Problem with Agreements and a Mix of Client Terms

Background:

I am a small "hybrid firm" that is more like an H&R Block 1040 factory than a traditional CPA firm - we do a lot of volume.

I have a la carte clients for which I provide off season services, such as amended returns and tax planning calculations, for additional fees (of course).

Especially since just this year, I also have "inclusive clients" for which I include these "off-season" services as part of the fee.

I have carefully detailed "client service agreements" for each.

Procedures:

I use Google Forms to collect non-sensitive information form clients when they re-engage for the year. This is for things like "did your address change", etc.

With this form I present the agreement (and our privacy policy) and they check a box certifying that they read the complete agreement, saw the privacy policy, and that they agree to all terms.

Then on delivery of the tax return they actually sign the agreement, prior to it being e-filed.

(The reason we do this is because it is not feasible to send them out to be signed prior to working on their taxes and tracking who has signed and who hasn't. We simply do too much volume for that and the time and labor costs to do this would cost us too much. When a client doesn't want to pay us every so often, we lose so little and we wouldn't generally try to collect form them anyway. In other words, we save much more than we lose with this method.)

The Problem:

Picture an average February, where 1200 clients come storming in with their data and documents (mostly electronically, of course).

I can't think of a good way to present the appropriate agreement to the correct client.

I do have a spreadsheet of who is inclusive, but do I really need to train and count on my front desk admin to "send the correct one?" Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

I can program the Google form to spit out the correct agreement based on a client's answer, but I also do not expect that the client will correctly know what the heck I am talking about and if they are an inclusive client or not.

I can "sell" the inclusive services as part of that form and if they check "yes", they would get the proper agreement, but then all of the new clients that I quoted would be like, "I have to pay more for this? You said it was included."

I try to make a blanket pre-agreement that covers both types of clients, but clients will likely use this as an excuse, saying, "I though I was an inclusive client when I checked the box". I also feel like this severely weakens the agreement. I worry that an a la carte client will expect free amended returns and off season meetings and tax planning. This might be OK, however, because they will actually sign the correct agreement upon delivery of the tax return.

Any suggestions on how to handle the two types of agreements for the two types of clients?

Maybe I can present the "pre agreement" without the off season terms explaining what is included and what is not and then have them sign the full agreement on delivery of the return?

Use PandaDoc, GoProposal or Practice Ignition.

All need set-up time/effort, and all can systematize your “process”.

PandaDoc is cheapest, and a shotgun approach to industry uptake. The other two are aiming squarely at the accounting profession.

I do not have this particular problem, but I have been looking at practice management software recently. Many have the ability to create custom workflows and processes, and automate certain steps (automatically sending a certain engagement letter, certain organizer, emails, etc). I imagine that something similar would automate this particular process for you and remove the potential for human error.

It would be an additional cost, and take time to setup, as TaxKeeper hinted.

The best solution for me would be to include both scenarios (both client types) into one agreement.

But I'm afraid that an a la carte client will assume incorrectly that they are an inclusive client.

But then again, the worst that can happen is that they "demand" that I provide them with 4 hours of support and amended tax returns, etc, for no additional fee.

I can either just flat out refuse (go ahead and sue me) or I can just eat the time and advise them of the fee for inclusive services for next year.

I suggest maintaining a separate contract for "all inclusive" clients and make all of them sign the same engagements for general tax prep. Make it clear that only tax preparation is included unless a separate engagement agreement exists for additional services.

Agree with cornerstone.