What happens if the IRS comes calling, wagging a finger at you for a mistake on your tax return – but the error was made by your tax preparer? Tax specialists say it totally depends on the mistake and the person who made it. 

The rule of thumb is if (regardless whose fault) you have short-changed Uncle Sam, you’re probably going to be responsible for the taxes you owe.  Your preparer, however, might/should offer to pay whatever penalties and interest you incur.  The best suggestion I can give you on this:  always ask.  Some companies like H&R Block, cover those costs and will even pay the difference in your tax bill up to $5000 if you want to ante up upfront an extra $30 to $50 for protection. 

How do you find a qualified professional tax preparer?  There are only two states – California and Oregon – that regulate them.  Ask for referrals from people you know and trust.  Look for members of the National Association of Tax Professionals (http://www.natptax.com/) or the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (http://www.aicpa.org/) in your area.  

Remember my mantra?  It’s your money so take it personally.  You’re getting ready to hire someone to assist you in verifying to the government what your income is and what your tax responsibilities are. It’s your money so be sure the preparer is experienced with returns like yours and that you ask good questions.   

• How many years has the preparer been in business?  Your comfort level increases when you know the person has extended experience in the tax law.
• Is the preparer a CPA (certified public accountant)?  Different states have different requirements.
• What’s the focus of the preparer’s practice?  If you have specialized needs, such as real estate or small business, you’ll want to find a preparer who is familiar with your industry’s specific tax protocols.
• How does the preparer stay current?  There are 500 to 1000 changes to the tax code every year.
• How aggressive is the preparer regarding claiming deductions?  You’ll want someone whose philosophy is similar to your own.
• How available is the preparer to assist you?  In the event there’s a question or if you get a call from the IRS, you’ll want to know the preparer is available to help you year round.
• Has the preparer successfully negotiated with the IRS?  You’ll want to know the preparer has experience in the trenches in the event of an audit.
• Cost?  A simple return will be relatively inexpensive but more involved taxes take more time and cost more but could ultimately save you money down the line. 

When speaking with a tax preparer whose services you might be considering, never hire a paid preparer who:

• won’t sign your return (which they’re required to do by law);
• sets a fee for services depending on the amount of your anticipated return; or
• guarantees you a refund before even learning of your specific tax situation. 

Thursday, April 15^th is Tax Day this year.  Remember, even if you don’t have all the paperwork gathered and plan to file for an extension – you must pay whatever you owe on or before this date in order to avoid penalties.

Here’s to your health and wealth.

TAGS: choosing a certified tax preparer, Income taxes, questions to ask when choosing a cpa

I had the opportunity to review a new book about women and men in the workplace and I must say it’s one of the best I’ve read in years:  The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions, and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace by Shaunti Feldhahn.  The author interviewed men to find out what they think about the women with whom they work and is it an eye-opener.  For example, they see us as “high maintenance” with emotions that interfere with our ability to think logically. 

Before you get defensive, it’s important that you take the time to really consider what men are thinking.  If you work in the typical organization, they’re the ones making decisions about your future.  Of course it isn’t true that all women are emotional and high maintenance, but if that’s the perception, then that’s what you have to deal with.  Perception is reality and the insights provided by Feldhahn are invaluable to women.  I urge you to read it and then ask yourself these questions:

1. In what ways am I difficult to work with or manage?
2. How do I let my emotions eclipse the value I add to my organization?
3. What behaviors can I add to my repertoire that will neutralize negative perceptions?

If you don’t know how others perceive you, then it’s time to have your H.R. department or a qualified coach help you to conduct a 360 degree feedback survey.  It provides the mirror that allows you to see yourself as others see you — and take action to correct what others see as potential career derailers.

TAGS: men and women in the workplace, perceptions of women in the workplace, Shaunti Feldhahn, The Male Factor

I always loved the Jetsons. What’s not to love about flying cars, robot maids and cool futuristic outfits like Judy’s?

I admit when I watched the Jetsons I wasn’t paying much attention to where the characters worked or what happened when they got there. But today, I am totally fascinated by predictions about the future of work and careers.

Will we all work from home and go to virtual meetings with our colleagues in Second Life?

Will I be able to give speeches virtually, with a holographic image of me (a la CNN’s Wolf Blitzer during the 2008 presidential election) standing behind a holograph of a podium?

Will people have robot assistants?

To help my thinking and yours on this topic, I’ve been doing a lot of research. Here are some of the most compelling career and workplace predictions I’ve come across. It’s never too early to start thinking about how these trends will impact your own career:

1. You probably won’t work at an office from 9 to 5. More than 100 million people are expected to telecommute to work by the year 2015. This sounds accurate to me. With an increase in contract workers, freelancers, working parents and caretakers of elderly relatives, it makes sense that we’ll increasingly work from everywhere except an office. Source: OfficeTeam’s “Office of the Future: 2020″ study

2. You won’t travel for business. Thanks to better and better teleconferencing technology, faster broadband connections for Skype and 3D virtual reality meetings, you’ll rarely need to get on a plane for a meeting or presentation. (This one can’t happen soon enough for my taste!) Source: BNET Insight

3. Work will be good for your health. Instead of going to the gym at lunchtime, you might spend some of your day at a “walking workstation” and grab an apple from a healthy vending machine. Your office will be more environmentally friendly, too, with recycled office products, live plants and LEED-certified building materials.Source: Generation X, Y & Z Blog

4. You’ll have two (or more) jobs. More people will maintain two sources of income — a trend we’re seeing already across all generations. You might combine a full-time job with a side entrepreneurial venture or a freelance gig. Marci Alboher wrote a book on this topic, naming the trend “slash careers,” as in “lawyer/writer/yoga instructor.” Source: Tammy Erickson’s Harvard Business Review Blog.

5. You’ll be in school forever. This is a trend I talk about all the time. According to the above-mentioned OfficeTeam study, “To remain marketable, workers will have to make education a lifelong priority, continually upgrading their skills.” I can see people having a lifelong relationship with their college or university, not just returning for reunions but also for more education. My hunch is that the majority of this will take place through online learning. In fact, IBM is supporting its workers in this effort by matching them dollar-for-dollar in their educational pursuits, even if an employee is educating himself or herself to a job outside of IBM.

What do you think of these five predictions? What trends do you think will affect your career over the next five or ten years? Please share!

This post originally appeared on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com.

TAGS: career advice, planning for the future

I had the pleasure of meeting with Melanie Billings-Yun and a client of hers last week. Melanie’s written a book called Beyond Dealmaking (which I highly recommend) and is an expert on cross cultural negotiations. She’s lived in London, Paris, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Indonesia and Singapore and has first hand experience of how tricky it can be to bridge the cultural divide.

Melanie made the point that negotiating success in a global world is all about understanding and respecting people’s both people’s customs and sensibilities. For example, her book includes a story about Choi, a Korean businessman whose meat importing company had been purchasing meat from a single supplier in Texas for many years. The two companies had an excellent, mutually beneficial relationship. Then, in 1997, when the Asian financial crisis hit Korea and the resulting drop in the value of the Korean currency against the dollar, Choi needed an accommodation from his U.S. supplier. He needed to delay acceptance of the merchandise until orders from his customers picked up and his cash flow improved. The supplier refused, responding through a lawyer’s letter that demanded Choi fulfill the contract as written. Shocked and dismayed, Choi consulted with Melanie. She explained that he shouldn’t take the letter personally ─ sometimes companies go into “autopilot” contract compliance mode in situations like this. But Choi did take it personally, particularly because he had welcomed these supplier into his home when they had visited Korea. Melanie helped him to renegotiate the terms of the contract to those he could manage; he fulfilled his obligations but refused to do any further business with the company.

Refusing to make an accommodation for a business partner in a tight spot usually isn’t the smartest thing to do if you want to continue to do business, regardless of the cultural considerations. But, when dealing with someone who holds the perspective that once you’ve been to his home, you’re a friend, adds a whole new layer of expectations.

As the world continues to shrink, do your homework when dealing with people from other countries, regardless of whether they are colleagues or clients. Pay attention to things that can send messages you didn’t intend. For example, in Asian cultures when someone hands you a business card, it is considered rude to put the card away without taking the time to carefully read it first. Asking yourself, “Who knew?” after making a gaffe like this won’t enhance your image!

Readers, what tips can you share with us from your cross-cultural experiences?

TAGS: Books, cross-cultural, global, LinkedIn

My friend and colleague, Regina Barr, an extraordinary leadership development expert, is offering readers of thethinpinkline a wonderful opportunity:

You may attend The Women at the Top™ Virtual Leadership Development Conference – Amplify Your Success at no charge!

The conference is scheduled daily from 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. CST beginning March 22, 2010 through March 26, 2010. This virtual conference will feature 25 experts in five core leadership development areas presented in 90 minute segments over the course of five days.

Topic areas include: interpersonal skills, self management, personal accountability, influencing others, and goal achievement. These topic areas are part of the critical path to leadership success. Learn more here: http://www.redladder.com/WATTvirtualconference. You will be able to listen LIVE over the phone or webcast at no charge.

Participation in the event is FREE but you do need to register here: http://www.redladder.com/WATTmember/Virtual_Conference. In addition, anyone can attend this event so please spread the word far and wide to women in your network.

Don’t miss this!

TAGS: LinkedIn, Women at the Top

If you live in the Los Angeles area, I’d like to invite you to join us for LUNAFEST — a fundraiser for Bloom Again Foundation.  All the proceeds from the event go to providing rapid response financial assistance to working women living at or near the poverty level when they are experiencing medical emergencies.  In the past year Bloom Again, through the generosity of its donors, helped economically vulnerable women to pay their rent, utility bills and supplement lost wages due to illness or accidents. 

LUNAFEST will be held at Warner Bros. studios on Thursday, April 29th from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.  We’ll start with cocktail reception, followed by the screening of short films by and about women.  Seating is limited to the first 200 people who register so I encourage you to go to the Bloom Again website (www.bloomagain.org) to learn more about and register for the event.  Tickets and parking instructions will be mailed in early April.  Bring a friend or two — it promises to be an evening when you can have fun and make a difference.

TAGS: Bloom Again Foundation, LUNAFEST, Women living at or near the poverty level

Don’t shoot the messenger.

That’s long been my motto.  Even when things get so messed up and compromise your sense of well-being and your right to a remedy   – never shoot the messenger.  The messenger is often a very good person who has to figure out a way to sweeten bitter news.

I found two worthy messengers in the midst of my ING Direct debacle http://thethinpinkline.com/2010/02/04/banked-but-busted/ where a simple money transaction became a complicated and protracted ordeal that compromised a very important and time sensitive transfer of funds.   I want to thank these messengers publicly for not only doing their job but doing it well with a sense of personal commitment that made their professional credentials in financial services even more impressive:  Erica Borsella, the ING representative who stepped in to handle my situation from a supervisory level and Cathy MacFarlane, ING Direct Corporate Relations who, when notified by me with an email detailing the timeline and mistakes made - responded on behalf of the company.  Both made it clear that I had done nothing wrong – in fact, that I’d done a responsible job as a customer – but was the victim of an unfortunate circumstance:  an inadequately trained ING representative who gave me wrong information.

Though neither Borsella nor MacFarlane could ”fix” what happened to me, both provided an often forgotten asset called the human touch.  MacFarlane consented for me to share her email in full: 

Dear Valerie:

When I finished reading your timeline and blog I found myself feeling an overwhelming respect for the level headed and patient manner in which you dealt with a series of unintended and undesired events and total admiration that despite being jet lagged and tired, you posted a beautifully written, concise and very logically detailed blog at 3:33 a.m.!! As someone who’s ‘filters’ fall away when I’m tired, I definitely need to take a lesson from you. 

First, I have to say that your experience with ING DIRECT distresses me.  I assure you that as a bank and as a culture Erica Borsella (who tried to assist you in correcting the issue) is the norm and not the exception. Unfortunately, the entirety of the problems started with what you so aptly called “an inadequately trained associate.” 

I appreciate your thoughtful posting and there are several lessons we can take from your unfortunate experience so we can try to ensure that all our customers have positive experiences. We need to ask our customers for the facts – and all the facts – and then explain the way the system and its features work. Indeed, a P2P (person to person) payment with the recipient’s bank account and routing number would have arrived in two days.  Minus the necessary details (recipient’s bank account and routing number) the payment ‘could’ become a paper check and take 5–7 business days as it travels snail mail. The new training contains simple steps – hopefully it will prevent customer pain! 

Valerie, on behalf of the bank I want to thank you again for your patience and extraordinary understanding. You helped us see a point of weakness and we’re correcting it.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with suggestions for ensuring we maintain a brand that deserves people’s trust.

Best regards,

Cathy MacFarlane

As I so often write in my blog:  It’s your money so take it personally.  I just wanted each of you to know that I practice what I preach.  It was my money that was needed for a major project – my book “Mind Over Money Matters”.  It details the mindset individuals and families need in order to recover from the recession - and is being published this summer by Sterling and Ross Publishers, New York.  The transfer of those funds were compromised and I took that personally. 

I hope the detailing of my banked but busted experience will help each of you know that we do have a voice and can effect change (even if not for our own particular circumstance).  What helped me most is that I kept good records:  names, dates and times and followed through.  And along the way found two messengers who appreciated my attention to detail and the opportunity for their company to learn how to better assist customers.

And despite automated emails I continue to receive declaring that I “haven’t yet activated” my ING Electric Orange card – I’m not going to.   As my 3-year old granddaughter Savannah would declare:  “No way!  The memory of the botched transfer experience won’t allow me to do that.  I remain an ING Direct Orange Savings customer.  It has worked seamlessly for me.  But the “banked but busted” debacle is why I see red when it comes to ING Electric Orange.  

Here’s to your health and wealth.

TAGS: Customer service, Rant

I received a letter from Thin Pink Line blogger, Renee, with this question:

I started working for my company five years ago and during this time felt like I made a significant contribution to the organization.  I helped save my department millions of dollars, run more efficiently, and developed systems to reward and motivate employees.  I loved my role.  A new CEO came in 18 months ago and he’s using me very differently.  He is less dynamic, things move very slowly, and employees are disgruntled and leaving.  I stay because I love working for the Deputy CEO and am learning heaps from him, but wonder how I can continue to make a contribution?  I keep thinking things will shift and get moving again. 

Renee is right to stay put for now.  CEO’s come and go but jobs you love are harder to come by.  Most career experts tell you that the best thing to do with a boss (or CEO) that changes the dynamic in your career is to wait him or her out — unless things are so bad that you’re just miserable, in which case changing jobs might be necessary.  We can’t change our management but we can change our response to what’s happening in the workplace.

My friend and colleague, Pamela Mitchell, CEO of the Reinvention Institute  just wrote a new book on career reinvention that I would recommend to anyone in a similar position.  Here are some tips from both Pamela and me for how to increase satisfaction and reinvigorate a career that may be momentarily stalled due to changes in management:

1.   Consider forming a career reinvention board of advisors.  These are people you trust and who you can ask for help with seeing options that may not be immediately clear to you.  They can be people inside your firm or outside, but without complaining ask for their insights about ways to use your unique skills to make a difference that suits your organizational culture. 

2.  Remember that you have two careers.  The first is how you earn your living and the second is to continually develop yourself and your skills.  In Renee’s case it sounds like her Deputy CEO is a good mentor to her.  I would encourage her to ask him for stretch assignments that get her beyond her comfort zone into acquiring new skills that are transportable.  If you’re in a similar situation, consider the tickets you have yet to get punched that will fill out your resume.  If your company offers training programs, sign up!  If not, look to some of the old timers for career advice — we’re always happy to share what we’ve learned during our long careers. 

3.  Offer to mentor newcomers.  Whether you’ve been on the job two years, ten years, or anything in between, you have knowledge that is valuable to those just coming on board.  You might even consider going to H.R. and offering to set up a formal new hire mentoring program to make the path easier for the newbies. 

4.  Remember that it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.  Nice girls make the mistake of thinking they have to get permission for new initiatives.  We need to take a lesson from successful men who take action first and later feign ignorance if they’re reined in.  Although you can’t get away with it too many times, it could be that you’ll be perceived as a mover and shaker!

5.  Build strong relationships with senior executives.  It could be that the new CEO is hesitant to take action because he doesn’t know Renee well enough to trust her judgment.  Executives are only human and they don’t want to make mistakes that will cost them their jobs either.  Strong relationships with senior management allow them to get to know you, your abilities, and trust that you’ll take the appropriate course of action in the best interest of the company (and them). 

6.  Present challenges and propose solutions.  Renee mentions that turnover has increased with the arrival of the new CEO.  If she has ideas for how to stem the tide of resignations, she should present them in terms of how it will save the company money, increase productivity, and make the company more attractive to new hires.  Of course I don’t recommend that she use his hire date as the turning point!  When presenting solutions to company challenges be sure to lay them out with suggested timelines for implementation — this will increase the likelihood of action being taken sooner than later.  Similarly, be prepared for resistance and overcome it with facts that make your suggested course of action only logical. 

7.  Network, network, network.  When changes in your company make you feel less productive than you have in the past, use the “free” time to enhance your internal and external networks.  Whereas it may be hard to have lunch with a colleague when you’re swamped, a slower period provides the perfect opportunity to get out of your office and meet with people with whom you can enhance relationships.  Join professional organizations and get involved in the running of them.  If it turns out you decide to leave the company because the changes just aren’t your cup of tea, you’ll have a built in set of resources to help you make the transition. 

8.  Get a life.  When we’re busy climbing the career ladder we often neglect our life outside of work.  While you’re waiting to see if things changes in your corporate culture and what moves you might want to make next, take up a hobby, spend more time with friends, do the traveling you’ve been wanting to but didn’t have time for.  When things ramp back up, you won’t be sorry that you invested time in yourself.

TAGS: The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention; reinvigorating your career; working with a new CEO

Come listen in on my conversation with Pete Kistler, the founder of Brand-Yourself.com, who was named one of Entrepreneur magazine’s Top 5 College Entrepreneur of 2009. He joins me to talk about personal branding as it relates to college students and young professionals.

In this podcast, we define personal branding, talk about Pete’s own personal branding process and explain why students and young professionals need to think about your personal brand — especially the image you’re projecting online.

For more on this topic, here are two great new resources that can help you create and enhance all aspects of your personal brand:

PricewaterhouseCoopers Personal Brand Week – a terrific collection of downloadable worksheets to help you create an elevator pitch, express your passion, build a network, promote yourself online and more. PwC has also collected free personal branding advice on Twitter with the hashtag #pwcpbw.

Student Branding Blog – a new resource expressly designed to help college students with personal branding. This site was created by Dan Schawbel, who also launched the Personal Branding Blog.

Click here to listen to this week’s podcast.

How have you approached personal branding in your career? As always, I welcome your comments below!

TAGS: career advice, Generation Y, personal branding

A long time ago (before email so a very long time ago), I worked with a woman who was a terrific mentor, leader and coach. One of the things she did consistently was to keep track of days when I had an important client meeting and take the time to leave an encouraging voicemail message to let me know she was thinking of me. She’d personalize the message by pointing out specific reasons that she knew I’d be successful. I can tell you those messages made all the difference to me ─ I walked into many tough meetings feeling self-confident and prepared because Jan had left me a message.

I try to do the same for others now. When someone mentions an upcoming date important to them for some reason, I put it on my calendar and set a reminder for the day before. When the time is right, I leave a voicemail or send an email letting them know that I’m thinking about them. I’ve taken Jan’s lesson one step further and applied it to family and friends as well as colleagues. But as I write that I realize she probably did that too!

More recently, a woman with whom I’m working in a mentoring program for college seniors mentioned that she noted the date her mentee was taking the LSAT and sent him an email the night before to wish him well.  The other mentors thought that was a terrific idea and now it’s been incorporated into the program as a best practice.

Something easy to do that means a lot. Who’d appreciate knowing you are rooting for them?

TAGS: Coaching, encouraging others, friendship, LinkedIn, mentoring