There was a time when the individual tax interview was very much standard practice. You would pre-schedule your appointments with us throughout tax season to bring in your tax documents and discuss the transactions you had in the past year and any planned for the future. For some clients, they still prefer this type of relationship with their CPA. But for others, having to set aside time to come in for an appointment, plus time away from work or family is something that not everyone can appreciate.
Great news: you can have your tax appointment from the comfort of your own home.
Technology makes remote appointments easier than ever.
Through the use of secure email, online portals, and conference calls, sending data
and discussing your tax situation with your CPA can be streamlined. If you have the ability to scan documents, then you have many of these options available to you. Some CPAs also use texting, plus video and business chat programs, which allows for more access than ever before with your CPA.
Having a remote tax appointment can be beneficial for your CPA, too.
The traditional meeting with your CPA at the very start of your tax preparation process may limit the discussion, as the CPA may not have time during the interview to fully review all the documents you provided. We often find that once we receive a client’s tax documents and have had a chance to start the tax return preparation, we’re in a much better position to ask more informed questions to get the most out of the CPA/client relationship. Once the tax returns are completed, we schedule a conference call to go over the finished tax returns, to discuss any planned future tax transactions or goals and the financial and tax implications, including cash flow planning for future estimated tax payments.
Don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere.
Of course, we love advising our clients and enjoy seeing them in face-to-face meetings, so if the traditional meeting with your CPA is important to you, then that can always be arranged. But if you’re like many clients today trying to fit more in to each busy day, we have solutions that can make that possible, while still giving you access to us and the valued technical advice you need.
Whether you want to schedule an appointment through video chat, over the phone, or in person, we are not far away. LSL CPAs has offices in Brea, Santa Ana and Sacramento, California. If you ever need any assistance give us a call at (714) 569-1000 or send us a message!
