How to Review Tax Returns: Best Practices (Completed)

Date: Monday, November 12, 2018
Instructor: Edward Mendlowitz
Begin Time:  9:00am Pacific Time
10:00am Mountain Time
11:00am Central Time
12:00pm Eastern Time
CPE Credit:  2 hours for CPAs
2 hours Federal Tax Law for CTEC
2 hours Federal Tax Related for EAs and OTRPs

Start Performing More Effective Tax Return Reviews

Reviews are an essential part of completing tax returns, yet very little time is spent training reviewers on this critical process. Presented by nationally recognized tax season process expert Ed Mendlowitz, CPA, this insightful two-hour CPE webinar will provide you with tips and tactics to save valuable time for reviewers and partners while greatly improving the quality of the preparer’s work.

This practical discussion covers:

  • Best methods for reviewing returns

  • The quality control aspect of a review

  • Proper review procedures to control and tame workflow

  • Opportunities for staff development and advancement

  • Tips for training reviewers to work better, delegate more effectively to preparers, reduce reviewer time and better identify planning opportunities for clients

  • Molding your staff’s mind set to appreciate the value of tax season and the benefits to themselves, the firm, and clients

  • Seven types of tax return reviews and the one type of review that provides the true value of your services to the client


This “how-to” session will also demonstrate how to develop and use reviewer specific checklists and a reviewer qualification test, follow up schedules, and an advance review checklist. Mr. Mendlowitz emphasizes methods to reduce review time and bottlenecks and improve preparer quality including self-review techniques guaranteed to work. He will also introduce his tax comparison worksheet that has saved hundreds of CPAs immeasurable time, improved quality, streamlined partner top-side reviews, and doubles as a user-friendly deliverable and cross-selling tool.

You will also receive many illustrative examples and downloadable practice-ready checklists and worksheets in your participant materials.

All tax professionals involved with tax return preparation and review will greatly benefit from this seminar. During the program, time will be provided for you to submit questions to Mr. Mendlowitz.

Who Should Attend

  • Anyone that reviews or prepares tax returns for clients
  • Partners who sign off on income tax returns
  • Anyone that discusses a client’s tax return anytime during the year

Topics Covered

  • Nine truths about tax return preparation management
  • Determining whether to do a content or issue review
  • Three questions to ask that will help you decide the best method of reviewing returns
  • Tips to reduce review time
  • Reviewer's checklist for individual and business tax returns and schedules
  • The top 12 tax return preparation errors that can be avoided
  • Preparer's pre-review procedural checklist
  • 10-question reviewer qualification test, and more!

Learning Objectives

  • Discuss what the reviewer is really supposed to do
  • Explain easy takeaways for preparers to do a higher quality job
  • Describe how to empower reviewers to train preparers
  • Implement an effective method to hold preparers responsible for the quality of what they do
  • Show how reviewers should be trained to review returns

Level
Intermediate

Instructional Method
Group: Internet-based

NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
Basic understanding of tax concepts.

Advance Preparation
None

">
 Chat — Books Support