Accountants make life less taxing!

So I've been meaning to post about something very cool that happened at work. As most of you know, I do taxes. My job basically consists of preparing tax returns. Once in awhile I'll get to do other things, like write letters to the IRS (those are always fun), but for the most part my job consists of a lot of data entry. At BYU, they teach us tax students how to do tax research and that quite a few of us will be doing it in our respective positions. Well, I have found that I don't get the opportunity to much research working at the small firm that I do. Which is fine, the research was always a bit intimidating to me.


Last December, I was in a training meeting on the changes that would apply for the next busy season. As the trainer was explaining some aspect of individual taxation, I realized that what he was explaining was something that directly applied to a new client of ours. I got so excited! I walked out of the training (it was on DVD so I wasn't being rude) and went to discuss the idea with my boss. He hadn't heard of it before and told me to do some research and see what I came up with, but he seemed pleased with me.

After pulling up the cases that the trainer referenced and a few others to state my position, I took the information to my boss and let him look over it. He agreed that it was a position that we could take to help out this client.

Now, I should explain that this client had only come to us to get a return amended. He didn't indicate that he would continue with us, because of our fees, which is totally understandable for some people. Well, I called him up and told him about this idea that we had and how it would help him out. He seemed pretty impressed that we were still helping him, despite his lack of "hiring" us. So he gave permission for us to go forward with the idea.

Situations came up and I didn't get to it until this past June. We amended this client's return and I wrote up the reason why, stating the cases that I had found and applying the situation to our client. I handed it to my boss for review and he didn't change my explanation, at all! This was a triumphal moment for me. I tend to be pretty basic and short in my technical writing and my boss always changes things, or corrects my grammar. But in this situation, I guess because I knew what I was writing about, I did the job thoroughly. A proud moment in my career.

A couple of weeks ago, we received a notice from the IRS, stating that they accepted our changes and were processing the return. I was ecstatic! Even though the client won't be coming back, I was still pleased that I had been able to use my skills and abilities to help someone out.

Last week, at our monthly staff meeting, one of the partners talked about what it means to serve with our hearts and our minds, not just with our back and our hands. I truly believe that when we serve with our hearts, we are happier, even when we don't get any direct benefit from doing so.

And that my friends, is why I do the things I do. Yes, it is boring and tedious at times, but it is also quite rewarding!