[Adam]

Just left the bar with my firm..new job has its up and downs..

one of the downs is no clients produce Balance sheets and I get Personal CC stmt after personal CC stmt that are being run through LLC’s as Bullshit business expenses with no records what so ever..

So in celebration of being able to come in at 10 and leave at 5 tomorrow what are the best Public accounting horror stories you people havE?

[Right Brained Accountant]

10-5?! Bless you. My last day off was February 18th and I was in at 6a again today for another 12-13er. Get used to the corporate mess, it becomes a blend of Excedrin and Espresso after a while 🙂

[Recked]

My best recent story is a corp client emailing me on 3/13 asking if I could do their return.
I told them I can do the return, but they are going on extension.
They replied with …but I can get you the stuff tomorrow, 3/14.

I typically stop producing 3-5 days before the corp deadline.
58 corp exts. and 26 – 1065 extensions this year.
Those take priority over doing a last minute tax return.

[jenpen]

@Recked My boss and I just talked about how we did more extensions this year than normal. People just didn't get their stuff back to us, or haven't gotten us anything at all. There are a few that we still have to get done in the next few weeks, though, because the client expects it. But most of them will wait until the fall.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[Recked]

Not sure about your state but NY is a pain for extensions.
Minimum filing filing fees for S-corp, 1st qtr installment for C-corp, or LLC filing fee for LLC that files as a 1065 are all due to NYS by 3/15 via direct debit.
Each client has to be opened, selected for e-file, debit date added, and extension payment set to 100% of prior year or it defaults to minimum fee due.

Huge time suck.

Pro tip – Always mail a 1065/S-corp extension via certified mail on 3/15.
They both go to the same address and the certified receipt is good to have on hand.

[jenpen]

It's not so bad in IL. We just have to go in to the client, make sure the PIN is entered, select to file only the 7004, and that's basically it.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[RyonT]

Jennifer, It sounds like you use Drake. At my old firm, we just automatically filed extensions for corporate clients. Most didn't have any payments due, and the ones that did were small. It was a tiny firm with just me and the owner, so personal returns took precedence.

I think my worst public horror story was about 6 months after I started, we had a client come in that hadn't been in in a few years. He was being sued for some kind of tax issue. I think it was sales tax, but it was way back in 09 so I can't remember. He brought in about 5 boxes worth of shit pertaining to his sports bar, all containing bank/cc statements, payroll reports, and receipts. We had to do 06-08 financials and returns. The first thing I had to do was go through every box and sort out docs by year because everything was mixed, then I had to enter everything into Peachtree, and do all the other adjustments needed. It took me over a month. I eventually came to realize that bar owners keep the worst records of any business person I've ever met.

[jenpen]

@RyonT You are correct – Drake is used in our office.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[jeff]

Our firm office was 3 blocks from the hood … as in HBO did a special on it.

One of my clients had an employee who had a leg bracelet that kept going off because the satellite wasn't finding him.

That's just quasi-interesting.

The horror part was when one of them farted in my office and I started gagging and ran out of my office it was so massively horrid.

It “lingered” for hours.

They thought it was HI-larious.

[ellejay]

I have lots. But one happened today. Got a call from a newer client who owns 2 businesses, one S Corp and the other partnership. He asks me if extensions were filed for his companies. I looked and the S Corp had an extension filed, but the partnership was nowhere to be found in our tax software. I told him I would call him back and asked our associate in charge of filing extensions if she filed it, and her jaw immediately dropped open and she gasped. No, she hadn't. Ugh.
I was tempted to have her call the client to explain this but decided not to. So I had to call him up and say No, sir, no one filed an extension for you but we will file your 1065 ASAP (of course it would have to be the partnership too).
This is a new client and he does his own books so of course they are wrong. He did his last return so of course his basis is all wrong too. So all day since this morning when this issue was discovered, I have been working on his return and cannot leave until it is done. I'm taking a break right now but it is nowhere near finished. We have to take care of the penalty since this is our fault.

Usually we have 2 people check through our list of corp clients to make sure all extensions are filed and accepted. In the five years I've been here this is the first time this has happened.

[Recked]

LMAO Jeff!!!

[Recked]

The penalty is per month, so it's not like it has to go in today, it won't change the penalty.
You can usually get a one time abatement if he has a clean record.
How many partners?
You can also file a “for now” return and then amend when you get the records corrected?

Always nice to mail an extension certified on March 15th.
1065 and S-corp extensions go to the same address, just sayin'.
I always have at least one every year with a failed e-file extension.

[Anonymous]

In high school I missed the state college application deadline which would've meant no college, so on the next day my dad got a church member at the post office to backdate the postmark on the application. And my dad was supposed to be his pastor lol.

[Recked]

LMAO
That's using your resources!

[KaliKingz]

@ellejay use rev proc 84-35. Make sure to save first time abatement for another time.

[Recked]

If you use 84-35 you need to do the S-corp now so you can file the personal return timely (or don't miss that extension?)

Rev. Proc. 84−35 provides that reasonable cause for filing a late or incomplete return will be presumed for certain small partnerships if certain criteria are met:
The partnership must consist of 10 or fewer partners. For the purpose of this requirement, a husband and wife (or their estate) filing a joint return is considered one partner.
Each partner is either an individual (excluding nonresident aliens), or the estate of a deceased partner.
Each partner's items of income, deductions, and credits are allocated in the same proportion as all other items of income, deductions, and credits.
The partnership has not elected to be subject to the consolidated audit procedures under IRC 6221 through IRC 6233.
Note: Each partner reported his or her share of partnership income on his or her timely filed income tax return.

[Author]

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