Dealing With the Difficult Client or Potential Client

I worked for a major retail tax company for the past four years and enjoyed it immensely.  Never before in my career have I been more sharp in taxes.  I completed 151 individual tax returns, one corporation, one partnership, and one trust.  I have two more corporations lined up and will do them soon.  Further, client feedback in surveys showed that I was the most highly rated tax professional in the office.  That was nice.

At the end of this tax season, I made the decision to leave the retail tax company where I have worked, for several reasons.  Their prices are way too high to be realistic, in many cases. Employees are suffered to work off the clock, though this is never explicitly stated.  However, you get in trouble if, when the tax season ends, you are still in the middle of a difficult tax return.  You cannot work extra hours to complete it beyond the sparse off-season office schedule.

This happened to me last week, when I was working on a difficult tax return for a very obnoxious client, someone who was rude, pushy, hostile and unreasonable.  This taught me a lesson:  feel free to reject a potential client at the outset.  Do one or more of these things:

1.  Inquire as to the status of the client's records -- will you have to do more than tax preparation, e.g. do a bookkeeping project to derive the numbers needed?

2.  Is the potential client quarrelsome, pushy, rude and putting pressure on you?  Skip them and refer them elsewhere.  Trust your gut on this.

3.  If late in the season, inform the client at the outset that they must be put on extension, or they can go elsewhere.  Their lateness in coming in is not your problem.

4.  Quote them a high price for the tax preparation, and ask for a retainer.  You can always come down if the assignment is less difficult than you feared, or the client is less troublesome than you thought.

TIP:  Create a questionnaire or checklist to remind you to inquire about such things before you formally accept the client.  The questionnaire can be limited to business or complex individual tax returns.