Start A Tax Preparation Business Today!

It is easier to start a tax preparation business than many other home based and small businesses. The starts up costs are very low, training is economical and abundant, and the workload is concentrated over 4-6 months.

There is also great demand for Spanish speaking income tax preparation services if you are bilingual.

If you have basic computer skills and can perform simple accounting functions there are many training programs that can give you the skills you need to start a tax preparation business. Below are some of the best.

1) The IRS offers free training in exchange for a commitment of a small number of volunteer hours. They have an excellent training and certification track that has 5 parts — Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Military and International.

2) Large tax services like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt have training courses that range from $99.00-$200.00 to attend with the costs of materials included. They offer very thorough training in hopes to hire the best tax preparer students from the class.

3) Online instruction is available from a variety of sources. This is an excellent source if you are busy and time is an issue. But it is typically more beneficial to learn in an interactive classroom environment. However, many people have found the internet to be a successful path to start a tax preparation business and then attended advanced training elsewhere.

Getting Started In Your Business

To successfully start a tax preparation business you will need the following items at a minimum.

• Tax Preparation Software: to produce a professional product and better manage your time to maximize profit you will need a quality tax preparation software program. This will allow you to e-file your clients' returns and save their information in a variety of formats. Prices, quality and ease-of-use vary so check for references and referrals and compare products before you buy.
• Office Supplies: Paper, printer, computer, and lots of ink cartridges are essential as are plenty of those little sticky flags to mark pages for your client to review and sign.
• Office Space: Whether you choose to work out of a home office or a different site, you will need several comfortable chairs and a desk that offers adequate writing space for you and your client. Don't forget ample room for your computer and printer. It will also be helpful if you are able to rotate your monitor to allow the client to review parts of the forms on screen before printing.

Key Things To Consider To Start A Tax Preparation Business

Few start-up businesses offer the return on investment that starting a tax preparation business can. For a time investment of a couple of months of training and less than $1500.00 you can see several thousand dollars in receipts your first month.

While it is true that the tax season is really only 4 months there are opportunities to maintain clients throughout the year. Some agencies offer midyear tax checks that offer advice to clients on how to minimize their tax bill. It is also a business that is easily incorporated as a second business or in conjunction with other financial service businesses such as small business tax planning.

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