This tax season marks my 18^th year of preparing tax returns. 15 years have been on my own and 3 years with a big box company. I’m honestly glad I started out at the big box company, as I learned a lot of what to do, and what not to do. There was another tax preparer in the office that told a client that she had no idea how or where the number on the 1040 got there, the software just put it there. That was the one thing I make sure to communicate with my clients in the office: I go line by line of the 1040 with them, so they know where the numbers came from and why there are there.

I started out in CA and as you can image there was a lot of work, I had to do to get my licensed. In order to be licensed in CA you must take a 60-hour course with exam. At the end of the course, you are interviewed for a position with the big box company and also asked about the course. I told the interviewer that I could have done a better job teaching the course. Well, that summer I was told that I would be teaching the course, and that was the first year of 3 years that I had the pleasure to teach for them. As many of you know, you learn more when you are teaching it, so it was a great experience for me.

After 3 years with the big box company, I started out on my own. Taking what I learned and what I saw was wrong, so I could provide quality services to my clients. I get asked by new clients when they should drop off their paperwork. My response is, you don’t! you schedule an appointment, and we will get your taxes done during your appointment. During this appointment, I am getting to know you, asking you questions, learning while entering your documents into the tax software, this is where I listen for key words or phrases, that will tell me that you qualify for certain tax deductions and credits.

Then we go over your 1040 line by line and I’m here to answer any questions that you may have regarding your tax return, explaining why you go the credits or deductions, what will be different next year, give you the advice if you need to adjust your W4, or put more into retirement accounts, etc.

We try and make the tax appointment painless and educational for you. While you are getting your taxes done, we have an arcade with 60 games, checker/chess board and other games for kids to keep busy.

If you would like to schedule an appointment to get your taxes done with us, you can go to our website www.pinabiz.com and schedule an appointment that fits your schedule.