One of the more entertaining moments I had when becoming an Enrolled Agent happened in the Prometric testing room: I was waiting to be called in with a dozen other people, most of them CPA candidates. The test administrator came out and said, “IRS test?” while looking at me—and promptly everyone, especially the CPAs, scooted their chairs away from mine.
Becoming an Enrolled Agent is truly special—it is not a course of study in college or something that you just “do.” Rather, it is a designation sought out by tax practitioners who truly care about their clients—and their own professionalism—in order to gain knowledge and credibility in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing field.
Becoming an EA is only half the battle—then what do you do with yourself and your designation? The Enrolled Agent Tax Consulting Practice Guide is an excellent, step-by-step approach to building your own practice. Unlike many other guides written about starting your own (insert generic adjective here) business, Christy’s book focuses on the specific needs of the tax preparation community. With solid and detailed advice on everything from how to configure your office space to how to market your practice, she makes it easy to understand the components of a successful practice. Her personal experiences—both good and bad—are excellent learning tools to accompany her recommendations.
I especially enjoyed her chapter on choosing your clients wisely, which in the long term is much more profitable and much less stressful. It goes against the traditional approach to building a business, which is “take everyone who walks in the door and when you are profitable enough, weed out the bad ones later.” Eventually, the “bad” clients cost you so much time and billable hours that you do not have the energy to find more “good” clients. She emphasizes a great point: to help your clients and stay in business, you need to get paid—and on time!
Christy also delves into other areas of generating revenue for your practice. From S-Corp work to representation at audit, she takes a hands-on approach from how to set your fees to what to expect in the process. She is also one of the few authors to emphasize Errors & Omissions Insurance, which is essential in any tax practice, even if you are doing only twenty-five returns per year. The cost of coverage is reasonable and worth it in case you ever have to use it.
For Enrolled Agents, particularly sole practitioners, one of the toughest facets of the business can be marketing. We don’t like to think of ourselves as “in sales” and thus, often figure if we “hang out a shingle,” the clients will find us. Unfortunately, there is too much competition out there for that approach to work!
Instead, The Enrolled Agent Tax Consulting Practice Guide provides six helpful chapters (and multiple EA interviews) on how to market your practice effectively and without going bankrupt doing so. I liked that Christy addressed the importance of niche marketing—we cannot possibly be experts in every facet of tax law, and that’s okay. It’s also reasonable to refer clients to others who specialize in fields of tax law that are not your forte. You will build credibility within the profession and perhaps receive some referrals in return!
I am thrilled that Christy wrote this book to help both new and seasoned EAs build and grow their practices. Though it is relatively easy to locate continuing education and tax update classes online and around the country, it is rare to find a practical and well-written book on tax practice management. Christy Pinheiro has now written the book that I searched for years ago when starting my own firm—so use it to your advantage and go build your tax practice!
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