Thousand Oaks Tax Preparation: The Power of Specialized Knowledge
January 27, 2014
Skylar Dubrow, CPA
Blog
January 27, 2014Skylar Dubrow, CPABlogWell, this week I want to tell you a story, and one that, though it is not about our Thousand Oaks tax preparation service per se, will help take some stress off ye olde plate for you and your family.
But before I get there, a few tax items to note…
1) Officially, tax filing is set to begin this Friday, January 31st — nationally, not just here in the Thousand Oaks area. As I have said before, however, this does NOT mean that we cannot start work on your file here at Team Skylar Dubrow CPA (and, in fact, we have already begun files for many Thousand Oaks tax preparation clients).
2) You should be receiving all your W-2’s by the end of the week. If you have not received them all by Monday, contact your payroll department (they may just be behind, after all).
If that is fruitless, we can work with you to create a valid replacement, as well as to alert the IRS to the problem. Don’t try to go that one alone.
In fact, that leads to this week’s Note. As I mentioned above, it’s a good story (an old one, which I’ve re-adapted), and it gives a powerful lesson about the value of your work.
Here we go…
Thousand Oaks Tax Preparation: The Power of Specialized Knowledge
“You must have long range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short range failures.” -Charles C. Noble
Some years ago, one of the major manufacturing companies in this country (rumored to be a local Thousand Oaks-area business, but unsubstantiated) was facing a crisis. The central conveyor belt of its automated assembly line quit running and brought the entire plant to a stop.
Although they tried everything they could think of, and even brought in several consultants, no one was able to get the conveyor belt running again, or even to identify what caused the breakdown in the first place. The company was really in a bind. With on-going overhead, and the loss of production, the company was losing money at the rate of $1,000,000.00 a day.
Finally, after a week of down time, the big brass told the plant manager to call Tom — the mechanical engineer who had retired the year before, after 25 years with the company. The conveyor belt had been Tom’s specialty and primary responsibility.
When Tom got the call, he caught the next flight from the city where he now lived and arrived at the plant the next day. He met with both the local vice president and the plant manager to get as much information as he could as to what had happened and what they had tried. He then walked slowly along the belt until he came to a particular point.
He put his ear against the machine and listened. He asked for a hammer and then gave the machine a swift and forceful blow.
“Give it a try now!” he called to the foreman. The conveyor belt started right up and ran like a dream.
Tom then left and went back home, but before he did, the company vice president told him to send them a bill for what he had accomplished. Two days later, the company received Tom’s invoice for one million dollars!
Thinking that was way too high for the little time Tom had spent to solve the problem, and how he did so with just a single blow from a hammer, the company wrote back and asked Tom to provide them with an itemization. This was Tom’s response:
One hammer blow: $2.00
Knowing where to hit it: $999,998.00
With the receipt of that simple invoice, the company came to understand the reason for Tom’s fee and immediately issued a check to him for one million dollars!
Special knowledge is the key. Although the company’s leaders had to be reminded of that fact by receiving Tom’s invoice, as soon as it did, they knew he was right. They could have given hammers to every employee in the plant and even had the big brass banging on the machine from sunrise to sunset, but it would have done no good… because they didn’t have the knowledge; they didn’t know where to hit it.
This is an old story, told in different ways, with different names and amounts. But it’s powerful for a simple reason: labor is NOT about how much “time” is put into executing a particular solution to a problem — it’s knowing when and how to do it.
In the realm of preparing your tax return, I urge you… do NOT fall prey to the thinking that a software program or forms downloaded from the internet can suffice to enable you to preserve your resources, or properly leverage the multiplicity of credits, loopholes and deductions available.
Give yourself and your family the gift of financial peace of mind during tax season, and do it with a Thousand Oaks tax service who knows how to do it right.
To your family’s happiness…
Warmly,
Skylar Dubrow CPA
(818) 889-7285
Preparing a correct and accurate tax return is our priority. We proudly stand behind our work and if a mistake does happen that is our fault, we will immediate correct the mistake and gladly refund your money if requested.
If any penalties or interest are incurred due to our mistake, we will do everything we can to fix the problem and cover any penalties should they arise.
We feel so confident in our processes to account for all deductions and uncover hidden deductions that we guarantee that you will pay the lowest amount of taxes legally possible. We spend a good amount of time correcting and fixing other so called tax pros mistakes and oversights.
We are so committed to giving out clients the best service. We do this by taking thte time to understand our clients situation and asking the right questions to make sure every deduction is accounted for. And remember we work for you, NOT the IRS.
Not only do we prepare an accurate tax return, we will inform you of tax saving strategies and best record keeping practices should we see fit.
Starting January 1, 2017, all our returns come with our “Silver” Stress Free Audit Insurance, FREE with paid tax preparation. Our Silver package includes our full support when handling IRS and State Notices for the 2016 tax year. If you receive a notice, send it to us and we will work with you to organize the required documentation and we will respond to the IRS on your behalf.
“Many tax experts are predicting an increase in IRS audits (because of the system automation), as well as an increase in audits by the state”
Our Gold Package adds our representation for an actual IRS audit for the current year. Whether it be an “audit by mail”, or an actual audit at one of the IRS locations, we will work with you to compile all the necessary documentation and represent you in front of the IRS for no additional charge. Our fees to represent our clients in an audit scenario can range from $1000- $2500 & up depending on time and complexities.
Our Gold option is an optional add on service & not included with regular tax preparation. Gold protection covers the current tax year only regardless of when you get audited.
The IRS and state authorities are behind in auditing tax returns and matching reporting documents to tax returns.They are currently working on 2012 & 2013 years.
Our Platinum level package covers you for a period of 7 years. It Is just like our Gold package, but it includes the currtent year and 6 prior years. We will provide audit coverage for prior years tax returns, even if we did not prepare them.
How is that for taking care of our clients! Once the Platinum level package is purchased, only the gold level will be required in future years as the previous years have been protected by the one time Platinum purchase.
