By the second week of February a tax preparer's calendar is full, her phone is ringing with people who waited, and she is turning some of them away. That is the worst moment to start looking for clients. The people who will be her clients next February are making a decision in June or October, when they get an IRS notice, start a business, or realize their books are a mess. A preparer who is quiet for nine months and loud for three leaves most of the market to whoever answered first.
This is a month-by-month plan for one preparer, with a message for each month. It is general information about marketing a tax practice, not tax or legal advice. Anyone paid to prepare federal returns needs a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) from the IRS, and states may have their own requirements, so confirm your credentials before you advertise any service.
Why filing season is the wrong time to start
Consider Dorothea Kwan, a sole preparer with 160 clients from last year. A typical return takes her about three hours including intake, prep, review and the client call. That is 480 hours. Between February 1 and April 15 she has about 11 weeks, which at 45 hours a week is 495 hours. She is full. Every new client who calls in March is either a rush job she resents or a turn-away. So her growth cannot come from season. It has to come from clients she signs up between May and December and who are ready before the rush, with their documents organized.
Who needs a preparer all year
Three groups reward off-season contact. Past clients whose situation changed: a new baby, a home sale, a new job, a side business. Self-employed people and new business owners, who owe estimated tax in mid-April, mid-June, mid-September and mid-January and often don't know it until a penalty arrives. And referral partners who see people with tax questions before you do: bookkeepers, mortgage brokers, payroll providers, real estate agents, financial planners.
The 12-month calendar
- January: past clients. W-2s and 1099s start to arrive (employers and payers generally must furnish them by January 31). Send a document checklist and open your intake.
- February: referral partners. A short thank-you with a line on how many appointments you have left. Partners send people sooner when they know your capacity.
- March: past clients who haven't booked. A plain deadline reminder with the date you need documents by.
- April: the mid-April estimated payment. Self-employed past clients get a message about the first-quarter payment, and a note that you can review it in May.
- May: the post-season thank-you and the mid-year check offer to clients with self-employment income.
- June: new businesses. Write to recently formed LLCs and sole proprietors about estimated tax before the mid-June payment.
- July: referral partners. Offer to speak to their clients for 20 minutes on a topic they ask about, such as what records to keep.
- August: past clients with a life change. Ask whether anything changed, and suggest a short call.
- September: the mid-September estimated payment reminder, and an invitation to book a fall planning meeting.
- October: extension filers and anyone with an open IRS notice. A calm note on what to do with a notice (read it, note the response date, send it to you).
- November: year-end planning for self-employed clients: equipment purchases, retirement contributions, income timing. General topics, since each person's answer depends on facts.
- December: next-year booking. Offer a priority slot to anyone who books before December 31.
Messages to past clients
Keep these short and specific. For May:
Subject: Quick check on your self-employment taxes
Hi Jorge, thanks for getting your documents in early this year. Since you now have 1099 income from the design work, I can do a 30-minute estimated tax check ($95) that tells you whether your quarterly payments are on track and what to set aside through the rest of the year. If you'd rather skip it, no problem. Just reply with a good time.
Dorothea Kwan, Kwan Tax Services, 77 Elm Street
Include your address and an opt-out line for CAN-SPAM. Arithmetic on the offer: of 60 self-employed past clients, if 30 percent say yes, that's 18 checks at $95, or $1,710, in May and June, when you'd otherwise be idle. A few will need more work, such as a bookkeeping cleanup, which is the real value.
New businesses and referral partners
New businesses are listed in public records in most states (secretary of state business filings), and each one is a person who just learned they have tax obligations. Write in the first weeks:
Subject: Your new LLC and estimated taxes
Hi Yasmin, congratulations on forming Sunrise Pottery LLC. Many new owners don't realize they may owe estimated tax payments in the first year. I'm a local tax preparer, and I offer a free 20-minute call to explain what applies to you and what to set aside. No obligation.
Dorothea Kwan, Kwan Tax Services, 77 Elm Street
For a bookkeeper or mortgage broker, the message is different: tell them how many clients you can take, what kinds you work best with, and how you will report back. Don't pay for referrals without checking the rules for tax preparers in your state. See getting clients for a bookkeeping business for the other side of that partnership, and getting clients for an accounting firm for a larger practice.
The mid-year check as a first offer
It works because it is cheap, it's useful whether or not they hire you for the return, and it happens when you have time. The $95 check turns into a bookkeeping engagement or the next return. It also tells you which new clients will be easy in March, because they arrive with a plan. See how to reactivate old leads for the tone of the follow-up, and how to get repeat customers and how to ask for referrals for what to do after a good return.
Capacity: what you can serve in March
Decide in December how many returns you will take, and tell clients and partners. With 495 hours of season and three hours a return, Dorothea's limit is around 160. If she wants more, she must shorten the average (organized clients help) or raise the fee. A waiting list for next year is better than a rushed April. That is why the off-season work matters most: it fills the schedule with prepared clients rather than frantic ones.
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