DELRAY BEACH, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Every year thousands of seasonal tax offices rely upon a small loan, usually in December, to help get their office up and running for tax season. This loan can cover anything from paying employees to funding a marketing campaign. Each of the major refund transfer banks offer their own variation, but the idea is the same all around.

The requirements to be approved for one of these loans is based mainly on the number of funded refund transfer products processed by an individual tax office or group in the previous tax season. Additionally, the banks want to check an office’s “funding ratio” which analyzes how many of the submitted refund transfer products actually funded. This means it’s not just about quantity, but more about quality. The third deciding factor is usually the total amount of prep fees that an office received. The reason for this metric is to ensure that the lender will receive back their funds with little risk. Ian Gardner, of Sigma Tax Pro reminds tax professionals that, “The banks aren’t underwriting these loans in the traditional way. Rather, they’re looking at a snapshot of the office to make sure they are going to get their money back, and not risk too much.”

Applying for the loans is simple and easy. If the tax office was using the RT bank the prior year, all they has to do is apply through their banks login portal. If the tax office used a different RT bank than the one through which they are applying in the current year, the new RT bank will normally request some records from the tax office, such as earning reports, and prior year RT reports. Once the requested documents have been submitted and decisioned, money is disbursed automatically via direct deposit. Repayment of these loans is automatic as well, by the RT bank taking a portion of the tax offices incoming preparation fees.

Sigma Tax Pro provides a full range of essential services for tax pros. This includes industry leading software solutions as well as technical support, tax preparation support and client retention strategies. Sigma Tax Pro specializes in helping tax preparation firms expand their businesses, open new offices and increase their client base.

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