It has been two months since the end of the tax filing season (April 17th this year). I am pleased to report that so far I have completed more than half of the GD extensions!
During the past two months I prepared the 1st Quarter 2007 payroll tax returns for my business clients and kept up-to-date on client notices and inquiries from “Sam” and “Jon” – as I receive a notice from a client I respond promptly. I have begun the process of sorting and filing the 2005 and 2006 returns by separating the two years – now I have to sort them alphabetically.
I had been completing “red files” as soon as the information was received, and for a while was doing one GD extension per day (except on Wednesdays when I am gone all day). However lately I have fallen behind – falling victim to "manana" disease.
During the tax-filing season I am up and at the desk by 5:30 am and stop only briefly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I avoid all distractions – like cable tv – and do nothing but 1040s until about 8:00 pm.
Now that the season is over I sleep until around 8:00 am and have a more leisurely breakfast – often watching bowling reruns on ESPN Classic until 10:00 am. I next go online and visit several tax and financial blogs and websites and work on my blog postings – such that it is at least 11 am before I can get down to any “real” work. I stop for lunch between 12 noon and 1:00 pm, and often give in to temptation by watching a movie on one of the free stations I now get with Comcast Digital service. Before you know it – it is time for dinner. I rarely go back to GD extensions after dinner – it is either too late to start anything or I am satisfied if I was able to complete one return during the day. While I maintain pretty much the same schedule 7 days a week during the season, once it is over I spend Wednesdays counting a business client’s money and visiting my folks in Ocean Grove – so no 1040 work is accomplished.
It is difficult to explain to the “uninitiated” that once the heavy burden of the April deadline has passed almost all motivation to continue to do 1040s is gone.
What I need to do is, at least for the rest of the month of June, force myself to return to the rigid tax season schedule for at least 5 days per week. I began today (Thursday) by rising at 6:30 am and hopping right on amended returns that needed to be done ASAP – so I am off to a good start. I will continue on Friday by tackling some GD extensions – with the hopes of getting at least two completed each day. As the remaining GD extensions are all projects to some degree I think it is too much to aim for three.
This will probably mean that my postings to THE WANDERING TAX PRO will be reduced to maybe only three posts per week during this period.
Let me take this time to thank those clients among the GD extensions for whom I now have everything I need to finish their return for their patience and understanding. I really do hate GD extensions – and next season I will do what I must to reduce the number I have to file to a minimum, even if it means “thinning the herd”. One thing is for sure – I will absolutely, positively under no circumstances accept any new clients – so don’t ask me!
It is my goal to leave for my NSTP seminar on Schedule C in Williamsburg VA on June 28th with only “red files” remaining. Wish me luck!
TTFN
During the past two months I prepared the 1st Quarter 2007 payroll tax returns for my business clients and kept up-to-date on client notices and inquiries from “Sam” and “Jon” – as I receive a notice from a client I respond promptly. I have begun the process of sorting and filing the 2005 and 2006 returns by separating the two years – now I have to sort them alphabetically.
I had been completing “red files” as soon as the information was received, and for a while was doing one GD extension per day (except on Wednesdays when I am gone all day). However lately I have fallen behind – falling victim to "manana" disease.
During the tax-filing season I am up and at the desk by 5:30 am and stop only briefly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I avoid all distractions – like cable tv – and do nothing but 1040s until about 8:00 pm.
Now that the season is over I sleep until around 8:00 am and have a more leisurely breakfast – often watching bowling reruns on ESPN Classic until 10:00 am. I next go online and visit several tax and financial blogs and websites and work on my blog postings – such that it is at least 11 am before I can get down to any “real” work. I stop for lunch between 12 noon and 1:00 pm, and often give in to temptation by watching a movie on one of the free stations I now get with Comcast Digital service. Before you know it – it is time for dinner. I rarely go back to GD extensions after dinner – it is either too late to start anything or I am satisfied if I was able to complete one return during the day. While I maintain pretty much the same schedule 7 days a week during the season, once it is over I spend Wednesdays counting a business client’s money and visiting my folks in Ocean Grove – so no 1040 work is accomplished.
It is difficult to explain to the “uninitiated” that once the heavy burden of the April deadline has passed almost all motivation to continue to do 1040s is gone.
What I need to do is, at least for the rest of the month of June, force myself to return to the rigid tax season schedule for at least 5 days per week. I began today (Thursday) by rising at 6:30 am and hopping right on amended returns that needed to be done ASAP – so I am off to a good start. I will continue on Friday by tackling some GD extensions – with the hopes of getting at least two completed each day. As the remaining GD extensions are all projects to some degree I think it is too much to aim for three.
This will probably mean that my postings to THE WANDERING TAX PRO will be reduced to maybe only three posts per week during this period.
Let me take this time to thank those clients among the GD extensions for whom I now have everything I need to finish their return for their patience and understanding. I really do hate GD extensions – and next season I will do what I must to reduce the number I have to file to a minimum, even if it means “thinning the herd”. One thing is for sure – I will absolutely, positively under no circumstances accept any new clients – so don’t ask me!
It is my goal to leave for my NSTP seminar on Schedule C in Williamsburg VA on June 28th with only “red files” remaining. Wish me luck!
TTFN
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