News & Updates
Engagement Letter
We've updated our Engagement Letter together with our Terms and Conditions for 2023.
All Clients must sign our new Engagement Letter, acknowledging that they have read and agree to our Terms and Conditions prior to commencing any of our services.
Rate Increase
In light of COVID, we made a decision to continue to maintain our 2019 rate schedule from 2020 through 2022 - despite the increase in complexity of the tax codes and time required to prepare income tax returns.
Please be advised that our Income Tax Preparation Service fees will be increasing an average of 25% this year.
Credit/Debit Card Payments
Traditionally, we only accepted credit/debit cards on an exception basis.
We will accept credit/debit cards for our Income Tax Preparation Services, subject to a 5% processing fee.
Formal Appointments
With the significant increase in the complexity of the tax codes, the limited time available to file tax returns and lack of experienced Accounting professionals (industry-wide), we are no longer able to include formal appointments as part of our Income Tax Preparation Services.
In lieu of formal appointments, we will coordinate a day and time to speak with you about your income tax returns (upon request) after your returns have been prepared and prior to filing.
If you would like to schedule a formal appointment prior to preparing your income tax returns, you may schedule a 30-min or 60-min appointment that will be charged at our hourly rate in advance of the meeting at the time of scheduling.
Personal Income Tax Questionnaire/Checklist
In 2022, we implemented a Personal Income Tax Questionnaire/Checklist through the use of Google Forms to assist our Clients with gathering the information necessary to begin preparing their income tax returns.
This tool reduced the number of tax forms that would otherwise have been overlooked and it created a mechanism to gather tax information that is not generally included on a traditional form (e.g., real estate taxes, donations, child/dependent care expenses).
For 2023, the completion of our Personal income Tax Questionnaire/Checklist is a mandatory step in our tax preparation process; we will not begin the preparation of your income tax returns until the Questionnaire/Checklist has been completed.
Other Tools & Resources
Similar to the Personal Income Tax Questionnaire/Checklist, we also created other Google forms for our business clients, including…
- Rental Income & Expenses – For Clients that rent real estate properties who have not maintained formal books and records.
- Business Income & Expenses – For Clients that sell products and/or perform services (i.e., not real estate rentals) who have not maintained formal books and records, including independent contractors (i.e., receive Form 1099-NEC, Form 1099-MISC).
- Home Office Deduction – For Clients that exclusively and regularly use part of their home or a separate structure on their property as their primary place of business.
Taxpayer/Audit Support
The IRS and State tax authorities have increased the number of Notices sent to taxpayers.
Our Income Tax Preparation Services do not include Taxpayer/Audit Support. Time incurred by our Firm to address Notices on your behalf will be billed at our hourly rate.
Crypto/Virtual Currency
Taxpayers are responsible providing tax preparers with all of the information necessary to report gains or losses on the sale of crypto/virtual currency.
Unfortunately, many exchanges/wallets do not keep track of the required information on behalf of taxpayers.
If we need to incur time to assist our Clients with the gathering and/or deciphering of crypto/virtual currency information, we will bill you at our hourly rate for our Consulting Services - in addition to billing for our Income Tax Preparation Services.
Office Location
After “Tax Season” 2022, we moved from a home office to a Corporate suite. For those who have not heard, we are now located at 1 Blue Hill Plaza – still in Pearl River.
Office Manager
We hired an Office Manager, Patty Bodnar, who started in January so that we can increase efficiency and combat several factors that have impacted our industry in our office.
Phone System
With the help of JMK Technology Group (a Rockland Pros Client), we implemented a new phone system. All calls and text messages will be routed to and handled by the Office Manager.
*There will be an out-of-office voicemail and out-of-office automated e-mail response, however, there still will not be an automated out-of-office text response when the office is closed. Be sure to refer to our Public Calendar for our holiday and vacation schedule.
Challenges Faced by The Accounting Industry
We wanted to take a moment to apologize for the additional time it has taken for us to respond to messages and perform our services.
In speaking with several of our Clients on this topic, it was recommended that we share some of our insights into the challenges faced by our industry, which has impacted our ability to provide services efficiently and effectively.
Although it is widely documented, these issues do not appear to get the attention of the mainstream media in the form of headlines. Please read our Article on "The Great Resignation" of the Accounting Industry for additional information.
Questionnaires & Checklists
Personal Income Tax Questionnaire/Checklist
Real Estate Rentals: Income & Expense Questionnaire
Real Estate Rentals: Income & Expense Questionnaire
Rockland Pross created a Questionnaire/Checklist designed to generate a list of tax forms and other information that you will need to gather before we begin preparing your income tax returns.
Real Estate Rentals: Income & Expense Questionnaire
Real Estate Rentals: Income & Expense Questionnaire
Real Estate Rentals: Income & Expense Questionnaire
Rockland Pros created a Questionnaire to obtain the information necessary to prepare the income tax returns for the owners who rent real estate properties who have not maintained formal books and records.
Businesses: Profit & Loss Questionnaire
Businesses: Profit & Loss Questionnaire
Businesses: Profit & Loss Questionnaire
Rockland Pros created a Questionnaire to obtain the information necessary to prepare the income tax returns for businesses that sell products and/or perform services (i.e., not real estate rentals) who have not maintained formal books and records.
This Questionnaire can be used by independent contractors who received Form 1099-NEC/Form 1099-MISC.
Home Office Deductions
Businesses: Profit & Loss Questionnaire
Businesses: Profit & Loss Questionnaire
Rockland Pros created a Questionnaire to obtain the information necessary to evaluate certain home expenses that may qualify for the Home Office Deduction.