2024 Firm Updates
The Portal
We have moved away from the Canopy client portal and towards a new document exchange platform called Truss. A big portion of our tax preparation process includes document and information collection. The client organizer is an important tool for us internally but can be a laborious process for clients. It didn’t need to be. While I loved that the Canopy organizer was fillable online, it was not customized enough; we were asking you questions for which we already had the answers.
Our new tool, Truss, has a dynamic organizer that starts with your prior year information. As you work through the organizer, it’ll customize the questions based on your answers – so if you sold a house, the organizer will ask about it; if you didn’t, we won’t make you click through those screens.
Truss will also provide you with a checklist at the end of your organizer, based on your prior year return and the answers you provided. This checklist will be accessible to both of us, and you’ll continue to get reminders about what information we are missing until we are able to complete your return – a tool that will keep track for us and avoid those strings of emails. This helps you know where we are in the process.
Another useful perk of this tool is that when your return is completed, you’ll get a summary of action items. If you have balances due and estimated tax payments, the tool will break these out for you into individual vouchers and even send you email reminders when payments are coming due.
Truss is accessible via your custom link. There is no more login and password. You WILL need your “magic link” to access your information, so I encourage you to bookmark your page or store your link somewhere.
The Team
This year, we added administrative support. I have two new administrative goddesses who will be assisting with information collection, scheduling, and tax processing. Rashaye Harris comes with years of experience in administrative support and even some tax preparation. She will be at the head of project management and administration, and she is with us part-time. Sophia Fore is a recent graduate from the University of Santa Cruz with a degree in economics, and she came to us looking to get her feet wet in tax, accounting, and finance. She will be working with contracts, setting up projects, following up on information, and back-end tax processing (making sure you get a final copy of your return). She is with us full-time and in the office here in Capitola. You will likely receive communications from them this season. Please feel free to use them as a resource for any questions about the status of your return.
They can be reached directly via email:
Rashaye Harris: admin@aduffycpa.com
Sophia Fore: sophia@aduffycpa.com
The Fees
We went through an extensive analysis of fees in preparation for the upcoming season. We looked at the hours spent this year and last, fees billed, and the per-return cost of the technology. We realized that we needed to make some changes.
When I start working with a client, I do my best to scope the anticipated amount of work and give a price that I commit to, regardless of what the actual fees incurred are. If your fee has increased more than a little bit this year, this is a reflection of the actual time spent on your return in the past.
I am excited to continue working with you and providing guidance on your taxes.
Here’s wishing you a safe and joyful holiday, and I look forward to serving you in the upcoming year.
