She Found $83K Hiding in Her Tax Software Fees | SBA Podcast EP 33

Baldeep (00:01)
All right, welcome to another Service Bureau Accelerator interview series. I’m here with LaTasha, and I also have Ross with me. Ross, if you want to go ahead and start the introduction.

Ross (00:12)
Sure. So LaTasha, welcome. Thanks for joining us. How you doing?

LaTasha (00:16)
I’m doing great. How you all doing today?

Ross (00:19)
Awesome, very good, very good. Yeah, LaTasha, thanks for jumping on the call. So like I said, we’d love to just kind of hear a little bit about your experience with joining the Service Bureau Accelerator. But maybe if you want to start by just kind of really quickly giving us a quick introduction, introduce yourself, share a little bit about your experience in the tax industry, where you’re at, and then ultimately what led you to become a Service Bureau with the Service Bureau Accelerator.

LaTasha (00:46)
Okay, I am LaTasha . I’m the proud owner of Impact Tax Pro. I started in the industry 14 years ago. I worked with H&R Block, and then I left H&R Block and I just started doing taxes on my own. So I just did taxes for my family — no friends, only for family. And I remember it was about, I want to say about 10 years ago, my daughter said, “Mommy, you know how to do taxes. You do it for the family. You know, just start doing it for friends and you can make an extra income.” Because I was working at the time, and I said, “Well, I’ll think about it. Let me see if that’s something I want to do.” And I thought about it.

And I said, “Okay,” and I started doing taxes. So my daughter brought me 50 clients. And I said, “Wow, 50 clients.” And so I did their taxes plus my family. So I went to some people that I knew in the church that did taxes, and I was like, “How can I get my PTIN?” To be honest with you all, the two ladies made it like it was so hard to get a PTIN.

Baldeep (01:50)
Okay.

LaTasha (02:13)
They didn’t explain to me, they didn’t give me the steps, they just made it like it was hard for me to get a PTIN. And if I knew what I knew now, I would have gotten my PTIN then. So they made it so hard for me. The next year I saw a third-party business that was saying, “If you want to do taxes, come join our team. No upfront cost.” And so I was like, “Don’t nobody give you something for free. So let me go check this out and see.” Yes, free upfront. I learned that—free upfront. So I called the person that I had seen the flyer from on Facebook and she was like, “Yes, come and see us in Memphis. We’ll be in Memphis on such and such date.” It was a weekend, and so I went and I got my PTIN that day. They—

Ross (02:47)
It’s free upfront, it’s free upfront.

LaTasha (03:11)
—showed me how to get my PTIN, and I joined their team. I was on their team for two years. I was on a split, of course, and I was like, I got this down. The first year, I came with three people with me. The next year, I brought 20 people with me. And so I was like, if I can go from a preparer to a team, I can be a business mentor and be a business owner as well. And so that’s what I did. The second year, I remember Ross, I talked to you. I was going to join, but I did not end up staying with them. The following year, I came on with SBA. So that’s how I was able to learn a lot and come on with SBA.

I saw your promotion on Facebook and I filled that form out.

Ross (04:16)
Awesome. You got it, boss. You go.

Baldeep (04:16)
Got it. Go ahead. So just so I’m clear — prior to joining us, you were part of this team on a split. And then when we had the conversation, obviously the math started working together and we started doing maybe some numbers and figuring out how much money you would actually make.

LaTasha (04:26)
Yes. Yes.

LaTasha (04:37)
Yes, because you all, when I came on, you all taught me a whole lot about back-end fees, about fees that I was given the wrong information about when I was on this team. So you all gave me a lot of information. I was like, “Wow.” So yes, that pulled me on to SBA. Yes.

Ross (05:02)
That’ll usually happen. Do you recall at all — I know it’s like, what, three years ago now — but do you recall what your fee, like what those software fees looked like before?

LaTasha (05:14)
Yes, so one was the Service Bureau fee and it was $99. The transmitter fee, I think, was like 60. I can say per return before their fees, the client was paying out $270-some dollars.

Baldeep (05:42)
So before the prep fees. Got it. So I’m just gonna do some math. Excuse the typing sounds. So let’s subtract the bank, let’s subtract base software fee — so it’s like a $209 markup essentially. So when we had a conversation and you’re like, hey, you’re fresh here, you put up some numbers — I’m not gonna share them here, but if you want me to, I can. But roughly—

LaTasha (05:44)
Yes, before the prep fees.

Ross (05:44)
Yeah, yeah.

LaTasha (05:48)
Okay. Okay.

LaTasha (05:56)
Yes!

Baldeep (06:08)
Just based on your first year, just on the markup without anything else, you should have made an additional $83,620 roughly, year one. But that’s also not counting the extra money from not having to do the splits and all that stuff, because you got that sorted out as well. That’s just on the software side of things. That’s cool. That’s a big number.

LaTasha (06:12)
Yes.

LaTasha (06:17)
Yes.

LaTasha (06:26)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. It is.

Ross (06:35)
That’s a big number. Yeah. And you’re not alone. We have those conversations every day where there are tens of thousands of dollars.

Baldeep (06:40)
And you know, you said something — you’re like, hey, I spoke to you guys and then I didn’t end up doing it, and then I came the following year. Does it give you any heartburn to realize how much money you gave up that year you skipped?

LaTasha (06:48)
Yes.

LaTasha (06:54)
Yes, yes, it really does. It really does. They had incentives and stuff that they gave out that — at the end of the day, when I sit back, I had already paid for that.

Baldeep (07:00)
Yeah.

Baldeep (07:05)
Yeah.

Baldeep (07:14)
Right. Yeah. A lot of those incentives are literally just based off the markup. So it’s like, you’re just giving me a piece of what I could get 100% of regardless if I’m just with a better deal, right? So interesting. Yeah. And we see that a lot. So like, when we look at people that don’t sign up from one year to the next, we have the numbers and we’re like, “What’s going on?” Like, I know there’s an investment here and sometimes that holds people back, but I’m like, if you really do the math, is two grand worth 83?

LaTasha (07:19)
Yes!

LaTasha (07:23)
Yes. Yes, that’s correct.

LaTasha (07:33)
Yes.

Baldeep (07:43)
Yeah, pretty much a no-brainer, right, in a lot of cases. Awesome. But thanks for sharing that. Go ahead, Ross.

LaTasha (07:46)
Yes.

Ross (07:48)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was actually going to ask, when you ultimately kind of made the decision to join Service Bureau Accelerator, was it the Service Bureau model — like being able to have your own software that you can sell? Because I know you mentioned like, “Hey, if I can do this, I can mentor people as well.” Or was it more so all the fees that you can now make back, or was it kind of a combination of both?

LaTasha (08:06)
Yes.

LaTasha (08:12)
It was kind of a combination of both. And listening to you all — you all not only just sold me the software and being a Service Bureau, it was the education that you were giving as well. The examples that you all were giving, you were showing proof of what you were saying. And that’s what I liked. I liked the honesty that you all gave. You explained the Service Bureau fee or if you want to up the fee, you all explained all of that. I wasn’t given that option. I was just told, “This is what the bank charged.” Everything was put on the bank. Yes, yes, everything was the bank. Yes.

Baldeep (08:55)
Yeah.

Ross (08:56)
Yes, deflection, deflection tactic — “It’s not me.” Yeah.

Baldeep (09:01)
Yeah, that’s the common thing. Yeah, just blame the software and the banks. Awesome.

LaTasha (09:05)
Yes.

Ross (09:06)
Yeah, easy to do. So what’s been your — like obviously this year you had a nice little bit of growth — what’s been your strategy attracting more preparers or recruiting EROs and things like that to get them on your software? What have you been doing the last season?

LaTasha (09:14)
Yes.

LaTasha (09:26)
So I have been talking to them. I offered mentorship training. I remember last year at the SBA conference, you all talked about looking toward the future, not looking just at that moment. I had to look at — do I want to charge this amount now and then look ahead to the future? If this—

Baldeep (09:45)
Hmm.

LaTasha (09:56)
ERO — if she’s gonna stay with me or she’s gonna leave because she found someone else that gave her a better deal. So I looked at the future, bringing them on at a small amount, and I looked at what I can make in the future by training them, educating them, teaching them about compliance and due diligence in tax laws. So that’s how I looked at it, by talking to the—

Baldeep (10:03)
Yeah.

LaTasha (10:24)
EROs, and a lot of them were like, “Well, yes,” because some people that we talked with, they didn’t have a bundle package. Everything was separate. So I really learned a lot at the conference last year.

Baldeep (10:33)
Right.

Ross (10:33)
Yeah.

Baldeep (10:38)
Right. For those of you guys that are listening to this and you’re like, “Well, what does that mean by thinking to the future?” We talk a lot about in our training and our program about the concept of being penny wise, foolish. And what we see a lot in the industry is Service Bureaus marking people up, maximizing fees, and then wondering how come their clients leave them every year or two. So retention — really making this a lower-revenue-per-product, long-term retention business. You’re not going to retain by maxing people out and then not even providing them value. So like you said, the bundles — those things that we talk about, creating your offers, putting this stuff together, those values. So if you’re charging a markup, there have to be things besides the software that are given to them as a trade for that markup — like, “Hey, I’m going to provide these things for you,” and these are the benefits you get working with me. So that’s kind of the concept that LaTasha is referencing here.

LaTasha (11:40)
Yes.

Ross (11:41)
Yeah. I know, Baldeep, you had a good point or a good phrase — it’s like, can you justify those fees that you’re charging, right? Am I providing the value that would actually justify having those types of fees? And more often than not, it’s a no. But if you can structure it where the fees aren’t crazy high, maybe there’s a little bit there, but you’re also providing the value, people want to stay. They’re willing to take that compromise because of the value that they’re getting. And there’s nothing wrong with having fees associated with it. A lot of strategy there that we break down. I’m glad you really took that in at our convention because that’s something we’re really trying to make everyone aware of. Because we see it a lot too, where people will — just like your scenario — leave someone because the fees are ridiculous, right? “I don’t want my customers paying out all these fees and I’m not getting any of it at the end of the day. Someone’s making money off of my business and I want the opportunity to help others grow,” which is great. But a lot of people have that fee scenario where they’ll become a Service Bureau and then they’ll just mark those fees right back up to where they were and sell it to someone else. It’s like — you left someone because of this scenario, and you’re just turning around and doing the exact same thing back to people. So—

LaTasha (13:03)
Wow.

Ross (13:03)
It’s a learning curve, right? And people kind of see it long term. They realize, “Okay, maybe I should, you know, I can have these fees, but maybe I give a lot more back than I’m actually getting.” So now I’m putting more money in their pocket. Now it’s a win-win. I’m making a little bit more off their volume, they’re making a heck of a lot more, and they’re happy. Right?

LaTasha (13:13)
Yes.

Ross (13:22)
Yeah, glad you really heard that. It’s a long-term game plan for sure. So LaTasha, do you want to talk a little bit about — I know you mentioned in the training, the way that we kind of explain a lot of the fundamentals of a Service Bureau — like what are the Service Bureau fees, the transmitter fees, all that kind of stuff? Do you want to talk a little bit more about your experience going through some of the other parts, like maybe you’ve seen some iterations of it as we launched like the seven-day launch and even just the coaching calls as well? Do you want to share your experience?

LaTasha (13:47)
Yes.

Ross (13:51)
You know, accessing our training that we provide in the program.

LaTasha (13:54)
Yes, and what I noticed is that you all make sure that when new Service Bureaus come on, you make sure there are professional tools that are there for them. The support, the system. I really do enjoy the coaching calls because one thing you always say, Ross, is that somebody may say something that the next person may be scared to say.

And so there is always something that’s said on those calls that I learn or I’m like, “Yes, that’s correct. Let me work on that.” So I enjoy the coaching calls. I enjoy the tools that you all have that we can go in and study and help ourselves. And what I like is you don’t take it away. It’s always there for us to use.

If something has to be updated, you all let us know that it’s going to be updated and that’s something we need to retake again. So that’s what I like about SBA. And when I talk about SBA, that’s one of my main things — the education, the knowledge that they have, that they offer to us. They don’t gatekeep. They make sure we get it to give to our tax preparers and pass on as well.

Ross (15:20)
Awesome. Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, 100%. That’s why we set out to make this program — to give everyone the best deal and provide the best training. And I still believe that, hands down, there’s nothing that really comes close to our training and our experience that we can provide our members. So appreciate you saying that as well. So one other — I got a couple last questions here for you, LaTasha. One was on support. I know you kind of mentioned that before, right? Like some of the tools that we have, like the support, the ticketing platform.

LaTasha (15:39)
Yes.

Ross (15:49)
What’s been your experience using support? Like how easy is it getting a hold of us when you need help with stuff? What’s been your experience using support?

LaTasha (15:56)
Well, my support — as soon as I send a ticket in, I receive an email that you all have received my support ticket within, I’d say, no more than five minutes. And after you receive it, someone will respond to my ticket. It’s not a long time. I’ve always had someone respond the same day within two hours.

If it’s going to be the next day, they tell me on the ticket that someone will respond to me within a certain amount of time. So I have no complaints about support. I give support thumbs up because support has always responded and helped me. And I think it is awesome. And I love your support team. They make sure that you understand what they responded to.

Ross (16:47)
Awesome. That’s good to hear.

LaTasha (16:52)
And that’s what I like. They always ask you before the ticket has ended or they’re going to close out the ticket to make sure that everything you received is what you wanted. So that’s what I like about support.

Baldeep (17:06)
Right, for sure. Yeah, we always want to make sure that before we close something out, you have a clear detail. Any hesitations, any questions — just ask. It’ll always reopen, right? Because we want to make sure that everyone—you don’t want to close somebody’s ticket out and they’re still left in the dark somehow, right? And then sometimes people are afraid to ask again or they’re like, “Is it going to seem like I’m bothering?” No, but that’s what it’s there for — to make sure everyone’s clear.

LaTasha (17:16)
Yes.

LaTasha (17:29)
Well, and I think that’s awesome because the business that I came from, your ticket would be closed and you would have to put in another ticket for the information that you asked them, or you’d be asking about a client and it wasn’t answered. So that’s what I do like about SBA. You all make sure that before you close our ticket, that you’re right — we’re clear, we understand, and we got what we asked for when we put our ticket in. So yes, support is great.

Baldeep (18:00)
Awesome.

Ross (18:03)
Awesome. Yeah, we love hearing that. I think we had a call yesterday or the day before where someone was saying that, and they’re just like, “Oh yeah, five stars.” Like those surveys we send out at the end of each year — “Give us some feedback on how we did.” And support is always like 4.96 stars out of 5. So I think it’s always well received. That’s awesome. So moving, looking at this season—

LaTasha (18:11)
Yes.

Ross (18:30)
LaTasha, moving forward with your Service Bureau — do you have your goal laid out for this year? What you want to achieve with your Service Bureau? Do you have a picture of like three to five years from now, like the ultimate objective? What does that look like for you?

LaTasha (18:38)
Well, yes.

LaTasha (18:43)
Yes, so my goal that I want to is sell the darn software. That’s my goal.

Ross (18:49)
There you go. Were you on the call yesterday? Did you hear? It was like, “What’s the number one goal?” Lisa said, “Sell the damn software.” Awesome.

LaTasha (18:51)
Yes!

LaTasha (18:56)
Sell the DURRN software. So that is my goal — and also to help other EROs. They have a legacy they want to leave with their family or help with their family. So that’s what I’m here for — to help others and sell the DURRN software.

Baldeep (19:19)
Well also keep in mind your story, right? Because there are a lot of people that are in positions that you were in four years ago currently right now. So even just sharing that story could open up a lot of opportunities for you.

LaTasha (19:31)
Yes. Yes, thank you. Another thing — one of my goals is to do automation. I always was hands-on, and it does wear you out doing a lot of things manually. So that’s my goal — to have everything automated this year as well.

Ross (19:51)
Nice. Yeah, get jumping with Tamer — he can help you out. Definitely. Awesome. So then last question for you here, LaTasha, unless there’s anything else, Baldeep, you want to add before we get to the final question?

LaTasha (19:54)
Yes. Okay.

Baldeep (20:05)
Final question. No, I’m good. LaTasha had a lot of great comments.

LaTasha (20:10)
Okay.

Ross (20:10)
Yeah, definitely. Again, appreciate you jumping in. My last kind of question is — if someone is looking at joining the Service Bureau Accelerator, right? I mean, now there are a lot more options out there than there used to be on becoming a Service Bureau. But if someone was kind of looking in the market and they were looking at Service Bureau Accelerator, what would you tell them?

LaTasha (20:30)
That this would be a great opportunity — a great investment. SBA is a great support community. They give us access to next-level strategies. SBA gave me accountability and confidence to take bold steps. And I will let them know that this will be a great investment for them, that they will appreciate.

And they will see what they have invested. If they take your — listen to your coaching calls, do the classes that we have, what you all offer us — if they do what you ask us to do, they will see six and seven figures.

Baldeep (21:19)
Awesome. Well, LaTasha, we’ll close it out there. Thanks for hopping on. And if somebody’s like, “Hey, maybe somebody’s watching this and they were in the position you were in and they were like a preparer and they got the split,” how would they find LaTasha so she can help them out?

Ross (21:19)
Love it, love it, love it.

LaTasha (21:35)
Well, you can look for me also in the SBA group, or you can look for me at Dr. LaTasha on Facebook, or you can look me up at www.sheimpactsolutions.com. Yes.

Baldeep (21:50)
Awesome. All right. Thanks for being here. We’ll wrap up this session. Have a good rest of your day, guys.

Ross (21:50)
Perfect.

LaTasha (21:55)
Yes.