Text messaging has become one of the fastest ways for businesses, including accounting and financial firms, to communicate with clients and customers. Should tax preparers turn to it more in yet another crazy season?
“I tend to have text conversations with most of my clients,” said Brian Stoner, a CPA in Burbank, California. “It tends to be easier and quicker to answer simple questions. One thing I don’t recommend is to send documents by text, as this can potentially be prone to hacking, as opposed to using a portal … to send PDFs.”
Enrolled Agent John Dundon, president of Taxpayer Advocacy Services in Englewood, Colorado, gives a thumbs-up to texting. “That’s the way more and more clients want to communicate,” he said.
“Smart phones and more people doing away with home phones have prompted clients to text more frequently,” said Manasa Nadig, an EA and owner at MN Tax and Business Services and a partner at Harris Nadig in Canton, Michigan. “I’m okay with people texting me if we’re trying to sync up a time to have a meeting or get an email address and so on. But I draw the line when they send me pictures of their documents or have lengthy tax questions.”
“I don’t encourage text messages and let clients know why,” said Robert Seltzer, a CPA at Seltzer Business Management, in Los Angeles. “I think text messages serve a purpose for a short response like confirming a phone call or asking a really quick question. Otherwise, I prefer email. I can view attachments much more easily and I have separate files in my Outlook for each client, which makes finding prior communications much easier.”
‘Lost in translation’
Some in the texting/short message service industry cite statistics that texts are read more and faster now than any other communication medium, without the hold times and work interruptions common to phone calls (and without the spam filters of email). Text industry advocates also say that prospects prefer to initially text about becoming a client.
Texting could distinguish a practice: One
In accounting, however, the medium might come with liability, given the sensitivity that’s frequently inherent with the information flying back and forth.
“We prefer not to text stuff with clients,” said Morris Armstrong, an EA and registered investment advisor at Armstrong Financial Strategies in Cheshire, Connecticut. “On occasion, we allow it when a client has said something over the phone like, ‘I will text you that info when I get to my office or home.’ I do not like having multiple sources of record locations and really keep it to email, phone and notes or portal.”
“Quite a few overseas clients use Whatsapp,” Nadig said. “There’s a false sense of security because they think that the data is encrypted. I also like to gather all my information in my email, as it’s easier to respond to timely and not miss any messages.”
“A lot can be lost in translation when texting,” Dundon added. “Attempting to interpret the Internal Revenue Code via text message is a disservice to all involved and can bring unforeseen liabilities.”
Pointers
If tax preparers do want to offer texting options, it’s best to say so on a firm’s website.
EZ Texting, an SMS platform provider, offers
- Never send a message to anyone without first getting their permission to text them;
- Segment texting lists. For the tax prep industry, this facilitates texting such documents as quarterly or yearly tax reminders or loyalty program offers; and,
- Automate communications by sending out personalized appointment reminders, paperwork submission deadlines and confirmation messages. These texts can be set up to send based on an activity trigger, like submitting a document, or during specified time intervals, like important deadline dates.
Best general practices include keeping texts within business hours, with a conversational tone and prompt response, and using a phone number that the recipient knows. Text discriminately and not too much, avoiding excessive abbreviations or emojis — and always offer opt-outs.
