Double Ended Sword

Being in collections for this industry can be a double ended sword for our clients. They are on a set payment schedule for us, when at the same time the IRS can put a wage levy on them at any time. You would never guess how tricky it can be to handle a client that has just been levied and also has a payment due. Being in collections you realize that everything you do is defiantly on a case to case decision on what you can do for that client. You defiantly hear some interesting stores along the way :)

Consequences for not paying on time

Every thing in life has some type of consequence whether good or bad. Well the same goes for our clients when it comes to paying. I figure I would put a list out so our clients know what will happen if they do not pay their payments in a timely fashion.

• Changing payment date- First time is forgiven and any time after that there is a $20.00 charge to your account
• Returned check/ NSF- $25.00 fee
• Case closed due to non-response- (Which is not a good thing if you want Effectur to get done with your case in a quick and timely fashion you need to make sure you keep in contact and get in all paperwork in as it is needed.) But to reopen your case after this is a $250.00 reactivation fee.
• Non-payment more then 60 days old- This is automatic grounds for us to send you to a collection agency. Do not worry though we will definitely let you know if your account gets to this point. In order to keep your account going at that point though is to pay ALL back payments.

With all of these things and any payments that we do not receive we do call all our clients and let them know. We are not the type of company that does not inform our clients of where their status is and just send them over to a collection agency or anything. We especially in accounting treat our clients as we ourselves want to be treated in the same situation.

Being an employee

I have worked with Effectur for over 2 years now. I have watched this company flourish from taking up 3 rooms in an old renovated warehouse, to moving to an actually office space where you do not have to run all the way down the hall to go to the bathroom. Hehehe

This job opportunity fell into my lap my junior year of college and I am happy it did. I could have never asked for a better company to work for. It opened my eyes to a whole other world of helping people that I never thought of before. Also it expanded my knowledge about how to do taxes, what it all involves, and how the government works that I was so oblivious to.

They also let me really spread my wings with learning leadership very quickly. Since from the time I got here they handed me a task and wanted me to put a process together for it. At first I admit I was scared out of my mind, but then I realized how naturally it came to me. Like Kenneth and Reed saw something in me that I had not even seen myself.

My first job was to call the leads we got in and then transfer them over to a tax consultant. Which was really easy just need to be aware of time zone hours. My first big task though was to create a department that we called "Welcome." I was so excited!!! The man duty of this department was to of course welcome the client into Effectur and then to get all their initial docs (Promissory Note, Engagement Agreement, Tax Organizers, Financial Disclosure Forms, etc.) before I sent them on to the Case Specialist. Our goal was to be able to get the clients information in faster and elevate the load on the case specialist so they can focus on closing their cases better. I loved this job! It gave me so much satisfaction, to take this small idea and create this amazing system. Unfortunately since it was such a success and Kenneth and Reed were able to see that it did not elevate the case specialist load like we hoped it would do. So we gave the duties back to them.

After that I got put into the role of collection specialist where I still am today. With this I still had to make all new processes in getting clients that have not paid us for the work we have done to pay. This was very interesting for me for I am not a mean or demanding person at all. I am very understand and 99.9% of the time give people the benefit of the doubt when they have already broken their promise to me more then once. But as the year has gone on I found myself being able to be tougher with clients since I document everything the client and I say.

I love the company I work for; they’re one of the few companies that family still means something. And they also want the best for their employees. For heavens sake they are going to give me a bonus for quitting smoking over 6 months. And guess what I have been a non-smoker for 2 months and 1 week today!!!!! And I can tell the difference. :)

Keeping payments on time

I have noticed the biggest thing clients forget to check and read is our Promissory Note. I always hear I did not realize I had a payment to come out; I don't have the money to cover it. So my biggest advice for clients not to have to talk to me in collections is to double check their payment schedule. This would help the client be able to concentrate more on what the case specialist needs to complete their tax work.