Make Next Tax Season More Profitable
If you prepare taxes on the side, tax season is a profitable time for you. And depending on your goals, your little tax business could become even more profitable if you took some of the following steps to increase your clientele and your bottom line.
1. Consider Full-Time Self Employment
Don’t quit your day job just yet. However, we would encourage you to consider whether or not you’re genuinely interested in launching your own full-time tax practice. If so, it’s important for you and your family to know that this transition won’t put you out on the street. And while it will require sacrifice, take the time necessary to ensure that you have work enough to sustain you when your business goes from being a part-time endeavor to a full-time one.
Consider how long it might take you to grow your business to the point where you’d feel comfortable quitting your job. 3 months? 6 months? One year? And don’t work blindly towards that deadline. Determine “readiness indicators,” or symptoms that your business is healthy enough to go full-time. Will you need at least 10 year-round clients? 15? 20? Look at your current client base and calculate how much money each brings in. How many more would you need in order to compensate for your current full-time income? And don’t rush yourself. Give yourself the necessary time to prepare for this most important career shift.
2. Add Tax Planning Services.
There is a notable difference between tax planning and tax preparation: THE DATE. Tax planning must occur before the year ends, and tax preparation begins after January 1st. Tax planning is an important step in reducing taxes. Throughout the year, tax professionals can discuss with clients various tax strategies that could potentially save them thousands of dollars. This also enables them to make any needed adjustments before the end of the year to effectively lower their tax liability. Universal’s Professional Tax Preparer Program will help you accomplish this.
3. Offer more services.
Last week we discussed the importance of expanding your offerings. This is sound advice because the more services you offer, the more valuable you become to current clients and potentials clients. Consider adding accounting services to your menu in order to increase your value and become that one-stop financial shop. You’ll find that people may need an accountant more than they need a tax professional, and visa versa. Only when you’re prepared to do both are you able to secure both types of clients. And for the clients who need both accounting and tax services, you’re able to increase your billable hours, and thus increase your income.
4. Fine-Tune Your Marketing Approach.
It’s difficult to grow a business no one really knows about. With just a handful of proven and effective marketing techniques, you could increase your clientele significantly. Universal Practice Builder Program, otherwise known as Marketing on Steroids, will teach you how increase your billable hours and earn the monies you deserve by leveraging your time with techniques proven to get clients. Your practice can become the premier service in your area for tax planning and preparation. Your ability to market your business and network with key community players will promote your business to those who need and appreciate it most.
If you get started now, you may find 2012 better than you could have ever imagined! But first, call Universal Accounting at 1-877-833-7909 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-833-7909 end_of_the_skype_highlighting to see which of our programs could help you best prepare for a more profitable future!
