It has been a month since the end of the 2007 tax filing season - and I have completed almost half of the 39 GD extensions I had to file this year!
Unfortunately, although not unexpected, several of the GD extensions I started to work on had to be transferred to red files, as all the information needed to properly prepare the return was not included in the package I received. As the missing information comes in I am finishing the returns promptly.
More than half of the remaining GD extensions are either red files or "not yet received" (I filed an extension at the client's request without receiving any 2006 "stuff") – so I must wait until I hear from the client before I can do anything more.
I am pleased with the progress so far!
One question I am often asked in regards to the GD extensions is - “So if you can do close to 400 returns in 2½ months why does it take several months to do 39 returns?”
During the tax-filing season (February 1 - April 15) I spend at least 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, working on pretty much nothing but 1040s (I do also manage to continue to prepare payroll and pay bills for my one big year-round business client). I am "at the desk" by at least 5:00 am each morning and end each day at between 7:00 and 8:00 pm, with only brief meal breaks. I dare not take any time off due to the mid-April deadline hanging over my head.
During the rest of the year I actually do other things - many of a personal nature (yes, I do have a life!) - and, on average, work on one or two returns per day. I occasionally “sleep in”, and actually rise after the sun. I need to catch up on the payroll taxes and bookkeeping and accounting of my business clients (while I do not accept any new year-round business clients I do have a few left). And there is correspondence from “Sam” and other “uncles” related to the already-filed 2006 and previous years tax returns that I need to respond to. There are days when I do not do any 1040 work - for example every Wednesday I count a client's money in the morning and visit my folks in Ocean Grove in the afternoon and early evening.
With no looming deadline hanging over my head I work at a much more relaxed pace.
As mentioned above, often when I start on a GD extension I find that I need additional information from the client - and I must wait to get all of the missing information before I can properly complete the return. It seems that clients are slower in providing missing information in the “off” season.
FYI, I do not work on the GD extensions in a FIFO (first-in, first-out) manner. There are many criteria for choosing the order in which I work on the GDE, not the least of which is my own personal convenience. Of course I do try to give priority to those returns received before March 31st that were "lost in the shuffle" for which I have all the information necessary to properly complete the return in one sitting, and to returns that I anticipate will have a balance due.
Now, back to work on the GD extensions!
TTFN
Unfortunately, although not unexpected, several of the GD extensions I started to work on had to be transferred to red files, as all the information needed to properly prepare the return was not included in the package I received. As the missing information comes in I am finishing the returns promptly.
More than half of the remaining GD extensions are either red files or "not yet received" (I filed an extension at the client's request without receiving any 2006 "stuff") – so I must wait until I hear from the client before I can do anything more.
I am pleased with the progress so far!
One question I am often asked in regards to the GD extensions is - “So if you can do close to 400 returns in 2½ months why does it take several months to do 39 returns?”
During the tax-filing season (February 1 - April 15) I spend at least 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, working on pretty much nothing but 1040s (I do also manage to continue to prepare payroll and pay bills for my one big year-round business client). I am "at the desk" by at least 5:00 am each morning and end each day at between 7:00 and 8:00 pm, with only brief meal breaks. I dare not take any time off due to the mid-April deadline hanging over my head.
During the rest of the year I actually do other things - many of a personal nature (yes, I do have a life!) - and, on average, work on one or two returns per day. I occasionally “sleep in”, and actually rise after the sun. I need to catch up on the payroll taxes and bookkeeping and accounting of my business clients (while I do not accept any new year-round business clients I do have a few left). And there is correspondence from “Sam” and other “uncles” related to the already-filed 2006 and previous years tax returns that I need to respond to. There are days when I do not do any 1040 work - for example every Wednesday I count a client's money in the morning and visit my folks in Ocean Grove in the afternoon and early evening.
With no looming deadline hanging over my head I work at a much more relaxed pace.
As mentioned above, often when I start on a GD extension I find that I need additional information from the client - and I must wait to get all of the missing information before I can properly complete the return. It seems that clients are slower in providing missing information in the “off” season.
FYI, I do not work on the GD extensions in a FIFO (first-in, first-out) manner. There are many criteria for choosing the order in which I work on the GDE, not the least of which is my own personal convenience. Of course I do try to give priority to those returns received before March 31st that were "lost in the shuffle" for which I have all the information necessary to properly complete the return in one sitting, and to returns that I anticipate will have a balance due.
Now, back to work on the GD extensions!
TTFN
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