Happy New Year! Important Information for 2021

On behalf of the entire CPA Solutions’ Team, I would like to welcome you to work with us this year! I am writing to outline a few important items related to the 2021 tax filing season so the process will go as smoothly as possible for you.

WealthAbility Network (WAN) Mastery Level Affiliation. CPA Solutions, LLC is now a member of this exclusive group of about only 12 CPA firms worldwide. We focus on creating permanent tax savings for business owners, real estate investors, and entrepreneurs. The guidance that WAN offers now allows us to provide you with the highest possible value through utilization of the best planning and strategy related to tax reduction without compromising on legality, ethics, or morals. Visit wealthability.com to learn more.

Financial Plan Oversight. Through partnership with Boyd Pederson, CPA, PFS and Transamerica Financial Advisors (TFA), we are now able to offer this service in addition to our core services of tax planning and preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll. Essentially, it is an analysis of your existing financial plan or the creation of one if you do not have a plan. We will be sending out an optional survey to gauge your interest in this, during the tax preparation process. We are available to consult with you on all related matters.

Tax Preparation Process. We will begin working on your tax returns when you have taken each of the following actions:

  1. Completed and signed our 2020 Annual Income Tax Engagement Letter.

  2. Completed the 2020 Client Questionnaire (for individual returns).

  3. Paid retainer of $500 for each individual return and $900 for each business return.

  4. Confirmed that all your source documents have been provided.

We will contact you during the process if there are any questions or clarifications needed. When your tax returns have been completed, you will receive an email from us with instructions on how to complete the filing. We will follow up with a reminder if we do not hear from you within a week.

Cutoff Dates. Cutoff date for passthrough business returns (Forms 1120S & 1065) is February 15th. This means that we cannot guarantee to complete your business returns by the first deadline of March 15th, unless all information for the business has been received by the February 15th cutoff date. Similarly, the cutoff date for individual, corporate, and fiduciary returns (Forms 1040, 1120 & 1041) is March 15th. This means that we cannot guarantee to complete those returns by the first deadline of April 15th, unless all information for the returns has been received by the March 15th cutoff date. We will file an extension of time to file and push back the deadlines to the fall if we do not have all information by the cutoff dates. Note* that the extension is only for time to file and any taxes owed are still due by April 15.

Gary and Sarah. This fall both Gary Hendrix and Sarah Hostetter retired. They are both available to consult with our team members internally as needed to address any complicated issues from past years. Your previous tax preparer is returning as your new Client Manager this year and has access to all prior year filings.

Tax Organizers. On Tuesday, January 5th we notified you that your tax organizer was ready. Let us know if you need assistance accessing it or if you did not receive the communication. Please refer to the organizer for what was reported last year. You are not required to fill it out or use it, but it does help us to prepare more accurate filings. We will ask you to complete the questionnaire portion of the organizer before we begin tax prep. Please note that printing and mailing of organizers will be subject to a $25 charge as electronic copies are provided via Liscio.

Paperless Office. We strive to keep your costs down and are sensitive to our natural resources. We are a paperless office, and our default delivery system is through Liscio. Paper copies are always available upon request, but we will charge $50 to print and mail copies of your tax returns. We encourage you to request that all your source document originators deliver your information to you electronically so that you can forward it to us efficiently. 

Liscio. This past November we rolled out our new online portal, Liscio. Liscio is an invitation-only application that combines real-time messaging and file sharing in one, easy to access place. If you have not already activated your Liscio account, you will need to do so before your tax returns are delivered. Please contact us to request a new activation link if yours has expired. Liscio is the safest way to transmit sensitive information. You can upload large files and multiple documents simultaneously. When we have an action item for you, this is where it will be saved. Please contact us if you need help getting started using Liscio.

Providing Your Source Documents. Due to the pandemic, we encourage you to scan your documents and upload them through Liscio. However, if you prefer to mail your source documents, you may do so to our Lakewood office.

Document Retention Policy. Any documents that you mail to our offices will be scanned and shredded. We will maintain digital copies of everything you provided, as well as digital copies of your tax returns for as long as you’re an active client. Please do not mail us original copies of your source documents – they will be shredded.

Virtual Meetings Due to the pandemic, we will not be conducting in-person meetings. However, Virtual Meetings will create more opportunity for us to connect with you. Regardless of the weather or different physical locations, we can facilitate a meeting where you can get face-to-face with your trusted advisor and look at the same document together. This is intended for review of your tax returns, after they have been completed. Tax return review meetings (phone, video, or in person) are available upon request.

Signing E-file Forms. We will continue to use Adobe EchoSign to obtain your signatures for all e-Filed returns. For individual returns filing jointly, we request that both the taxpayer and spouse provide us with separate emails for the most efficient signing of your returns.

Payment Before Filing. The invoice will be prepared after your project is complete and your retainer will be applied automatically. Payment is due when we deliver drafts of your tax returns to you.

Note* we will not file your returns until payment has been made. Thank you for considering us for your tax/accounting needs. We truly appreciate the opportunity to serve and look forward to helping you achieve your goals.

Sincerely,

The CPA Solutions Team