Level 11

Question

Billing Opinion

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
March 11, 2023
6 replies
47 views

I friggin hate the Client Portal. Client's upload ten thousand files of all different kinds. Just got in one of Word files, Excel files, 82 picture files and 4 .pdf files. I tell clients no pictures but they don't listen.

Downloading, organizing and getting rid of crap takes longer than preparing the tax return itself.

I'm asking the community - do you charge differently for portal files or have an opinion of how to stop this? I can't just add a new line on a bill without advance warning to clients since it didn't happen in prior years.

ProSeries Professional

This topic has been closed for replies.

rbynaker

Level 13

I bill by the hour anyway but lately I've been tracking this time separately and splitting out a line item at the top of the invoice for "Printing, converting and organizing documents."

IRonMaN

Level 15

Thank you for reassuring me that my choice to not provide client portals was a good choice.

Slava Ukraini!

rbynaker

Level 13

@IRonMaN wrote:

Thank you for reassuring me that my choice to not provide client portals was a good choice.

Not much difference. Even if stuff is mailed or dropped off I'm still tracking this time for opening their envelopes and pulling out all of the crazy stuff like utility bills, this year's property assessment, uncashed dividend checks, a newsletter from their HOA, the entire August broker statement where nothing special happened, and one receipt for a pair of eyeglasses because the glasses place told them they could write it off on their taxes.

dkh

Level 15

Can't you charge for the extra time spent sifting through "crap" documents as part of the return preparation costs? Wouldn't need to be a new line on the bill.

IRonMaN

Level 15

“CRAP” fee - I like it😁

Slava Ukraini!

rbynaker

Level 13

@IRonMaN wrote:

“CRAP” fee - I like it😁

As CPAs we have to be more professional than that! It should be clearly labeled as Collating, Reorganizing, Assembling and Processing documents.

Just-Lisa-Now-

Intuit Community Champion

I hate portal uploads too, I cant decide if I should raise my fees for these, or just ditch my long distance clients that want to use it, for me its not really all about the money, Im looking for a more hassle free life.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥Lisa♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

dascpaAuthor

Level 11

Long-distance clients? My portal uploads are close to 75% of my clients. They could be around the corner and still upload. And if they're young it's all on their phone.

I guess in the end next year I'll write a note with my annual January 1st mailing and inform them that fees will be adjusted accordingly. I'm cheaper than H&R and all the other services and I charge what is fair. Too many others I've seen rip off their clients with outrageous fees. Maybe as I get closer to the end of the career I shouldn't care as much.

I was told by a CPA Practice Advisor that I should charge wealthier clients more. My opinion is, if they go to Macy's to buy a shirt and so do I they should not pay more for the same product because they're wealthier. Guess you now know which side of the political spectrum I am on.

IRonMaN

Level 15

They do it because it is more convenient for them. But it isn't so convenient for us. In all seriousness, for those clients that are local, consider charging a convenience fee for those that use the portal. We accept credit cards, but the majority of those that use plastic is because they get points or miles. Well, my fees are very reasonable (too low) so I'm not going to eat the fees because you want to earn some extra benefits by paying that way. I charge a convenience fee for the use of plastic. It's a nominal fee but at least it recoups most of the fees that I would get clipped for by the end of tax season.

Slava Ukraini!

BobKamman

Level 15

My clients just send me their stuff as email attachments. Mostly pdf or doc attachments. Some of them combine all the pages before sending, and for some of them I have to click on each (without waiting for one to finish before starting the next) and wait a few minutes to print out the pages I want. I try to run a tight ship but I don't need portholes.

abctax55

Level 15

I can't just add a new line on a bill without advance warning to clients since it didn't happen in prior years.

@dascpa Why not?

They changed their way of submitted crap, er ... important tax documents. Changes = higher fees.

MY favorite this year is three/four/five emails with attachments and the comment "I may have already sent these" so ya' gotta check to see.

HumanKind... Be Both

Sign up

Login with SSO

Let's get you signed in

Login with SSO