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For heaven’s sake Throw Down Response
By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
Although I understand the tax blogosphere has decided to “ignore” this topic for varying reasons, I am going to throw out my last ball anyway.
In response to the comment at my post For Cry’in Out Load – Another Tax Blog Throw Down – here are my rambling thoughts:
First, I am a Certified Public Accountant, not a Certified Public Tax Preparer, so why in the world would I be threatened by unenrolled preparers and believe that they could in any way take from my education or my license as is suggested at the comment?
I propose that anyone wondering about what accounts really do, look at my post addressing this subject for more clarification.
True my CPA license does afford me the right to perform certain functions that non-CPAs cannot. However, these functions are not related to tax preparation. As a CPA, I can and do perform attestation engagements. In addition, I can represent a client in tax court. But I ask you – so what? This ability has nothing to do with tax preparation.
At the post comment, I am asked – if I believe a non-CPA rendering opinions on financial statements (i.e. attestation engagements) of clients is a professional accountant – well no – I would call them a criminal.
The person commenting at my blog appears to be confusing criminal activity with professionalism. Let us not confuse these terms. If society has determined that one must be “licensed” to perform a job function, then someone performing these functions without such a license would be a “professional” criminal.
Now ask me if I think someone working in the capacity of a corporate controller for 30 years is a professional even if he or she has no formal education- well yes – of course, I believe they are a professional – in this case the person would be a professional “controller.” For me the distinction lies in the substance of the job function. A person acting in the” capacity” of a professional is a professional – self taught does not equate to “not a professional.” A controller position requires advance knowledge of accounting. It is not the sort of job that someone could walk into. Of course, someone who has obtained the knowledge to be able to be in this position is a professional – regardless of how the knowledge was obtained.
Likewise, tax preparation requires advance knowledge but not a license. If a person has obtained this knowledge, then this person is a professional. The act of preparing the return does not make this person a professional, the knowledge obtained, which allows a person to prepare the return properly, is what makes the person a professional.
I wonder If the person commenting at my blog is trying to argue that tax preparation is not a profession. If this is the case, then I would like to hear more about how he has come to this conclusion.
For Cry’in Out Load – Another Tax Blog Throw Down
By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
I have said this before; the life of a tax preparer is not full of exciting workdays. Although I do derive satisfaction from a job well done like when an audit closes in favor of my client or when I complete a well thought out tax plan, the day to day activities of a tax professional which often consists of mulling over financial information or reading lengthy contracts doesn’t really qualify as an extreme sport – does it.
Obviously, if you are a drama junkie looking for an adrenalin rush, you are not going to find it in the tax preparation industry.
That is, unless you are a tax “professional” who has found a way to spice it up by creating a certain amount of drama and drawing attention by writing a blog post like this one, Who is a Professional where the author implies that many hard working people all over the world are not “professionals” and do not belong to a profession because they are not regulated like lawyers or CPAs.
Yeppers – how bored do you suppose this guy was to come up with that? Although his post really seems to be directed at unenrolled tax preparers, the post manages to be insulting to – well – just about anybody who has worked hard to obtain a position but did it without a college degree or a state license.
This blog post certainly succeeded in its attempt to stir up the tax blogosphere though. And I admit I have been slightly entertained watching the volley of posts being tossed around.
My take – as Robert Flach quotes me at his blog “His basic premise that you must be regulated to be a member of a profession is silly.”
If you are interested in catching up on the latest, “Throw Down” be sure to check out these related posts:
I am a Professional! And Who is a professional – The Final Word by Robert Flach
A little Professionalism, if you please by Bruce McFarland
For a complete unabridged account, be sure to read the blog comments at each of these posts.
A Tax Blog Throw Down – I Dished it Out – Now it Looks Like I Will Have to Take It.
By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
Where to begin?
Until recently, I was happily posting little tidbits of tax stuff, mostly gleaned from the IRS’s tax tip releases and some original posts written when I could get time away from the tax practice.
Then an old friend, who is also a writer, publisher, editor, and internet-marketing expert, pointed out that I should use my blog posts to boost my internet presence and market myself online. [Frankly, I always thought people just stumbled onto blogs by accident or found you by some miracle. I really didn’t think much about it. However, that is another blog on another day.]
In addition to following some of her great tips, I also began looking for other tax blogs and quickly realized that there was a whole tax blogging community. They appeared to be a supportive group too, re-tweeting posts, linking to each other’s blog pages, writing flattering posts about each other, generally a very pleasant blogging experience.
That is, until I read a post by June Walker. Now, to be fair, June did not strike first. No, she was set off by a couple of bloggers, The Wondering Tax Pro, aka “Sammy Segar, CPA” and The Tax Lawyer’s Blog aka “Attila Attorney” to be specific. Each of these bloggers disagreed with her post, You Do Not Need a Business Checking Account.
Now, if you have ever thought that accountants were docile number crunchers, you were wrong, at least as it applies to Ms. Walker. You can check out her retaliation here.
In addition, as this saga drags on, it appears that I am soon to be the target of Ms. Walkers rants as I might have been a bit harsh in my comments to her retaliation post. I am not going to go into the whole thing here since you can click on the link and page down to my post. Mine starts “OMG -I can’t believe what I am reading. Is this how tax bloggers behave?”
Although I risk being the target of her mean spirited rants, I stand by my “chick think” statement. I believe some of her comments were snide, belittling, unprofessional, and unnecessary – In the same way a bunch of women might stand around the water cooler and gossip about the pretty girl in the office next door. . However, that’s just my opinion.
So here you go Ms. Walker, rip me apart. It certainly won’t take a genius to find flaws in my blog posts. I definitely need an editor. LOL. However, it will be interesting to see how many mistakes she was able to find in my comment posted on her blog…kind of like a Where’s Waldo exercise.
Oh…do I get a “composite figure?” How exciting. I cannot wait to find out. 🙂
Now off to take care of the important things in life, like putting my granddaughter to bed.
Oh and yes, that’s me and the grandbaby right after we finished this evenings bath.
Wowser – A Tax Blog Throw Down – Why Keeping a Separate Business Checking Account Can Save Your Clients Money.
By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
I must say, the business life of a tax accountant isn’t exactly a mardi gras. Moreover, it’s no wonder that we don’t see movies of the week about the accountant who couldn’t balance his or her ledger – borrrrring.
Therefore, I certainly look forward to the occasional lively debate, something stimulating and thought provoking, you know to spice it up a bit . But gees, I sure was stunned to read the comments made by June Walker over at her blog post There’s no shortage of bad advice out there. I suppose I don’t need to go into the details, since you can head over to her blog and read it yourself. But suffice it to say, she was a little miffed when a fellow blogger seamed to diss her blog post You Do Not Need A Business Checking Account.
But, hello, what do you expect to happen when you give that type of advice? Come on -you do not need a business checking account? What? Are you serious?
Regardless of all the important reasons to have a separate business account, you can check those out here at The Wondering Tax Pro’s blog, the extra cost that would be incurred by many clients to have an accountant or bookkeeper wade through business and personal expenses to pick out the proper deductions is not something I would readily advise to any client. And I know this from personal experience. Thank you.
I want my clients to focus on the important aspect of managing their businesses – you know – the revenue generating part, not the “Oh crap, I forgot to pull that business expense out of my co-mingled account” part.
So if you want to save your clients some frustration and some accounting fees, please advice them to open a separate banking account for their self-employed business.
In my opinion, advising a client NOT to open a separate business account would undoubtedly increase the accounting fees for those clients. So unless that is your intention, better stay away from that type of advice.
Wowser – A Tax Blog Throw Down – Why Keeping a Separate Business Checking Account Can Save Your Clients Money.
By Stacie Clifford Kitts, CPA
I must say, the business life of a tax accountant isn’t exactly a mardi gras. Moreover, it’s no wonder that we don’t see movies of the week about the accountant who couldn’t balance his or her ledger – borrrrring.
Therefore, I certainly look forward to the occasional lively debate, something stimulating and thought provoking, you know to spice it up a bit . But gees, I sure was stunned to read the comments made by June Walker over at her blog post There’s no shortage of bad advice out there. I suppose I don’t need to go into the details, since you can head over to her blog and read it yourself. But suffice it to say, she was a little miffed when a fellow blogger seamed to diss her blog post You Do Not Need A Business Checking Account.
But, hello, what do you expect to happen when you give that type of advice? Come on -you do not need a business checking account? What? Are you serious?
Regardless of all the important reasons to have a separate business account, you can check those out here at The Wondering Tax Pro’s blog, the extra cost that would be incurred by many clients to have an accountant or bookkeeper wade through business and personal expenses to pick out the proper deductions is not something I would readily advise to any client. And I know this from personal experience. Thank you.
I want my clients to focus on the important aspect of managing their businesses – you know – the revenue generating part, not the “Oh crap, I forgot to pull that business expense out of my co-mingled account” part.
So if you want to save your clients some frustration and some accounting fees, please advice them to open a separate banking account for their self-employed business.
In my opinion, advising a client NOT to open a separate business account would undoubtedly increase the accounting fees for those clients. So unless that is your intention, better stay away from that type of advice.
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