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Footenote: The Roman Legion

18 May 2012 By Derek 0 In Footenote

As part of my continuing professional education I attended a mandatory ethics course yesterday. There was a spattering of “we have a social responsibility as licensed professionals for X” but it was mostly “don’t due Y or you’re going to end up on the uncomfortable side of a lawsuit.”

The teacher said a few interesting things during the social responsibility bit which caught my interest. Here’s the first (paraphrasing):

The United States is the Rome of our era, and it’s legionnaires are the corporations.

He meant it in a positive way. The idea is that the corporate and economy power of the U.S. is incredibly strong, and that strength spreads our concepts of values and fairness, as embodied in corporations, across the world. He sighted things like minimum wage, employee rights, and freedom in general.

I’m not sure he’s right. Outside of maybe capitalism theories, corporations have not largely been the driving entity when it comes to American values. More often, they are strong-armed into abusing their employees.

What do you think of his analogy? How would you interpret it? Does it matter that the corporations might not be willing legionnaires as long as they’re getting the job done?

Footenote: The Phrase that Pays?

15 May 2012 By Derek 0 In Footenote

It amazes me sometimes how often I can ask for the same thing over and over (with different clients, or with the same one). It’s an ever-evolving process learning the best way to phrase a particular question to get the response you want.

There are a lot of complex topics when it comes to taxes, and those are understandable. Sometimes though, it’s a challenge just getting a report:

Background: Client sold their house which was rented out in 2010 and earlier years. They say the value of the house was around $230,000 with $20,000 of improvements. We try to substantiate information as much as possible, rather than take a client’s word for it. The house was last rented in 2010, so the 2010 and previous returns should include reports which would show the actual value of the home.

Me: Could you provide us with a copy of your 2010 return? A copy with as many statements and supplementary schedules with supporting information would be best.

The client sends me a copy of their 2010 return. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the specific information I need.

Me: I received the return, thank you. Unfortunately it’s missing one of the schedules I was hoping would be included. Would it be too much trouble for you to request* a detail depreciation schedule for the rental property from 2010?

*She had a different accountant in 2010 who prepared her return. Any accountant is going to know exactly what a “detail depreciation schedule” is. It will exist in their software.

Client (paraphrasing): I lived in the house starting in June 2010, it wasn’t a rental in 2011 at all.

Me (paraphrasing): That’s why I’m hoping to get the information from 2010. As the last year it was used as a rental property, my hope is that the detail information could be obtained to provide us with a cost basis for the home sale. I cross-checked your figure with county records and it doesn’t match, which is why I’m hoping we can see what was used for previous years returns and know the exact cost basis.

Client (paraphrasing): The house was built on the property in 200.* Which tax years will help you accomplish completion of my taxes?

*This is new! And helpful! It explains why her figure and the county records were VERY different.

I haven’t replied to her yet, because my current reaction in my head is “the ‘tax year’ I need to complete your return is that detail report from 2010 that I’ve asked for twice now and you apparently just keep ignoring. Obviously I’m only asking for it because it isn’t important.” But that’s just not nice. I have to think of a different, nice, way to say what I need. Which wording will successfully get me the information I need?

There are a few great snares when it comes to talking to clients, and this particular exchange got caught by at least two of them. I’ll have to save those for another post.

Footenote: Will the IRS catch me?

11 May 2012 By Derek 0 In Footenote

I get this question a lot. Clients and friends always ask if the IRS is going to come knocking and what happens if they do. The canned (and true) answer is that the IRS only tends to come knocking if you give them a reason to. If your return doesn’t have anything that raises a red flag, you’re probably be safe from inspection.

The odds of an IRS visit are also incredibly slim. From a newsletter I get:

The IRS released it 2011 Data Book, which summarizes agency activity for fiscal year 2011 (from 10/1/10–9/30/11). The IRS processed more than 234 million tax returns… About 83% of all individual returns resulted in refunds. The IRS examined 1.1% of all individual tax returns, 1.5% of C corporation returns, .4% of partnership returns, and .4% of S corporation returns. Only about 25% of the individual return audits were face-to-face with a revenue agent or other tax examiner—the vast majority of the audits were handled by correspondence.

So the odds of you getting in trouble are slim, but why risk it? Since you’re already buying the ticket for this particular lottery when you file your return, you want to make sure you have some winning numbers.

Radfootenote: With our powers combined…

04 May 2012 By Derek 2 In Radfootenote

As cash is want to do, my tax season bonus has been burning a hole in my pocket. A few weekends ago I dragged David to the mall to shop for some nice sunglasses. Instead we came back with RC helicopters. I think we made the right choice.

They’re pretty durable, but in short order David’s broke.* We took it back to the store, and they showed us how to “fix” the problem. The fix lasted until we got home. That’s when David decided to open it up and see what’s going on…

The Teacher/Scientist: Had the thought to open it up and explore the problem. He pried into its guts to check it out.

The Accountant: After David poked around for a while, I asked to see it. Attention to detail and the ability to follow specific information from one end to the other allowed me to puzzle out what might be the problem, find that specific bit of the ‘copter, and trace it to it’s source.

The Teacher/Scientist: Once we knew the problem, David gathered up his soldering equipment and had it fixed in a matter of minutes.

With that, we’d managed to combine skill sets loosely associated with our given professions, and fix a helicopter. And really, how cool is that?

*To be fair, David is the better flyer out of the two of us, so it probably was a manufacturer defect.

Radnote: Evolution Motivation Poster

04 May 2012 By David 0 In Radnote

This was sent by a coworker at work, so it must be safe for work, right?

With a slight modification I might add this to the classroom…..

Radnote: Competition is good!

27 April 2012 By David 0 In Radnote

Current lab for freshman physics:

Using pipe insulator half pipes and marbles students are making roller coasters. Group with the most loops get 5 points extra credit. They are eating it up. I love engineering labs.

Radnote: For the physics teachers out there

05 March 2012 By David 0 In Radnote

Radnote: Things I hear in the classroom

01 March 2012 By David 0 In Radnote

I was substituting for a middle school band/technology teacher. In the tech class students asked if I play video games, to which I said yes. This was the following conversation:

Student 1: “Do you play minecraft?!”
Student 2: “Of course not you idiot do you see the ring? He’s married!”

Footenote: It’s the little things…

15 February 2012 By Derek 1 In Footenote

I’ve decided to start keeping a list. It will be a list of the little things about working in an office and in accounting that bring you joy. These are what sustain my sanity during busy season. So here we go:

Finishing off a sticky note pad so you can finally start a new one and change colors.
Having a tax return balance without any necessary rounding plugs.
Gummy fruit snacks.

Your turn, what sustains your sanity during buys season or in your office?