Organizer experience: (can't answer the person who commented!, can only ask as if new question!) - 75% or so fill it out. I charge extra for whoever doesn't. Perhaps the condensed organizer is less "scary" to people, but I don't like it because I'm used to the "big" organizer where the table of contents / index lets you know what page to seek for various info.
Thank you! I hate that marking a question Solved closes the thread.
We use a combination of the Lacerte condensed organizer and custom pages that we've done up for Sch C, rental, and auto. I'd guess fewer than 10% of our clients fill out the Lacerte pages. Almost all of our clients who don't have some computerized method of keeping track of rental / Sch C stuff fill out those worksheets, although some prefer to create their own piece of paper, which is fine by me.
My preference is that the clients use the Lacerte organizer pages to remind themselves what to gather together. Then when I meet to go over their information, I flip through it to make sure I have everything I'm expecting. We have a very hand-holding practice, though. My average "pick-up" meeting for an established client is about 15 minutes, although some people just want to hand me their stuff and some people want to talk more.
Each year the same clients either fill out the organizer and some don't even look at it. It is a useful tool to remind the client of what they had last year. Customizing the Sch C and E is also helpful, I agree. Is still send them all out with the engagement letters.
