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SaneTax is a good idea, yes. But remote accountants do exist. I have an accountant who handles everything remotely. I live in Los Angeles and he lives in small

SaneTax is a good idea, yes. But remote accountants do exist. I have an accountant who handles everything remotely. I live in Los Angeles and he lives in small-town, Nebraska. I met him once when he did a tour of the country to meet clients and drum up new business. Here's my process: 1) I download a PDF worksheet from his website. 2) I scan all my documents and fill out the worksheet. 3) I send it over https to his LeapFile account. 4) We talk on the phone for a few minutes. He asks a few questions to make sure we're "on the same page." 5) He e-files for me. 6) If I have a refund coming, I get it direct deposited. If not, then I pay with EFTPS and CA web pay. If I want tax advice, I can ask him. If I want to start a business, he can help out. If I get audited, he can defend me. All without me being there. Another nice project would be to make a directory of accountants who can handle the whole tax process remotely.

SriniK 16y ago
Remote accountants do exist but with http://sanetax.com http://sanetax.com what we want to achieve is simplifying the whole process. From above mentioned steps, you can do all 1 to 3 right from your iphone/android phone. What we have seen as trend on http://sanetax.com/ http://sanetax.com/ is that more more people are logging and using the service solely from their mobile phones. Rapport and support is the same thing that you have with your accountant. We only connect customers and tax professionals. It is the work tax professional and his/her service to make sure they treat you well to receive repeated business(next year).
r00fus 16y ago
Your accountant sounds great. Now how would I have known about him? SaneTax aims to be this marketplace between tax preparers and accountants. It's a good model. Now, the question that I have is, how are the accountants verified and how do I know I (as a preparer) am dealing with someone I can trust?
- billpaetzke 16y ago
  Now how would I have known about him? Right. That's why I said, another nice project would be to make a directory of accountants who can handle the whole tax process remotely. But maybe there's no business model in that. Enter SaneTax.
  - SriniK 16y ago
    Eventually, we will open up the tax professional directory. So that you as a customer can choose your own agent. We already have the code in place for it.
    - r00fus 16y ago
      I'd recommend looking at how ServiceMagic does it. They choose and list 3 professionals (which are chosen by area, which adds an artificial funnel to a natural one). If I want more, I can request more, but often 3 is just right to compare prices/rates and professional knowledge/fit. I would strongly recommend this approach if you aren't already doing it (have yet to sign up).
- SriniK 16y ago
  We actually call tax professionals and spend 30-45mins with them to go over our questionnaire starting from their experience, tax knowledge to the current prep software setup they have. IRS has manadated new PTIN requirements http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=218611,00.html http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=218611,00.html we need to have their PTIN to even talk to us. As I said in other comments, customer can call and make sure they are comfortable with the tax agent we assign. If you are not comfortable, let us know, we will assign a different agent.

SriniK 16y ago

Remote accountants do exist but with http://sanetax.com http://sanetax.com what we want to achieve is simplifying the whole process. From above mentioned steps, you can do all 1 to 3 right from your iphone/android phone. What we have seen as trend on http://sanetax.com/ http://sanetax.com/ is that more more people are logging and using the service solely from their mobile phones. Rapport and support is the same thing that you have with your accountant. We only connect customers and tax professionals. It is the work tax professional and his/her service to make sure they treat you well to receive repeated business(next year).

r00fus 16y ago

Your accountant sounds great. Now how would I have known about him? SaneTax aims to be this marketplace between tax preparers and accountants. It's a good model. Now, the question that I have is, how are the accountants verified and how do I know I (as a preparer) am dealing with someone I can trust?

billpaetzke 16y ago
Now how would I have known about him? Right. That's why I said, another nice project would be to make a directory of accountants who can handle the whole tax process remotely. But maybe there's no business model in that. Enter SaneTax.
- SriniK 16y ago
  Eventually, we will open up the tax professional directory. So that you as a customer can choose your own agent. We already have the code in place for it.
  - r00fus 16y ago
    I'd recommend looking at how ServiceMagic does it. They choose and list 3 professionals (which are chosen by area, which adds an artificial funnel to a natural one). If I want more, I can request more, but often 3 is just right to compare prices/rates and professional knowledge/fit. I would strongly recommend this approach if you aren't already doing it (have yet to sign up).
SriniK 16y ago
We actually call tax professionals and spend 30-45mins with them to go over our questionnaire starting from their experience, tax knowledge to the current prep software setup they have. IRS has manadated new PTIN requirements http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=218611,00.html http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=218611,00.html we need to have their PTIN to even talk to us. As I said in other comments, customer can call and make sure they are comfortable with the tax agent we assign. If you are not comfortable, let us know, we will assign a different agent.