, I wouldn't want the individual doing something crazy, like uploading their entire hard drive, to spite me.

Disabling their access and providing all necessary docs via a temporary link allows me to be in control of the process and close doors to opportunities like that.

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