The Tax Goddess Blog

Amazing how you find out what's important,...

Yesterday I went in to the office a little grumpy. 

I was having one of those days where everything felt like it was going wrong and the whole day was looking to be that way.  Then, my dog, Thor, who comes to the office every day, started getting violently sick. 

As I was rushing around trying to clean up after him, have my admin call the vet's office to figure out what to do, my staff helping me handle him (taking him outside, getting water, etc.) I had two thoughts going thru my head:

1)  How do I fix my baby?  (My dog is currently my only child :)

2)  How do I reschedule my clients so that I can still fit them in (b/c they had appts, things that had to get done!)

I realized today, that no matter how grumpy of a mood I am in, only two things are really important to me (things I should get stressed out about) my family and my clients well-being.

I've been having a lot of realizations lately, and that one is pretty important.

So, if you are being grumpy, maybe sit back and figure out - what's important, really, to you?

A contemplative Tax Goddess
Helping your bottom line :)

Asking for Feedback - part II

Hi Everyone,

This is part II of a posting I wrote a few days ago re: Asking for Feedback -

2 things:

1) This worked GREAT!  I already have some feedback from some of my clients pointing out some issues that I didn't even know were happening (staff issues / Communication Issues that I can now correct!)

2)  I also asked for feedback from my staff and got some amazing results!  I have always done reviews on them, but never gotten reviews on how I was as a manager!  I learned a few very specific points that I am now implementing and am working with to try to make my internal clients (my staff) happier as well!

I REALLY recommend ASKING!  It has helped me in two ways and I am really looking forward to working on this new direction to grow not only the firm, but also myself as a person!

Your Tax Goddess,

Shauna~
PS - THANK YOU to those clients willing to take a chance and let me know how you really feel we are doing!  I am looking forward to taking your suggestions and running with them!

Asking for Feedback -

Many businesses never remember to contact their own client base!  They will call on new, potential clients; spend tons of money on advertising; hire sales people to hunt for new prospects.  But what about your current, loyal, client base?  The ones that already love you and are willing to pay you money.  Have you thought about calling them?  Asking them how your service was?  Asking them how you can improve for THEM?

You might be surprised, but often I've found I get the best ideas and most honest feedback from my customers, and they are THRILLED that I call them to ask, to try and make their life better :)

Just a thought!

Your Tax Goddess
Shauna

We want to improve for You!

SWC, the CPA firm of the Tax Goddess, is interested in improving for you, our readers, clients, vendors etc!

We were wondering if you wouldn't mind filling out a brief survey!

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We look forward to serving you better every day!

Shauna, The Tax Goddess

The Benefits for Techies!

Well,

This morning I got up and looked at my blog and all my blog postings were over writting themselves!  You guys weren't getting anything new since March until this morning! 

I am soooo sorry!  It only speaks to the fact that having a good techie is worth their weight in gold!

If anyone is an avid reader of my blog, did you stream catch any of the other blog posts I made?  Can you forward so I can repost?

THANK YOU!!!

Sincerely,

Your Tax (and not techie!) Goddess!

Time Management - How important?

There are 2 things that I have implemented in my business that seems to help everyone involved (my clients and my staff) be most productive and have a clear understanding of how communication works in my office.

1)  My office has a scheduled time every day (2-3pm) that we all return any phone calls that have come in that day.  This allows both my clients to know when they should expect a call from us and also my staff to be most productive with their time each day b/c they know when they need to respond to calls.

2)  Each person on my staff ONLY checks their email twice a day (1/2 hour each).  That way, they can look for any urgent emails, they spend 1/2 hour at each time responding to emails, and they are not pulled in to what a professional organizer friend of mine calls "screen sucking" (where you sit for an unknown length of time in front of the computer allowing your minutes to slip past you).  Once again, clients know when they will get responses, and the staff can be most productive!

These two quick little points have allowed me and my staff to best utilize the 8 hours we have each day, so I thought perhaps I should mention it to you all as well!  Without being productive, how would be run our businesses!

Wishing you the best of all things!

Your Tax Goddess

Employee Theft - by your bookkeeper?

Hi Everyone,

Well, today I got some really upsetting news.  A client had been "ripped off" by their trusted bookkeeper of 2 years.  Almost $100,000 later the client is now completely cash poor, in a really bad credit situation with their vendors, and may not be able to keep their business afloat.

I wanted to get it out there some of the signs that something is going wrong in your business (things to watch out for):

- Your bookkeeper will not show you the quickbooks file
- Your bookkeeper will not explain to you what they are doing
- Your bookkeeper has full control over writing and signing checks with no one supervising them
- Your bookkeeper handles the receipt of mail and the writing of checks
- Your bookkeeper looks at the bank statements
- The audit trail in Quickbooks is not turned on
- The bookkeeper starts buying new toys, going on trips, eating out a lot, etc.

Some of the easy ways for you to prevent this type of theft:
- Get all your own mail (you don't have to sort it, etc. but at least pick it up from the post office or request your mail man ONLY release it to you, the owner) This way you can at least see what is coming in the mail.
- ALWAYS review your monthly banking and credit card statements (do not accept online printouts)
- ALWAYS ask the bank for copies of your cleared checks
- Turn the audit trail in quickbooks on
- Do NOT have a signature stamp available for anything

It is always a tough issue for employers to not be able to trust their employees, but think about it this way: would you rather put in to place some basic rules or would you like to be $100,000 in a cash hole?  Unfortunately insurance does not always cover these types of problems, so please also make sure that you talk to your insurance person to double check what is on your policy!

If you think you might be having these issues CALL YOUR CPA right away!  They can help you determine what is happening with your business.

The point of an Organizer!

Hi Everyone,

I get a ton of questions as to WHY anyone would need to fill out a tax organizer, isn't that like filling out the forms yourself?  Why are you paying a CPA?

The organizer is a way to help both parties know or see if there is anything that might be missed during a year.  It has basic questions like did you get married? Start a business?  Sell your home?  If you do not let your CPA know about these major things (which you might not remember or even think about mentioning if it happened earlier in the year) you might miss out or be taxed on some items that you don't need to be!

Simply put, do your best when filling out your organizer - it may save you some top dollars!   

If you need a basic tax organizer, you can find one on our website at:

Tax Organizer for SWC