[jaredo155]

I have been wanting to volunteer for VITA for a couple years now, but I am one of those people who feels wierd trying to help people unless I feel like I truly know what I am doing. So I have told myself I would wait until I finished the CPA, which fingers crossed will be in 4 days. I work in corporate tax, but other than filing my own and answering a few questions for relatives, I have never done anything with personal returns before.

I am thinking about volunteering to actually be a reviewer at the local VITA site, as I know a lot of CPA’s are too busy to volunteer during that time and I figure it would be good practical experience to reinforce what I have learned. I wouldn’t imagine you are going to get any tremendously complex tax issues, but I just want to make sure I don’t volunteer to review and then be in way over my head. I know I am probably just overthinking this, but to anyone who has done VITA would I be smart to do it one year just as a normal volunteer before trying to be a reviewer?

AUD - 2/2013 - Passed!
BEC - 5/2013 - Passed!
FAR - 8/2013 - Passed!
REG - 11/2013 - Passed!
"Do or do not, there is no try." - Yoda

[Mayo]

NOt sure I understand what you mean as a “Normal Volunteer”. When I volunteered we helped prepare tax returns.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

NOt sure I understand what you mean as a “Normal Volunteer”. When I volunteered we helped prepare tax returns.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Iron_Victory]

I would just sign up to volunteer and if you have relevant tax knowledge people will have you review their returns though they will probably still need a final review from the site coordinator.

I did VITA for 2 years and there is depending on the area (I'm in Minneapolis) there are few if ANY young people so they will be happy to have you.

It is good experience in dealing with clients but it is not really tax experience you're going to bring to a firm since VITA is as you put it very simple returns.

AUD - (74),78
BEC - 85
FAR - 86
REG - 84

[Iron_Victory]

I would just sign up to volunteer and if you have relevant tax knowledge people will have you review their returns though they will probably still need a final review from the site coordinator.

I did VITA for 2 years and there is depending on the area (I'm in Minneapolis) there are few if ANY young people so they will be happy to have you.

It is good experience in dealing with clients but it is not really tax experience you're going to bring to a firm since VITA is as you put it very simple returns.

AUD - (74),78
BEC - 85
FAR - 86
REG - 84

[neika822]

I did foreign tax returns as a volunteer for VITA when I was 20 years old and didn't have a bachelors yet. I really think you'll be fine!! At least in my situation, we were trained, and we had someone there to help us.

And I am FAR from a tax expert.

R - *77*(02/'13)-Becker & NINJA
A - 71('11); *87*(04/'13)-Becker & NINJA
F - *76*(08/'13)-Becker & NINJA - "server upgrade" survivor
B - 60('11); *82*(10/'13) -Becker & NINA

DONE, DONE, AND DONE.

CPA in Massachusetts; issued 01/24/14

[neika822]

I did foreign tax returns as a volunteer for VITA when I was 20 years old and didn't have a bachelors yet. I really think you'll be fine!! At least in my situation, we were trained, and we had someone there to help us.

And I am FAR from a tax expert.

R - *77*(02/'13)-Becker & NINJA
A - 71('11); *87*(04/'13)-Becker & NINJA
F - *76*(08/'13)-Becker & NINJA - "server upgrade" survivor
B - 60('11); *82*(10/'13) -Becker & NINA

DONE, DONE, AND DONE.

CPA in Massachusetts; issued 01/24/14

[jaredo155]

Thanks for the feedback, that is very helpful! I think I will take the approach of just volunteering to prepare returns, and if I find I am competent to review and they still need help I can always still do that.

@Mayo – when they say they need reviewers I think they are referring to the site coordinator, but I could be wrong as I have never done it before.

@Iron_Victory – yeah I am 29 and most of my friends who are CPA's that work for firms hadn't even heard of VITA, but again that is right in the middle of busy season for them which is why I figured there wouldn't be too many practicing CPA's there. I figured it would mostly be college students, retirees, and a few young professionals.

AUD - 2/2013 - Passed!
BEC - 5/2013 - Passed!
FAR - 8/2013 - Passed!
REG - 11/2013 - Passed!
"Do or do not, there is no try." - Yoda

[jaredo155]

Thanks for the feedback, that is very helpful! I think I will take the approach of just volunteering to prepare returns, and if I find I am competent to review and they still need help I can always still do that.

@Mayo – when they say they need reviewers I think they are referring to the site coordinator, but I could be wrong as I have never done it before.

@Iron_Victory – yeah I am 29 and most of my friends who are CPA's that work for firms hadn't even heard of VITA, but again that is right in the middle of busy season for them which is why I figured there wouldn't be too many practicing CPA's there. I figured it would mostly be college students, retirees, and a few young professionals.

AUD - 2/2013 - Passed!
BEC - 5/2013 - Passed!
FAR - 8/2013 - Passed!
REG - 11/2013 - Passed!
"Do or do not, there is no try." - Yoda

[Anonymous]

Just do it! Just the fact that you are interested in volunteering makes you a very valuable commodity to the clients who need help. You are needed, I promise you.

At every VITA site I've worked at, the atmosphere is very learning orientated. Volunteers (all of them, even very experienced ones) ask questions and support each other on a regular basis. The camaraderie of mutual learning and respect is one of the best parts of being involved in VITA. You will likely meet volunteers who are 65+ years old who have no accounting education or CPA, and will absolutely blow you away with their zeal and knowledge. There are some absolutely amazing and brilliant VITA volunteers out there, and they want to help you. Take advantage!

Every site is different, but I've never seen a site that distinguishes roles at sign up (preparer versus reviewer). Even if you're the most experienced tax preparer in town, you still need to learn the VITA specific rules and tax software. Usually, a new volunteer will prepare taxes first. Once you are comfortable with the preparer role, and IF they need a dedicated reviewer, you might be asked to do that. At other sites, volunteers are always both – VITA requires 2 people to check the return, so some sites just have you swap tax returns with your neighbor (most common at sites with experienced volunteers). Some sites have dedicated, experienced reviewers (most common for sites staffed with the least experienced volunteers). Anyway, just sign up and go check it out!

[Anonymous]

Just do it! Just the fact that you are interested in volunteering makes you a very valuable commodity to the clients who need help. You are needed, I promise you.

At every VITA site I've worked at, the atmosphere is very learning orientated. Volunteers (all of them, even very experienced ones) ask questions and support each other on a regular basis. The camaraderie of mutual learning and respect is one of the best parts of being involved in VITA. You will likely meet volunteers who are 65+ years old who have no accounting education or CPA, and will absolutely blow you away with their zeal and knowledge. There are some absolutely amazing and brilliant VITA volunteers out there, and they want to help you. Take advantage!

Every site is different, but I've never seen a site that distinguishes roles at sign up (preparer versus reviewer). Even if you're the most experienced tax preparer in town, you still need to learn the VITA specific rules and tax software. Usually, a new volunteer will prepare taxes first. Once you are comfortable with the preparer role, and IF they need a dedicated reviewer, you might be asked to do that. At other sites, volunteers are always both – VITA requires 2 people to check the return, so some sites just have you swap tax returns with your neighbor (most common at sites with experienced volunteers). Some sites have dedicated, experienced reviewers (most common for sites staffed with the least experienced volunteers). Anyway, just sign up and go check it out!

[RedStorm45]

I did it (twice) as a student. Our professors usually did any in-depth review. We also did it in conjunction with TCE, so that was pretty cool. There are rarely any major issues, you should be fine. As others have said, just contact them and volunteer and they'll find the appropriate position for you.

Starting all over.

FAR - 11/27/13
AUD - 1/4/14

[RedStorm45]

I did it (twice) as a student. Our professors usually did any in-depth review. We also did it in conjunction with TCE, so that was pretty cool. There are rarely any major issues, you should be fine. As others have said, just contact them and volunteer and they'll find the appropriate position for you.

Starting all over.

FAR - 11/27/13
AUD - 1/4/14

[Anonymous]

I've been a VITA volunteer for years. The quality reviews are basically spot-checks to pick out any bonehead mistakes (we've all made them), so you probably wouldn't be preparing any returns. Tax prep, even simple 1040 returns, can be humbling, especially at first, but after your first session or two it'll be easy peasy. And anyway, I think you have to pass like 3 or 4 open book tests to become a volunteer. They won't make you an expert, but they do provide some training. Funny enough, most of the people I volunteer with aren't CPAs but retired engineers who do this for fun.

But yea, do it, do it.

[Anonymous]

I've been a VITA volunteer for years. The quality reviews are basically spot-checks to pick out any bonehead mistakes (we've all made them), so you probably wouldn't be preparing any returns. Tax prep, even simple 1040 returns, can be humbling, especially at first, but after your first session or two it'll be easy peasy. And anyway, I think you have to pass like 3 or 4 open book tests to become a volunteer. They won't make you an expert, but they do provide some training. Funny enough, most of the people I volunteer with aren't CPAs but retired engineers who do this for fun.

But yea, do it, do it.

[tough_kitty]

They also make you go through some really fast self-study course offered by IRS and you'll have to take a test online for basic and/or advanced certificate.

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[Author]

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