Individual tax return preparation will be revved up going into the last month of tax season. Among the endemic problems are errors by preparers. I’ve written articles and books and presented many speeches and webinars on improving the quality of preparers and can give many methods and solutions right now, but I doubt many readers would do anything at this time to implement any suggestions. They should, but they won’t. But here is one procedure that can be implemented immediately without much effort: Have the preparer look at the final result and understand whether it makes sense.
The final result is either a refund or balance due. If the overpayment is applied to next year, then look at the amount being applied. They should ask the following question about it: Is the amount reasonable for that client?
If the amount does not appear reasonable or represents a surprise result, then the preparer would need to determine the reason for the difference and then make the reviewer aware of this (so the reviewer would not have to redo what the preparer found out). If an error or surprise result is discovered, then it would take more than one minute, but it would be a mechanism for the preparer to learn something about the client’s situation or find their own errors and correct them.
There are always exceptions, but this “test” should work for most of the returns that are prepared. This is very low effort and can be done in one minute. Try it! What do you have to lose compared to what you can gain?
Enjoy the rest of tax season, and hopefully it will be more successful than last year.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
