Happy 2025! Let's talk....

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Well, hi there. This is our first podcast coming back in from 2024 to 2025. I saw Sherry's look just in and it threw me off. It's not really our first podcast, but it's our first podcast of 2025. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Yes. [00:00:19] Speaker A: So we are broadcasting here from Collab Works, which is on the backside of L. A. Miller & Associates, our wonderful accounting firm, where we get to do lots of good work for the small businesses and medium sized businesses in and around our area. Which is also the reason for CollabWorks. We wanted to be able to do something to where we could help more of our small businesses. So I guess with that being said, what's to be understood, right, Sheri, is that now we have two businesses going here and it's all about focusing on small businesses and ways that we can reach out to small business owners and help you in this podcast is one way that we can do that for free and share lots of good information. So today, of course, as always, I have Sherry Newcomb with me. She's the accountant, she's the know all in the accounting world. I am not. I am just our director of operations. So I have no idea a lot of times what she's talking about, which is good because I feel like most of you out there may not understand that either. So it's my job when she tells us something to say, hey, Sherry, what does that mean? We don't necessarily understand what you're saying. And then she can go back and give it to us in more layman's terms. Right, Sherry? I think that's kind of how this works. [00:01:41] Speaker B: I hope so. [00:01:42] Speaker A: So before we get started, Happy New Year. How's your new year been so far? So, yeah, just a snow day. [00:01:51] Speaker B: No, not just a snow day. Oh, I did appreciate the snow day. I really did enjoy that. It is definitely a time to get still and just really appreciate that. So I thoroughly enjoyed. [00:02:07] Speaker A: So we did some remote work. [00:02:09] Speaker B: We did a little remote work yesterday. [00:02:12] Speaker A: How'd that go for you? [00:02:14] Speaker B: Not bad. It's not bad. I did not get done when I wanted to get done, but I learned a lot about my computer. The new setup that we have that's supposed to help us work faster. It did not. Yesterday I made a really good list from our IT guy on things to fix. Rather than trying to keep those ideas in my head of what needed to be done, I really detailed those out. Hopefully that'll make their job easier and it'll get me up and going faster than ever. [00:02:44] Speaker A: So, yeah. So, well, bad news on all that actually is we've got to go back to the drawing board. We realized yesterday that some of the things we had put in place weren't going to work. And that is the same, I think, in life. And it kind of ties into going into this new year and setting goals and we're going to get all this done, but then seem to be quickly met with challenges. And so yesterday, with the whole team at home working, we did run into a lot of challenges. So what you're saying makes complete sense. And I'll be anxious to see all the feedback to help us navigate those challenges. But right now it looks a little stormy and gloomy. [00:03:27] Speaker B: I know one of the challenges you talked about yesterday, about people putting things in layman's terms, that was a challenge for me. I don't necessarily. I don't understand all of that stuff. I'm used to just make it work and I know what to do and what the output supposed to look like. But getting it to the point of making it work, forget it. Oh, yeah, I know where the switch is. [00:03:51] Speaker A: Right. Working from home through connecting to your office and figuring out how all that works is. It is difficult and it's a rat's nest. And anyway, that's why we have it. But it also requires someone inside and also you guys to be home testing that remote capability. So, anyway, short story yesterday, kind of nightmarish, but we did it. We did it. We had everyone home. Everyone got a little bit done. Not maybe what they would have gotten done here, but baby steps like everything else. Baby steps. [00:04:27] Speaker B: I chose my work to be fulfilled with my work that I did yesterday. And at the end of the day, I was. [00:04:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, that's a good discussion. So, fulfilled. What. What are you looking for in the new year with that word? [00:04:39] Speaker B: Oh, that wasn't. That's not my word for the year. [00:04:42] Speaker A: That was just a word for yesterday. [00:04:43] Speaker B: That was my word for yesterday was I just wanted to be fulfilled with what I did and kept things from distracting me, stayed on what I was doing, whatever was coming along as a distraction. I made a real quick note, jotted it down, put it to the side, and I'll work with some of those distractions this morning. They're little quickie things. I can get those out. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Okay, well, so did you set some goals for 2025? And what is your word for 2025? [00:05:15] Speaker B: My word for 2025 is drive. Oh, that's a good one. [00:05:22] Speaker A: What does that mean to you? [00:05:27] Speaker B: The last year has had some obstacles in it, and I try to look at those obstacles. And it was a time for me think of myself as, you know, does it bloom where you're planted? Well, you know, before you can bloom, sometimes you have to sit in the dark pot with a little bit of fertilizer manure on you, and it takes a while for you to be watered and come back out. [00:05:49] Speaker A: True. [00:05:50] Speaker B: And you have to be still in that. You. You can't rush that. And that's definitely what I've been doing the past several months is number one, I had to try to figure out that I was in a pot. I did not realize that I was in a pot and then try to crawl out of it. And now I'm hopeful and I want to thrive this year. I want to bloom where I'm thrifted and block. [00:06:13] Speaker A: I like it. It's a good analogy. [00:06:15] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:06:15] Speaker A: I think you'll do it. [00:06:17] Speaker B: I definitely will do it. Pick my word. [00:06:20] Speaker A: Every single day, I see you picking apart my words. It's not think you will do. And so that's nice. It's a great mindset. You're already there. You're there. You're already set up for success. So what about here at work? What's your goals over in the La Miller side? As far as taxes, I know a lot of people are kind of wondering about that. We're in tax season. It's actually, I think by definition, most of the people in our community or just anywhere, actually, that's thinking about an accounting firm or CPA office, the very first thing that comes to mind is taxes. So I think they, you know, that's like our primary job, which, you know, as the year goes on, I hope that we talk a lot more about things that we do that we feel probably is more of our primary than just taxes. Taxes is just something we have to do. But for this episode, particularly since it is the very first of the year and people are at home scattering around and gathering up whatever it is they're supposed to have, and, oh, my gosh, you know, I need some deductions and that kind of stuff. You know, what's going through your head as the accountant, you know, about preparing for the people to bring their stuff in and check their stuff in and what kind of pointers could you give them about doing that? [00:07:45] Speaker B: Folks definitely don't. Don't put your stuff off. The closer you get to these tax deadlines, April 15, March 15, if you're a corporation, any of those things, don't put those off. We don't do a better job as we get closer to a deadline. So get your information in early so that we can take a look through it to make sure that it is complete. And it gives you time that if there is missing information to look for that missing information. You know, if there is a mistake, you've always got a few years, three years that you can at least audit or re. Amend on. So we do that. But I've been trying. [00:08:26] Speaker A: We don't do audits. [00:08:28] Speaker B: We don't do audits. That's correct. We do not do audits. [00:08:31] Speaker A: Go ahead and back up on that. We accidentally said that the. A word that we do not do, and that is audit. So. But we do amend returns. [00:08:39] Speaker B: We do amend returns. We do help with audit assistance. Should you be audited by the IRS with the Kentucky Department of Revenue or if you're a business that goes with, you know, that is normally audited for their financial statement, we do some assistance with that. So if you need more information, you're welcome to call our office and we'll see where we can. We can help you as to get through on it. Actually, we have a sales tax auditor in the building today. Very nice job. [00:09:08] Speaker A: Nice gentleman, always scary. [00:09:11] Speaker B: No, I'm not scared at all. I'm not scared at all. This client has got. They've got really good records. If there's been anything, it's just been that accident, right? [00:09:22] Speaker A: No. And it just, you know, I don't think that they're scary. It's just. Okay. And I don't want to get us too far off track here, but what I mean when I say that I think it's scary for the client because no matter how good you've done, there could be that. Oh, my gosh, there could, you know, there could be something because I'm not perfect. And it is scary. And I think it's scary having them in the building because most of the time we don't have just random people in our conference room and we have an office full of women that I never know what they're going to say. So I'm like, there's a guess. Everybody be on your best behavior. There's a guest. So anyway, and I think about it, you know, to me, putting it in terms of something relatable, I think I'm very, very healthy, right? And I do the right things. But then I go to the doctor and I'm terrified because there could be something. So I think that's like the auditor. It's your health checkup, and you don't know what they're going to do. But you come to places like LA Miller for accounting and your tax returns so that you don't have to be, you can be scared, but you don't have to be terrified because we're going to make sure that whatever it is is easily explained, fixed, corrected, and also if it's anything we did, then we're on the line for it, not you. So, okay, let's get back on track for a minute. I feel like that's a whole episode. That's something really good we could talk about. So we'll come back to that sometime. But so the first thing for clients and people get ready for taxes is get it in early. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Get it in early. Get it in early. And it's okay. You know, the way we process here, we do look through the information and if there's anything missing, you know, we'll, we'll put that on hold. We don't want to touch a project 15 times. [00:11:11] Speaker A: Right. [00:11:11] Speaker B: Looking for something. [00:11:12] Speaker A: Well. And we bill by time. So the more times we touch it, the longer we're in it, the more that it costs. And so we do emphasize that a lot. Get it in early. And then I just read something and I believe Ellie Miller had a post that went out on getting things in early that in today's age it's so much more critical because of identity thefts. So someone it's you want to get your stuff in, get it done, get it filed before someone out there, some criminal has a chance to take your information and file a fraudulent return. Right? Yes, that's one of the main reasons other than just for us or just for them. But really it boils down to the quicker you get it in, the less time you're giving somebody out there on the dark web a chance to file this fraudulent return. And it happens every day. Right. That's so common. [00:12:06] Speaker B: It's going to be interesting. I mean I've not done a lot of research and Iris relative listening, you know, we go through a two factor authentication. Will that happen? Will that eventually be a norm for e filing tax returns for. [00:12:28] Speaker A: You mean for us? Well, not necessarily because for us it already is. [00:12:33] Speaker B: But for the taxpayer. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Oh for a taxpayer that become a. [00:12:36] Speaker B: Norm for the taxpayer. [00:12:37] Speaker A: But you've got like if they're filing their own. [00:12:40] Speaker B: Not necessarily, but then I'm still not. They're using a paid preparer, you know, will they also have to have a second form to identify them as they file that tax return? They match up Social Security numbers and I'm sure you know, the names they. They look for names, birth dates, things like that. But will there be another? You know, like the state of Illinois, they require a driver's license whenever you. When you e. File. Kentucky's not requiring that yet. [00:13:08] Speaker A: Well, that would be nice, because that seems like it would just be any hurdles we can put in place that make it harder for a criminal to file that fraudulent return, the better. So I see I'm finally following you. Sometimes it takes me a minute. I'm like, hey, Sherry, you like me way down here on the. But no, that makes complete, complete sense to have a second source of identity. And it's kind of like, you know, locking your door. You put the lock on your door. If somebody wants in bad enough, they're going to get in, right? So no matter how many precautions we put in place, if they want in bad enough, they're going to do it. But the goal is that you put enough precautions in place that they look at your stuff and they're like, oh, my God. No, that's just too hard. That's too many hoops to jump through. But Sally over here has filed her own tax return, and she had no security whatsoever. And we're just going to intercept this or she's getting ready. We saw her file it last year. We know what her security is. She hasn't upgraded anything. We followed her. Bam, we've got her. So. And that's the idea. There's not a perfect world. But the more you put in place, the less likely that you're going to be the victim, because they're going to go to an easier victim. Criminals are lazy. They're looking for those easy, easy victims. So, okay, one, we've got file early. What's two? [00:14:34] Speaker B: Well, the one is really more get your information in early so that you can file early. And another thing, you know, if you. If you have a business, if you've got that business, whether it being a sole proprietorship, if you've got a farm, if you have rental property, something like that, where you've got to include your income and expenses. One of the things I've had a lot of clients the last couple of years. It's like, oh, wait a minute, I found some more stuff. I found. When you tell them how much they owe or their refund is not as large as what they thought it was going to be, oddly enough, they go find some more expenses. That's a little aggravating to a tax preparer. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Okay, for just a second, I want to just stand on this for a second because this is Something we talk about a lot in our office. So do you like. And we're not going to say that it's our clients. Just let's just talk in general terms because I've been in this boat. [00:15:36] Speaker B: So. [00:15:37] Speaker A: Gather up my stuff. It was a crazy year. I didn't keep just super good records. There was a lot going on, a lot of pieces, right? So I gather it all up and I think, oh, I've got some. I've got some good deductions, my income, you know, I didn't make any money. And I turn it into an accounting firm. And then that accounting firm says, you owe X amount of dollars. And I'm like, what? I didn't make any money, though. I must have missed something. And I. I'm being honest, you know, maybe some people aren't. Maybe some people are. I feel like there's a good mix of that out there. But so for me personally, I'm going to go back and look for those expenses because maybe I was just lazy and haphazard and maybe my stuff was, you know, some in the attic, some in a box, some's in the office. But now you're telling me I owe money and so I'm going to go back and look for expenses. That's the legitimate client that we have. The other side of that is we have clients, and I know that we have turned away some people that we know that this was a situation was, you know, you owe X amount of dollars and then they try to make up expenses. And so there's three kinds. There's the honest, there's the dishonest, but then there's the ones that too just don't. They just simply don't understand. Like, maybe they thought they had a lot more deductions and costs than they did, or maybe they misunderstood exactly how much they made until you put it in the books. And they're always shocked, right? Like, I didn't make that much money. You're like, no, you did. How can you make taxes on. Right, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't. I have no money. There's nothing in my bank account. I can't. I can't even afford gas in my truck. But they did make a lot of. So how do you deal with those? So those three people, right, we love the. We love the ones that get it in, keep good records. But even though sometimes are going to go back, they're going to say, I still must have missed something, but we feel like that's honest. But let's Talk about the person that's not honest. What do you do? [00:17:49] Speaker B: I don't give them a lot of tips. I'll give them, you know, little thing. Do it to me once, shame on you. Do it to me twice, shame on me. I'll ask, you know, well, okay, did. Did you remember to include this? Did you remember to include this and see how it goes? And then you've got to try to figure out, you know, am I leading this client to dig for stuff and they're taking advantage of it or, you know, you got to think about those things right there. And I'm. I try to guard the words that I use sometimes because I don't. I don't want to lead somebody that's not wanting to do something fair. That's. That's how I handle that. [00:18:37] Speaker A: Right. So you don't want to feel like you. Well, part of it's ethics, too, I would think. And you are taught how to do these things. And so if you tell them, well, you could have more expenses here or have more expenses here, ethically, that's wrong. Right. So you're just kind of going over the things. But then when you get that gut feeling, let's say it's that client that you just know over and over and over that you know something's just wrong, something doesn't add up. What do we do? What do you do? What do you do with them? How do you handle them? Is it the get out scenario? [00:19:18] Speaker B: Not always the get out scenario. [00:19:21] Speaker A: Is it the. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Once I want to coach them up, I don't want, you know, I don't want to lead them so that they're making up expenses, but I want to. I want to coach them up. Of like. Now, listen, if you get in trouble, it's going to cost you extra money because, number one, you're probably going to find out that there's some expenses that you shouldn't have taken. And they're the, the revenue departments, they're going to want that tax, they're going to want penalties. It's going to cost you extra money because I'm having to work on it again. [00:19:53] Speaker A: Right? [00:19:54] Speaker B: So just think about what you're doing. Think about the mess that you're making. It costs more to clean up a mess than it does to take care of things right the first time. [00:20:06] Speaker A: And then if they continue to do the wrong thing, if they continue, I'm gonna keep drilling here until you say what I want you to say. You know that because our firm has. [00:20:15] Speaker B: Very high standards, when you continue to do the wrong things. This was told to me a long time ago. If they're trying to cheat on taxes, eventually they're going to try to cheat on your bill and they're going to try to back you into a corner and they're not going to want to pay you, they don't want to pay taxes, they're not going to want to pay for your professional advice. And we have to figure out at that point, is that when we disengage with the client? [00:20:38] Speaker A: Right. Well, and I think that boils down to do they understand the value that they're getting? Do they even understand why they're here? Are they, Are they. You know, we talk sometimes amongst our management team about negative impact values because a lot of times we're telling someone something after the fact and that they, they can't do anything about it at that point, they just owe it. And that's because maybe we tried to get them to do some of the consulting services where we can help them in advance, but they chose not to do that. And so the negative impact is that, hey, here's what you owe. There's nothing you can do about it. You just have to pay this. And yeah, I really don't know exactly where I was going with that, but I tagged off of that. Oh, I know where I was. I was. Well, I was wanting to tie it into that consulting piece of. Rather than people just making up what they believe will help them tax wise, is that our firm does this wonderful thing and it's called consulting and tax consulting and having these meetings to where we look at your business and your income and your expenses while we're still in a period where you can do something about it. So again, I think that's another episode all on its own. People don't really understand why that's important or why that adds value. Like how in the, like, I already pay you X amount of dollars to do my tax return. You think I'm going to pay you more to consult with me? Yeah, yeah, you should. Because then we get into a positive value and then at the end of the year we can tell you, hey, you did really well. You were able to put socks some money away in an ira. There's a lot of other things. Again, I don't do accounting. You would have to talk about that. But we have to do all of that before the end of the year. So at this point in January, can we say you're screwed? I mean, if you owe, you're just screwed. You can't do anything. You can't oh, okay. What are those things? [00:22:50] Speaker B: I mean, one of them for sure is going to be some type of a retirement contribution, like a Roth or not a Roth ira. That one's not tax deductible. But to put in a traditional IRA before the April 15 deadline. And I have seen people that. They've taken their refund and they've designated their refund, rather than being direct deposited into their household banking account, they've had that refund direct deposited into the IRA account. So there are some ways that you can do it. You get to take the deduction, and that deduction is what's funding. [00:23:26] Speaker A: Okay, so you're not screwed until April 15th. So all the way up to April 14th, they can do things? [00:23:35] Speaker B: No, not all the way up to April 14, because by then you haven't gotten your information in early enough for me to be able to think about it. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Right? So if you're not already here, if you're not already a client, if we're not already talking about it, you're screwed. I think I just want to get to that point. When are they screwed, Sherry? When can they not do anything else? [00:24:00] Speaker B: The deadline day, actually, prior to the deadline day. It takes a while for offices to process information. You know, we. What was it about two years ago, we looked at how many touches our office does on a tax return when it comes in, and it's something like 28 touches. [00:24:18] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. It's absurd. [00:24:19] Speaker B: It's absurd. Between, you know, getting logged in, check the information, scan the information, prepare the return, check the return, assemble the return, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. 28 touches. Not all by one person. So I try to be considerate. I want to be considerate of my team. And when we come up on a deadline, I don't want to take returns out there to them on the 13th, the 14th, or the 15th to assemble and get together and call. So. [00:24:45] Speaker A: Okay, so let's stop there. So our deadlines at LA Miller are February 15th. You have to have your stuff in here by February 15th. If you are an 1120s or a 1065. I didn't even have any notes, and even if I did, I couldn't see them. How many glasses on? [00:25:08] Speaker B: Your tax return is due on March 17. We highly recommend that you put your information in here by February 15th. [00:25:16] Speaker A: That's plenty of time. I mean, today is January 7th. Come on, people. You have until February 15th. There's no excuse. Get your stuff together, get it in. Get it checked in. Okay, so now our second deadline is March 15th. [00:25:32] Speaker B: No, that's your first deadline. [00:25:33] Speaker A: I'm sorry, is April 15th. See, gotta watch me. I need a babysitter every day. April 15th, that's our deadline for. Let's see if I get it right. 1120 C. That stands for corporate. [00:25:46] Speaker B: It is a corporate return. Yes. [00:25:48] Speaker A: Okay. And a C corporation. And your 1040s, which is your individual tax return, which is what most of you out there probably listening to this are. You know, that's what you have. You have yours, your kids, your grandparents, your aunt, your uncles, your, you know what, second cousin, third removed. Whatever, whatever you have, you gotta have it in this office if you are a current client. And I think that's important. If you're not a current client, there's a whole different system. But if you're a current client, you gotta have your information in this office by March 15th. [00:26:25] Speaker B: That's right. [00:26:26] Speaker A: Did you say April 15th a minute ago? [00:26:28] Speaker B: April 15th is the filing deadline. [00:26:30] Speaker A: Right, but I, I was correcting you. But I think, okay, I think we messed up. Our first deadline's February 15th. Our second deadline is March 15th. The filing deadline is April 15th. [00:26:46] Speaker B: March 15th, and April, the 15th are the filing deadlines. So if you're confused now, get in early, we'll try to explain it. [00:26:58] Speaker A: See, you see, this is why you just get, get it together, get it in, and then say, oh, I'm done. You know, my stuff is with them. I don't have to worry about it anymore. So. But do a complete job of it. Look for our organizers. If you're a current client, you would have been emailed an organizer if you had been emailed an organizer in the past. If you have not been emailed an organizer in the past, we don't have you on the list that you want one. So you can call us and we will get you one out. And those are really wonderful tools. They're not required for you to fill out for us to prepare the return, but they're a good tool for you to be able to look back. It's going to tell you what you had last year so that you can gather documents for this year. And the first couple of pages are really wonderful if you will fill them out for us. Because that tells us, do you have a new address, do you have a new telephone number, new email address, new bank account information, all that really critical information that can. Once we get a return to the front, we hate when the people come in and all of a sudden we just finally realized, oh, there's a new phone number or especially an address and then we have to go back and kind of redo that information, reprint the return. Anyway, it's just a. It's a rat's nest, so those organizers are great. Again, if you haven't gotten one, call the office and we will get you one emailed out. The takeaway from this show of a lot of what I would call maybe just some jibber jabber and. But some good conversation and I think some good information is get your stuff into us early over at the La Miller side and let us get it checked in. Because it's just like everything else. It's in great demand. You're going to stand in line and just like when you go to a concert, if you want a good seat, you want to get your tax return done early, get it in early. That's the name of the game, right? Okay. We've been on here quite some time. Sherry and I could do this all day. We could just sit here. We kind of kid before we started this one that Sherry said, what's the episode about? And I was like, well, nothing. I think we're just going to do a Seinfeld episode. So it turned into something. There's some good information here. We appreciate everyone out there listening to our podcast. We hope that you will share it with your friends. That is the way that we grow. And our goal over on the collab work side is to really grow our podcast this year so that we can reach more and more of the people that we are so passionate about, which is our small business and our medium sized businesses, but also just our individuals, because that's what it starts with, is you individually and you're all important to us. So come see us, call us, share our podcast, help us get the word out. And we love and appreciate you very much. Till next time, we'll say goodbye. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Goodbye. [00:30:02] Speaker A: Is that the end button? Probably not. [00:30:07] Speaker B: No, it's still recording. [00:30:10] Speaker A: No.