Do I Need a New Accountant? An Accounting Firm’s Service Failures

When Marie Springborn nervously opened her letter from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, she wondered what the issue was, as a letter from the Department of Revenue was not usually a good thing. “Thank you for electronically filing your Wisconsin income tax return” did not seem that ominous. “We did not receive all the documents needed to process your return” on the other hand, did not bode well. Dr. Springborn, a college professor, had used the small Midwest tax firm Wiley, Kellett, Coverly, and Associates (WKC) to file her taxes each year for over a decade because she needed to have tax returns filed in multiple states, which made her return more complicated than she was comfortable handling on her own. Her accountant’s mistake on her taxes, as well as several mistakes her parents (who used the firm on her recommendation) had experienced with him, led her to wonder if she should start looking for a new accountant.