What qualities does a person need to be successful as a tax professional?

The most important attribute of a successful tax preparer is excellent people skills. Of course the applicant must also have the aptitude to learn tax law and the image and communication skills to command the respect of the clients, as well as the qualities desired of any employee. A person can be taught to prepare taxes, but it is usually impossible to teach someone people skills if they lack them. I have been in the tax preparation business for 40+ years and have managed hundreds of tax offices in 5 states and another country and trained and hired many tax preparers. My best tax preparers have always been those who really care about other people and derive satisfaction in to helping others. I named my company Peoples Income Tax because tax preparation is a people business with service provided to people by people. It’s all about people and people skills.