TaxCoach Briefs:    November 19, 2009

Volume 4, Number 48

• Marketing Minute: Seven Secrets to Charging Premium Fees
• Member Testimonial of the Week
• Did You Know: Page Number References
• Member Resource: Member Call-In With Ed & Keith

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MARKETING MINUTE (EAL)
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SEVEN SECRETS TO CHARGING PREMIUM FEES -- AND MAKING THEM STICK

Earlier this week, Keith and I hosted a new teleseminar, "Seven Secrets to Charging Premium Fees -- and Making Them Stick." We were stunned to see the call fill up before we even began the broadcast -- and gratified at the dozens of you who called or emailed asking when we would do it again.

Fortunately, we recorded the call, and we're making at available on demand. And you can listen to the entire presentation whether you're a TaxCoach member or not.

Pricing is probably the single most popular topic we discuss, here in these Briefs, the monthly Lineup, and in the 11 Roundtables we've hosted across the country.

We don't talk about pricing just to hear ourselves talk. We talk about it because we know most of you want the help. The sad reality is, most of you could give yourselves an immediate raise of 10-20% if you just knew how to raise fees with confidence.

This teleseminar will help you do just that. Here's a preview of the secrets we reveal:

1. Forget ____________________.
   (This is the biggest pricing mistake you can make.)

2. Change ____________________.
   (This single decision affects everything that comes after.)

3. Change what ____________________.
   (Here's how to escape pricing comparisons forever.)

4. Change how ____________________.
   (Today's economy demands this adjustment.)

5. Don't ____________________.
   (You'll kick yourself when you realize how much this one has cost you.)

6. Always emphasize ____________________.
   (Do this right and clients will never complain about fees again!)

7. Get out of ____________________!
   (The first six secrets make this one a snap.)

Yes, we could 'fill in the blanks" for you here. But that would violate Secret #5. So you'll just have to listen to learn!

We've posted the playback on our main welcome page, www.TaxCoachSoftware.com. You'll find it in the right-hand column. You can stream it directly, or, download the MP3 to play on your pod.

You could even copy the file to your dashboard if you have one of those Cadillacs with the disk drive in it! If you can't afford the car now, you will be able to afford it after you listen to the presentation!

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MEMBER TESTIMONIAL OF THE WEEK (KAV)
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You have a GREAT PROGRAM. I look forward to doing more with it.

I think that there is a real pent-up demand for tax saving strategies and it will only get greater. This is truly a Win/Win situation for the client and the practitioner.

Keep up the good work!

Frederick A. Thompson, CPA
San Mateo, CA

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DID YOU KNOW . . . (KAV)
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PAGE NUMBER REFERENCES

. . . in TaxCoach you can turn off the page number references in the Plan Summary?

This feature is important when you want to deliver the summary report as a standalone document, without referring to the detail plan modules.

Especially during tax season, many subscribers hand out summary reports along with tax returns as a prospecting device, and do not want to include references to the detail report.  Creating and delivering the detail report, after all, is the goal of the tax planning engagement itself, later in the year.

To use this feature, look for the checkbox below the orange 'Generate Summary' button, on the Reports screen.  Un-check it to leave off the module page numbers, so the Plan Summary stands on its own.

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MEMBER RESOURCE (KAV)
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MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH

Holy cats, another record number of attendees on the call yesterday — and there were so many questions we could barely get to them all!

Here are some excerpts from the log, of the questions raised by callers this week (we had to trim this down a lot):

• Using tools that Tax Coach has available, what are steps should I take to help existing clients with planning between now and December 31, 2009?
• How do you decide which program to do first? Certified Tax Coach or Press Club?
• Can you recommend any resources (preferably eligible for CPE credits) that will help me gain practical knowledge about section 105 plans, HRA’s, HSA’s, etc and how to help clients effectively implement them?
• Can we discuss the setting up of a self directed IRA?
• What is the best treatment for keyman insurance to fund a buysell agreement or protect a keyman. Should the insurance be owned by the corportion and have it be the beneficiary?
• When performing an initial tax analysis, how do you present a tangible deliverable without giving the game away? I like the TC summary report, but I feel it still contains enough information for a prospective client to take to their old accountant!
• I HAVE AN S CORP WITH 2 SHAREHOLDERS, PROJECTED BOTTOM LINE OF 4 MILLION AFTER THEIR SALARIES OF 275K EACH AND DEFINED BENEFIT OF CONTRIB OF 618K THEY'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT THEIR TAX OBLIGATION, ANY THOUGHTS ON YOUR END
• Should a real estate professional/landlord use a schedule c in addition to schedules E?
• When a dental practice is sold, is the goodwill portion subject to capital gain tax rates?
• We sent out a special email newsletter this week to current clients regarding the update to the first time home-buyer credit rules. Is there a good way to charge a fee on any inquiries or follow ups to this, or is this something that would fall more in the "goodwill" category given the straighforwardness of the qualification for the credit.
• I know you have answered this before but regarding retirement plans and medical reimbursement plans, if a single owner S corp sets up an LLC with him or his spouse as sole owner as a management company can they set up the retirement plan or medical reimbursement plan through the LLC and not include S corp employees? I promise to take better notes this time.
• A grantor is responsible for reporting income generated from his or her living trust. If the trust is a irrevocable grantor trust, does it mean income from trust assets will be reported on a trust return rather than that of a grantor's even if the trust document contains language such as "the trust is a grantor trust, and all income , receipts, deductions, credits and capital gains be attributable to the grantor"?
• What solution would you recommend to comply with payroll compliance for employers with one employee (the spouse) to take advantage of the MERP strategy?
• What taxes do you have converting from LLC to an LLP, is there at tax doing a conversion? Also, what is the process to convert?
• A client purchased a C corp business through stock purchase. He owns 100% of the stock and manages the business . Would there be any advantage in the corp buying back the stock? Couth the owner dissolve the corp, take a capital loss then form an LLC to run the business?
• i often receive calls from non clients who ask questions related to tax issues. how do you handle this situation? do you get their name number etc and answer the question or direct them to call the IRS at.....?
• I have an opportunity to serve as the Trustee for an irrevocable trust with real estate holdings, with responsibility for check writing, reporting to the court and overseeing property management companies. Do you know of any training for trust accounting?
• If a C corp with a potential Accumulated Earnings Tax issue converts to an S, does the AET issue go away after the statute runs on the last "C" return?
• I got a question from a client on the Weekly press club email... Does this (credit) include a property with a trailer on it? (Anything to know about trailer as principle residence and the credit?) Thanks
• Odd kind of question. I have a business owner that just left, he asked me how do I write off "under the table employees". My answer to him was we don't write it off, and that's how you avoid IRS issues with illegals. Would the IRS if they found out) still cause problems if the owner does not deduct subcontractor payments?
• If a group of doctors set up a LLP with a 20% partner being an S Corp, which hires them to service the LLP, and their interest in the LLP is only as uninvolved limited partners, would they be limited partners for self employment tax purposes and thus avoid SE income except for the salaries paid from the S corp?
• Can you give us the name again of the court case regarding paying spouse in benefits only?
  (A: Speltz v Commissioner; cited in the MERP module; also see the Client Alert dated 3/27/06 and the 6/8/06 Briefs for discussion)

If you're looking for pointers on tax strategies or profiting from TaxCoach too, join us for the next call, on November 25, at 1pm Eastern. Enter a question or just listen in on the repartee. Check the "Contact Us" button within TaxCoach for registration instructions.

Members occasionally ask if we can record and archive these calls. The answer is that we want to keep them as informal and uninhibited as possible. We’ve discussed specific tax-planning clients and cases, for example – but we don’t want to put ourselves on record as offering individual tax advice. We’ve also discussed outside tax software and marketing services (both good and not-so-good), and we don’t want to put ourselves on record with those comments either. Member Call-Ins are intended to be casual discussions among peers – and we don’t want recording them to threaten that chemistry.

Please note that while our elite members (All-Stars, Press Club, and Hall of Fame) can still schedule time directly with Ed as part of their coaching programs, we simply cannot answer marketing and tax-strategy questions via email or unscheduled calls. We'll have call-ins as many Wednesdays as we can, and we'll talk to you then.

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We're happy to answer your questions on TaxCoach content or features. (Save marketing and tax strategy questions for Member Call-Ins.) For best response, email support@taxcoachsoftware.com. If we think the answer will be useful to all of our members, we'll publish it (anonymously) here in the 'Member Q & A' section of TaxCoach Briefs.

Regards,

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