Transcript

Hi. For those of you who don’t know me yet, I’m Gretchen Roberts, CEO of Red Bike Advisors. 

I acquired Adam Shay CPA in June 2023, and I’ve been enjoying getting to know all of you and work with you to simplify, streamline, and save on your taxes and business financials. 

As you are no doubt aware, we had a rather tumultuous tax season with the departure of several key staff members. 

Tax is complex, and our industry, like many of yours, is experiencing a talent gap as new graduates gravitate toward other careers and baby boomers continue to retire. 

As we worked to recruit and hire key tax professionals with deep experience and a commitment to client service, we also worked furiously to keep up with the pressing demands of tax season. 

And I know that many of you didn’t get the experience you have been used to with our firm. 

Like you, we haven’t enjoyed when you’ve had to email or call to ask if we received your documents or wondering about the status of your tax return. 

We never want you to feel like you have to check in because we’ve left you in the dark.

If I had to boil our core values down to two essential principles, it’s these: 

One, we believe in creating value.

And two, we are committed to proactive communications.

So what are we doing going forward to deliver on those promises to you?

First, we’ve spent significant time documenting and executing on people, process, and technology improvements to streamline and simplify tax season. 

We have hired great people, and we are rebuilding processes with the commitment to delivering the way you are accustomed to receiving services from us.

I’m happy to report that we have fully hired a strong and talented tax team with decades of experience. You may have already met Jill Crowe and Danielle Olorunnisomo, Senior tax managers; and Tracy Ayers and Alex Rader, Senior tax accountants. If not, they will be reaching out to work on planning and projections with you, as well as kick off the 2024 tax season in the spring. 

We are also hiring a Tax Client Engagement Coordinator. This person will be your go-to for collecting tax documents, questions about the client portal or deadlines, and other process-related things.

I think all of you have worked with our awesome office team, Robin Soto and Ali Brundage. They are your go-tos for billing, documents, filing, and client portal questions.

This team is experienced and dedicated. I’ve seen them go the extra mile over and over to ensure that your returns are accurate and complete. I’m excited for you to get to know them and work with them this fall and beyond.

I also want to address some of the comments we got from you during tax season, starting with the Status of Your Return.

We used to operate on a “no news is good news” policy, but heard from many of you that you want to know for sure…without having to ask. Going forward, we’re incorporating automated notifications when your extension or return is filed so you never have to wonder.

Next, let’s talk about client organizers. 

We sent tax organizers out to all of our individual 1040 clients this year. Some of you loved it and were glad to have a single place to document everything from updating your driver’s license to documenting estimated tax payments.

Some of you didn’t fill it out at all. That’s ok, but just know that we’ll still have to ask you those questions in a list! 

Some of you said it felt like you were doing the taxes yourself. What we’re looking for is a “memory jog” to make sure you don’t forget to tell us something important, such as if you had a new baby during the year or sold a house.

We also really need to know how much you’ve paid in in estimates. This may come as a surprise, but tax accountants don’t have access to that information with the IRS or states and rely on you to tell us. 

Remember, the goal is to capture all the information so your taxes are complete and we can save you the most amount of money.

I want to thank all of you who reached out to me directly or to someone on the team to give feedback on how we can improve our communications and processes. Believe me when I say we are taking it to heart and actively working to deliver an exceptional experience.

Please continue to share your feedback and experiences, good and bad. You can reach out to me directly at groberts@redbikeadvisors.com. 

Thank you for allowing us to serve you, and I’m looking forward to working with you this next year and beyond.