despite staffing shortages, tax season seems to be running smoothly, with more ups than downs. how are you doing?
by rick telberg
for america’s accountants, ’tis the season to be busy, and busy they are. but apparently there’s “good” busy and “bad” busy.far more accountants are good-busy than bad-busy. for instance, in our early straw polls, 33 percent of cpas say the season so far is running “better than last year.” about 49 percent call it “about the same.” and 18 percent term it “not as well” as last year’s.
of course, finance managers and executives are suffering their own first-quarter crunch. and this year, their most common complaint is sarbanes-oxley 404 and increased auditor scrutiny.
but almost everybody has something to say.
and most of it is something akin to a gripe. if they are busy, they are too busy. if they aren’t busy, it’s because business is bad.
a sole practitioner seemed to speak for dozens of others: “better than last year financially, but way behind on deadlines due to increased work.”
“buried,” said a managing partner of a small firm.
“dragging on,” said a staff member of a slightly larger firm. a senior partner said, “i feel overwhelmed and crazy with all the pressure.” an overstressed staff member confessed: “i’m a zombie already!”
one mid-level firm manager said, “i’m already tired.” a managing partner said, “i’m exhausted,” and another said, “i’m running out of steam.”
the leading cause of busyness: shortage of staff. dozens of accountants specifically mentioned lack of staff or time devoted to training newbies. a handful said staff additions had alleviated problems.
said one partner of a small firm, “after years of stable staff, we’ve experienced some turnover. it’s amazing what you take for granted. maybe that’s why we had the turnover.”
having too many clients (and too many slow clients) was a far more common problem than having too few clients. a partner at a very small firm, complaining of only five hours’ sleep, revealed a tempting solution: “i will continue to increase my prices and cut back on clients.” a sole proprietor in redding, conn., said the season was going well because “i am getting better at saying ‘no’ to client requests for my time.”
technology was helping some, hurting others. a partner in tennessee said, “it’s going 100 percen better than last year. our systems seem to be working thus far.” but a senior partner in a mid-sized firm said his “firm’s efforts to implement ‘paperless’ procedures are making the busy season difficult.”
not many complained of slow business, but a note from the rust belt may reflect a common problem: “in michigan, it is a very bad business climate, thus it gets depressing watching good clients have to close their doors.”
now it’s your turn:how’s your busy season going so far?
comments? send your rants, raves, questions or idle thoughts to rick telberg here.
