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Don’t overlook the power of Google reviews

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Busy season is tough, but it has its upside. This is when you’re talking most frequently with your clients, especially those with straightforward, fast-turnaround returns. It’s a great time to leverage these interactions to gather positive feedback from your clients.

If you don’t think clients and prospective clients are checking out your Google reviews, think again. 

Research shows three-quarters (77%) of accounting clients would consider leaving their existing firm if another one was recommended to them. Further, three in five (60%) accounting firm clients conduct online searches as part of their research when vetting potential providers. In fact, two in five accounting clients (38%) who have experienced a service issue with their accounting firm left a negative review on a public website like Yelp or Google. In today’s low-trust digital world, negative reviews have almost two times the impact as positive ones, the researchers concluded.

Can you afford to take that risk?

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. This is the time of year when you’ll have lots of clients appreciating your work. Why not ask them for a Google review when their experience with you is fresh in their minds. I bring this up because it’s also the time of year when you might be getting some negative Google reviews due to some kind of misunderstanding. Positive reviews will buffer your rating against the negative reviews. Even better, a five-star review is a five-star review. It doesn’t matter if it comes from a simple 1040 client or from a complex client with multiple businesses and a complex family situation. They all carry the same weight.

But you want to make the review, “ask” now, because you’re not likely to be speaking with many clients for the rest of the year. The more time that goes by, the less likely they’ll remember the great work you did. For more about why immediacy is so important, see my recent articles: Don’t succumb to the forgetting curve this tax season and  The power of immediate feedback.

Just because you have a bunch of five-star reviews doesn’t mean you’ll get more business. But it certainly helps lock the back door. If you start racking up negative reviews, clients and prospects notice and will move on. It’s the  same way when I’m referred to a physician or auto-body shop. I immediately look them up, and if their Google stars don’t look good, I’ll look for other options.

How to ask for a Google review

Immediately after filing a client’s tax return, have a staff person reach out and ask: “How was everything? Was there anything we could have done better?” If they say everything went great, then respond: “Thank you. Would you be willing to leave us a Google review? I can show you how to do it in five minutes if you’re not familiar with Google reviews.” 

Some of you may argue that you don’t have enough capacity to have staff spending 10 to 15 minutes with every single satisfied client — especially when they’re already exhausted from the busy season. But I would argue that your firm is not built properly if you can’t devote 10 to 15 minutes of staff time per client to obtain something so valuable to your firm’s success and bottom line. 

How clients of all ages can post Google reviews

Another objection I hear from firm owners all the time is that their clients are older and don’t know how to leave Google reviews and/or they don’t have a Gmail account which is required in order to post Google reviews.

Don’t let that be a roadblock. Here’s a handy three-minute video tutorial you can send to clients about how to leave a Google review without a Gmail account. After sending the video, have your staff person follow up and tell the client: “I’m happy to walk you through it.”

If you send the email to 100 clients who have had good experiences with you and 10% respond, that’s 10 more supportive reviews than you had before. They will likely move your average rating in the right direction. It’s pretty low hanging fruit.

Each review is an opportunity to demonstrate your firm’s value and build trust with potential clients. Don’t leave your online reputation to chance. What is your firm doing to obtain more client reviews? I’d love to hear more. 

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Accounting

Total college enrollment rose 3.2%

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Total postsecondary spring enrollment grew 3.2% year-over-year, according to a report.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published the latest edition of its Current Term Enrollment Estimates series, which provides final enrollment estimates for the fall and spring terms.

The report found that undergraduate enrollment grew 3.5% and reached 15.3 million students, but remains below pre-pandemic levels (378,000 less students). Graduate enrollment also increased to 7.2%, higher than in 2020 (209,000 more students).

Graduation photo

(Read more: Undergraduate accounting enrollment rose 12%)

Community colleges saw the largest growth in enrollment (5.4%), and enrollment increased for all undergraduate credential types. Bachelor’s and associate programs grew 2.1% and 6.3%, respectively, but remain below pre-pandemic levels. 

Most ethnoracial groups saw increases in enrollment this spring, with Black and multiracial undergraduate students seeing the largest growth (10.3% and 8.5%, respectively). The number of undergraduate students in their twenties also increased. Enrollment of students between the ages of 21 and 24 grew 3.2%, and enrollment for students between 25 and 29 grew 5.9%.

For the third consecutive year, high vocational public two-years had substantial growth in enrollment, increasing 11.7% from 2023 to 2024. Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions have increased nearly 20% since pre-pandemic levels.

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Accounting

Interim guidance from the IRS simplifies corporate AMT

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Jordan Vonderhaar/Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/

The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 2025-27, which provides interim guidance on an optional simplified method for determining an applicable corporation for the corporate alternative minimum tax.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 amended Sec. 55 to impose the CAMT based on the “adjusted financial statement income” of an “applicable corporation” for taxable years beginning in 2023. 

Among other details, proposed regs provide that “applicable corporation” means any corporation (other than an S corp, a regulated investment company or a REIT) that meets either of two average annual AFSI tests depending on financial statement net operating losses for three taxable years and whether the corporation is a member of a foreign-parented multinational group.

Prior to the publication of any final regulations relating to the CAMT, the Treasury and the IRS will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking. Notice 2025-27 will be in IRB: 2025-26, dated June 23.

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Accounting

In the blogs: Whiplash | Accounting Today

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Conquering tariffs; bracing for notices; FBAR penalty timing; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Whiplash

Number-crunching

  • Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): “7-Figure Firm, 4-Hour Workweek: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself.”
  • The National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This week’s “You Make the Call” looks at Sarah, a U.S. citizen who moved to London for work in 2024. On May 15, 2025, it hit her that she forgot to file her 2024 U.S. return. Was she required to file her 2024 taxes by April 15?
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Anteing up with Uncle Sam: The World Series of Poker is back, and one major change this year involves players from Russia and Hungary. After suspension of tax treaties with those nations, players will have 30% of winnings withheld. 
  • Parametric (https://www.parametricportfolio.com/blog): Direct indexing seems to come with a common misunderstanding: On the performance statement, conflating the value of harvested losses with returns. 

Problems brewing

  • Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): No chill is chillier than the client’s at the mailbox when an IRS notice appears out of the blue. How you can educate — and warn — them about the various notices everybody’s that favorite agency might send.
  • Dean Dorton (https://deandorton.com/insights/): Perhaps because they can be founded on trust, your nonprofit clients are especially vulnerable to fraud.
  • Global Taxes (https://www.globaltaxes.com/blog.php): When it’s your time, it’s your time: The clock starts on FBAR penalties when the tax forms are due and not when penalties are assessed — and even the death of the taxpayer doesn’t extend the deadline.
  • TaxConnex (https://www.taxconnex.com/blog-): Your e-commerce clients can muck up sales tax obligations in many ways. How some of the seeds of trouble might hide in their own billing system.
  • Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/): What’s up with the five states that don’t have a sales tax?
  • Taxjar (https://www.taxjar.com/resources/blog): Humans are still needed to handle sales tax complexity, with real-world examples.
  • Wiss (https://wiss.com/insights/read/): A business — and business-advising — success story from a California chicken eatery.

Almost half done

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