Take it from a respected Boca-based CPA – don’t wait until April 14 to start preparing this year’s return.
Of the many qualities that earn Jennifer Smith consistent word-of-mouth business as a certified public accountant, two seem particularly suited to the role that keeps her buried in W2s and 1099sbetween now and April 15.
As a child, numbers fascinated her long before she completed a master’s degree in taxation at the University of Miami. Smith recalls visiting her grandfather’s house and making a beeline for the solar-powered calculator he kept in his closet—just to see if she could solve math problems as quickly as the device.
Equally pertinent, when it comes to preparing tax returns, is one of the golden rules by which she lives: “I can’t leave things to chance,” she says. “I’m very organized. I know where all my documents and files are, the clothes hanging in my closet are color coordinated. … I like to know that everything is in its place. It makes me uncomfortable when things aren’t in order.”
Since opening her own business in 1999, Smith has made a name for herself by keeping other houses in order, financially speaking, and by taking a genuine interest in the lives of her clients, a personal touch she learned during seven years with Deloitte—the world’s largest professional services network.
“I was nervous about starting my own business (301 Yamato Road, Suite 2195, 561/997-6797),” Smith says. “So I called my cousin, who had just sold a business. He said not to worry about the money; that will come. Just treat the client right. Best advice I ever had.”
Smith has some advice of her own, as tax season looms.
– Most people are procrastinators. That’s why the month of March is
very busy for me.
– The most common oversight? Legitimate deductions. Potential moving deductions, job hunting, charitable deductions—things that people fail to organize that, depending on the situation, could save them on their return.
– Self-employed people typically miss out on maximizing their retirement contributions.
– Parents often overlook the child and dependent care credit. If both parents are working, and they send their children to camp, aftercare or daycare, they can receive a credit. A lot of parents also forget that summer camp qualifies as a tax credit.
For more tax tips, pick up the March/April issue of Boca Raton magazine.
