It’s a Wonderful Tax Season
2023 Tax Letter
This year it was easy to come up with a tax theme. “It’s A Wonderful Tax Season.” It plays off Jaylene’s idea to dress up as your favorite Christmas character at our all-day Holiday of Fun extravaganza filled with activities. My favorite Christmas movie is It’s a Wonderful Life, I don’t know if any of you had an extra 4 hours to watch it this Christmas season but what a great message! Jaylene’s favorite movie is Elf, and (spoiler alert) someone was Buddy.
At CEA we strive for a work-life balance that is good for everyone. Unfortunately, we threw it out the window January 1. Once January 1 arrives, it’s like flipping a switch. We are off to the races as this letter is being prepared - just a little reminder of last year’s theme 😊.
Tax preparation is a team approach and each year we strive to make improvements. Everyone is critical to the process from the beginning to the end. In addition to preparing a lot of tax returns. We have a wonderful accounting department and have been blessed with three wonderful accountants that head up our accounting and tax division. Most of you have worked with either Storm, Joe, or Katie. We believe accurate accounting work is the key to making critical tax decisions.
Katie Conklin is in her 4th year and specializes in QuickBooks and all facets of accounting ranging from bank reconciliations to financial statements. It is exciting to watch Katie mature in this industry; you can tell that all the pieces are coming together for her.
Joe Baptist’s passion is research, and he is good at it!!! In our industry there have ALWAYS been changes either on the tax or accounting side and Joe will tackle the most complicated issues to find the right answer. Sometimes the answer is painful, but we won’t labor on that. Joe is celebrating 6 years with CEA and has some exciting news in his personal life as he heard wedding bells in December.
Storm Wolff has 24 years of experience and rounds out the team. She not only has a great personality which clients love; she is also always ready to help. She is a great sound board for all of us and is dedicated to finding a better way to do things. She is an avid reader and enjoys a new tax case. 😊
Madison Tabit joined the firm in December of last year as she was finishing her associate degree from LLCC. She is currently pursuing her accounting degree at UIS. Our little “Miss Christmas” has a knack for DETAILS which is a great trait and will serve well in this field.
This year we have added a full-time administrative assistant, Melissa Zinke. We are happy to welcome this Jeep enthusiast onto the fold. Melissa worked for Wells Fargo for almost 9 years and has been very helpful in onboarding new clients as well as other miscellaneous tasks in her 2 months. Please welcome “Polar Express Pajamas girl”.
Melissa will be able to assist you with our portal and inform you of the information you need to gather for your tax return. Our website is a great tool for our clients. It has a resource and link tab, with links to many useful sites. There is also access to the client portal on the website. The portal is a wonderful feature, especially for our clients that don’t stop by the office. It offers the ability to upload documents, files and sign your tax returns. Access to the CEA Blog is also on the website. You may even find a few “classic” photos of the CEA team on here as well.
If you have a new tax situation and need to schedule an appointment call Melissa. She can schedule an appointment for all of us. You can also drop information off to us in our 24hr drop box or during normal business hours M-F 8am-5pm. Just to list a few of the documents you will need for your tax preparation.
This packet
W-2
Real Estate Tax Bill
Voided Check
ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENTS
1099’s
One last thing, if you stop by the office make sure to read some of the famous quotes from the movie, we may have added a little twist. Can you guess who we dubbed Mr. Potter?? Yep, the IRS. And remember at CEA It’s a Wonderful Tax Season!
Quote by George Bailey “Isn’t it wonderful I am going to jail”
Quote by CEA “Isn’t it wonderful CEA can keep you from going to jail”
Thanks
Darren Epperson
