In a typical day I get about 250 emails, which are sorted between essential and non-essential messages. As a National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) member, I recently received eight emails from them trying to sell me everything from brochures to “Get This!” tax return folders. I actually laughed out loud at that little nugget.
It dawned on me that there must be people out there who still print their tax returns.
I was the youngest partner in a partnership for 18 years and it was I who forced the older partners to go paperless in 2005.
When I went out on my own in 2013, I was already a paperless wonder. So that’s why it kind of surprised me to learn that there must be people still out there schlepping it up on paper tax returns.
Another thing that is becoming a thing of the past is a traditional computer server, as we have converted pretty much work on every client to a cloud-based accounting platform. Gone are the days of Accountant’s Copies. Keeping up with technology and changes in software, I had used Lacerte since they bought out my last tax software about 20 years ago.
But this year, I switched to ProConnect Tax Online, which is entirely cloud based. During tax season, I can work on tax returns while my dog plays in the dog park. I embrace technology, and this business is changing so much. I want to change along with it and be on the cutting edge.
For example, I receive very few paper checks as payments nowadays are carried out by credit card. Even when I do get the occasional check, I simply take a picture of it and deposit it in my bank account. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually set foot in a bank.
Where I draw the line is my cell phone number. I have an app on my phone that changes my caller ID to my business number. But I don’t want clients having my cell phone because I know the texts will soon start flying. There are very few clients that have my cell.
To sum it up, we have to just stop using paper. It’s too expensive and time consuming to print client work.
I have three screens at the office. One screen for what I’m currently working on, one to look at the paperless documents and the other screen is for sports. If your clients are used to receiving things through the mail, you need to retrain them. Very few people, including me, ever open their mail.
Release yourself from the insanity and embrace the new frontier. It’s 2017!