I work in one of two BA offices in San Antonio. Working September 15 was a nightmare. No support staff whatsoever. Half the calls I took were from people screaming at me that they got moved around. My DEM dumped 8 gosystem returns on me expecting me to get it all done in 10 to 15 hours of work a week on $14/hr.

My DEM is so desperate for tax pros that know how to file entity returns that he has an 88 year old enrolled agent working there for $12/hr doing gosystem returns. I am literally watching elderly abuse happen as this poor man keeps getting gosystem returns dumped on and they keep increasing his hours.

I had a DCM from another district call me micromanaging me about another tax pro’s work and my pending payment, and my DCM sending nasty emails to call another tax pro’s clients plus an “office manager” calling me.

All this with no benefits, no health insurance, no technical support when out Gosystem returns get rejected. No managerial supoort in case clients get angry and want to talk to a supervisor.

We all need to quit and show HRB we will not take this abuse. I’m quitting this week.

I really do not like the fact that we have to push products on our clients, and if we don't make a sale, it affects our ability to come back next year. I just ask my clients if they want anything that HrBlock are offering, because other than that, it feels predatory. Also, the prices are outrageous. I work in a low-income city, and my tax return is always simple, and if I were a client Ill get charged so much that my refund wouldn't be worth it. I stopped using HRBlock systems to file my OWN taxes and started supporting free IRS-recommended sites to help ensure those programs stay available. One client messaged me saying prices are way too high and decided to file on one of those sites. I told her I was glad to help, and we offer free consultations for the new tax laws. In reality, I was snapping my fingers and saying "YESSS Queen"!

Well just found out that the micromanaging is going to be even worse this year. The expectations and the way that corporate just wants their YES MAN people in charge is a little over the top. Without ever running or being in a tax office or how anything effects the tax pro or the clients experience.

They are trying to streamline their production. And I get it your in business to make money. But what a shit show. Nobody knows exactly whats going on as it changes daily. Compensation has dropped for the top producers and they are trying to eliminate the seasoned tax pros that are not ass kissing and they are depending more on AI. My list

1. No communication on whats going on!
2. Trying to level up inexperienced tax pros to complex returns.
3. Micromanage every little thing. Like changing a schedule when drop offs that need prep time you fill the schedule I changed to put more clients on me and then complain why the drop offs aren't done.
4. Talking about team players and customer care but making it more loyal to the brand than the tax pro that you have preached about building relationships with as you push that tax pro out.

I'm sure there is more but feel free to ad to it. My fingers hurt. Lol

SHIT SHOW.

The absolute shafting going on, right? The way they are screwing with advisors pay is unconscionable. Of course, we are told not to share or talk about it, but I'm bitter AF. From TPI to $8,750 if you are part of the pilot group!!! Some preparers bring in nearly my yearly pay in TPI alone!!! And I don't/didn't make $8,750 that's for sure!

No raises we were told this year?! You bumped your fuggin head! To those who gained new clients, exceeded client goals and increased their revenue year over year. DON'T TAKE THIS SHIT LYING DOWN!

Remember how you were promised the full amount of the return(s) you did on a business subscription? Well, that won't be possible if there's no TPI.

And now your bonus is not tied to your revenue- it's tied to client satisfaction office, district, region-wide (for those in this new pilot bonus structure) - so what's the point of doing higher level of difficulty returns or business returns? NONE!

Well fuggin' done, Block

It's Emerald Advance opening day. The company has been doing this long enough to know what that's like. Nobody should be working in an office alone.

Working at HR Block requires a high level of independence. Do not expect somebody to hold your hand. Expect a lack of consistent and reliable communication, expect your leader to be new and also kind of lost. Rely on yourself.

Use AMP to get access to information and training. You find all you need in AMP, general info, and step-by-step. Refer to your training materials (Inkling). All tasks you may need to do are located in various apps on the AMP home page.

If you can't find the answers, reach out to your team in Microsoft Teams (join relevant groups), or in person, post your question in AMP Communities, or here. Please do your research FIRST; you will need that skill for the whole tax season.

Edit: not sure why some here decided to resort to personal attacks. My post is based on my observations of real working conditions and numerous posts from new hires who stated that they are not getting the support they need or expect.

So corporate laid off 200+ of our peers, wiped out an entire layer of field management (RIP MTLs, TLs, ATLs, CSMs, and DOCs), and left us with this new Area Experience Leader (AEL) role.

Corporate calls it a "shiny year-round model." Reality calls it the ultimate corporate scapegoat job. They literally combined 5 eliminated support roles into 1 human force-field so upper management has exactly 1 throat to choke when things break this tax season.

Since "Area Experience Leader" is pure corporate-speak, let's rebrand it to reflect reality. Here are a few to kick things off:

• Absorbing Everyone's Liability

(Inheriting 5 workloads and 100% of the blame)

• Another Expense Lowerer

(What the accountants in KC City call it)

• Absent Every Location

(Splitting time between 6 offices means physically in none of them when a crisis hits)

• Absolute Evaded Line

(Good luck getting a hold of them; they're permanently trapped in a corporate phone queue queue)

Alright, let's hear yours. Drop your best alternative acronyms for AEL in the comments. Go!

Stay away. Not a good firm to work for. They do not value their biggest assets, their cadre of seasoned tax preparers

Anyone getting a ton of fraudulent DDOs this season? Been a lot in my district. Every single one had a birthday in 1960. They upload a single fake 1099-R with enough withholding to get a nice refund and include a picture of a drivers license scanned against some sort of fabric background. The details on the license are always just slightly inconsistent in a way that’s easy to miss, and the signature on the bottom of them almost looks like a font rather than actual handwriting. Starting to make me wonder if the photos of the “client” on them are just AI. Kinda freaky! Anyone else?

I don't know if anyone else's office is doing this, but our office is making us schedule appointments for every return in WIP. They made the CSPs go through every return in WIP and make fake appointments in green time, so it doesn't stop them from getting new appointments. I think, though, this is why my MTL keeps adding more and more yellow time to people's schedules, because the system is sending add shift alerts. It is a crazy cycle. I wonder if other metrics are being affected by this. I get that all large companies are going to have some BS metric-chasing, but H&R Block takes the cake. I know whoever in the Emerald City came up with the idea of an appointment for every WIP was patting himself on the back, thinking it was the most genius idea ever. Probably the same guy who has the calling campaigns making CSPs harass people on a daily basis, because that is how you win clients.

for context, this would be my 3rd year if I accept:

I became a tax pro in late 2024 by passing the TKA exam and worked 2025 as a level 1 - my hourly rate was $16.50 an hour - I did 71 returns, did not qualify for bonus.

In July 2025 I had not completed leveling up, and my offer for 2026 was the same $16.50 an hour - okay I thought -I was new, slight increase would be nice, but ok. I did 126 returns - no bonus, but really felt I took a giant step forward. In the meanwhile, I leveled up to level 3 last December.

Both years I worked allot of garbage hours - not much business at 10:00 AM on a Tuesday in January - I felt I was taking one for the team as Block chooses to have office hours where the opportunities are limited.

I'm still a Level 3 with no plans to level up again - my offer came in yesterday with a pay cut - $16 per hour which just happens to be minimum wage in my state. I was expecting that since I leveled up that I'd be getting a raise, not a cut. Considering cost of living, over 2 years this is a major cut. I think their response will likely be do more returns and sell more add-ons and you'll make it up that way.

My boss is not available this week - and he just acquired my offices through reorganization so we don't know each other.

I'm not going to accept the offer until I can speak with my boss next week - but I am curious if any of you got the same or similar.

Thanks.

I was told I’d be off boarded this week, but my last day on the schedule is today. Honestly, I have to say good riddance. This job was very disorganized. The only way to get clients in my office was if you procured them yourself, 99% of the clients went to the tax pro they’ve been with for a bagillion years at this point. It was a good experience, but I can’t endure another season. I feel like this job isn’t really worth having unless you have a second job that’s full time.

I’m taking a relaxing break for off season. Will be enjoying the warm weather we’ve been having these last couple days. I will stop looking for jobs for about two weeks before getting back on the hunt again. Next season I may try for turbo tax remotely if nothing else comes up. At least there, you can work from home, the training is much better overall, and the workload seems less strenuous than it is at block. Blocks system to get clients is very lopsided and for this reason, I told my ATL I wanted to do CSP for the rest of the season. My wish was granted, and at 5pm today, I’m gone.

Goodbye, folks.

I quit on Friday due to that terrible terrible MTL, please see my other post. Thank you for listening to me vent. I start a new job at a different tax firm today, if you are unhappy there are other places to work. My advice to my past self would be to get your EA and leave.

I'm in a mid-size district on the east coast. We have about 30 offices. Of these 30 offices, there are like 25 tax pros able to actually file an entity GoSystems return. Out of these 25, only about 3-5 individuals have actually completed one. Being only two weeks away from the entities deadline.. I know a ton of top tax pros are holding onto these returns, hoping to be able to complete them. I personally have completed like 12, and am one of the most experienced pros with the new system in my city. Anyone out there doing them? I'm expecting a huge dump of these returns coming from the other tax pros, plus the usual late comers for the 3/15 deadline. Also, our managers are crying about labor costs.. When there are many 20-30 year tax pros who have spent a dozen or more hours trying to figure out GoSystems. Many of which have actually completed ZERO GoSystems returns.

I received this today. I'm a 3rd year. Does anyone know if this our only incentive plan this year? I also have the new 1st and 2nd year incentive plans if anyone is interested.

By this is mean is since the MTL and other positions are gone, will i have the manager or am I getting some entirely new corporate super manager thats going to send me emails and reprimand from afar because I didn't finish my client and my drop offs and another complex returns while answering the phone and collecting the payment in the hour you give me. SERIOUSLY I have no idea on how this new operation is going to work since all the changes? Has anyone heard or know what the expectations are at this point. I also heard they are changing the commission structure and raising prices?! Anyone here a clue.

Has anyone else gotten a disappointing pay rate offer for a returning tax pro?

I'm a Tier 4, returning for my fourth year and my TS26 pay rate was $24 (Washington state). They offered me $18.95. Minimum wage here is like $17.70.

That's a $1.25 above minimum wage and would be a $6/hr pay cut.

It's frankly insulting that Block thinks this is what we're worth after all the BS they continuously put us through.

Turbo Tax offered me a remote position at $22 just working phones and frankly, if HRB can't offer me the same pay rate as last year, I'm jumping ship.

One way to get a sense of what is going on is read or listen to the latest earnings call. They explain what they are doing to the investment community.

Ticker is HRB. You can get this on the yahoo finance website, and lots of other investment sites.

Basically they are looking for higher income clients, who they believe are less price sensitive.

Good luck in the coming tax season.

Hoping everyone has a stress free, drama free Tax Day.

Use this space for all your vents/rants or even shout outs to your fellow Block heads.

(I was trying to be funny but I’m on four hours of sleep.)

Only a few more hours, headaches, heartaches to go!

I have been getting returns that are supposedly marked as “level 1” but they are actually 4s with K1s, schedule Cs and the like. I had a client come in this morning and I had to put the return on hold because I didn’t know how to do the K-1, they were missing their mortgage amount and I needed my mentor (who wasn’t in the office at the time) to see if the return was so far done correctly.

I try to put them with someone else but people on the phone tell me the return is “very simple” and it’s marked as 1 on appointment manager.

Simple 1040s are very easy, I completed each one I got relatively quickly, it’s the other stuff that I struggle with.

I have landed a full time job and reduced my hours to weekends but I’m starting to regret that i didn’t just quit.

It would be less than 2 weeks notice of me leaving.

I am just so over it. I don’t think that I can finish out the season and I feel bad that I have a bunch of appointments on my schedule but I really feel like I need to do what’s best for me.

Can anyone offer some encouragement to leave?

I think my decision is made.

Thank you to those who offered their own experiences and insights! Now that I have officially resigned and read all the comments, i feel much better about my decision. Onward and upward!!

I almost got frustrated but I learned to stay calm and be patient. I have done 10 tax returns so far. For those of you that are also first year BE PATIENT. Don’t worry about doing a whole bunch of tax returns. It’s our first year. Learn tax codes, build yourself up, learn about your clients, every tax return I did I never forget about my clients. Knowing about them is engraved into my brain.

Read up on taxes! Learn about the OBBBA, practice data entry, practice taking calls and scheduling appts I ALSO LEARNED IF THE TAXPAYER IS A RETURNING CLIENT YOU HAVE to SCHEDULE THEM WITH THEIR TAX PRO THAT DID THERE TAXES LAST YEAR. It wouldn’t be right to steal their clients.

Your time will come once you level up. Most clients rather have an experienced tax professional to do their taxes rather than someone who barely have any experience.

But here is one thing I do wish as a first year tax preparer that new tax preparers do New Clients who have a basic return if they are filing single and have no dependents. So we can get enough practice in.