good project management software also helps.
by frank stitely
the relentless cpa
managing advanced-level preparers sounds easier than it is. these preparers will all have blind spots that appear at inconvenient times. some won’t be able to adapt to your internal procedures, because they worked at firms without well-defined procedures.
more: 3 tips for handling rookie tax preparers | how to hire and manage great admin staff | managing people: the heart of effective project management | tammy’s tale of tax season tardiness | beware the leeches and consultants | the 21st-century cpa firm | ruthlessly efficient workflow management
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we had one person who insisted on printing out the prior year tax returns and workpapers before beginning a return. she said she just needed the paper in her hands. that didn’t work for us.
she asked to be paid on a salaried basis. when we agreed, she then demanded to be paid on an hourly basis. we agreed to that as well. then she wanted to go back to a salary. she believed that whatever we agreed to would be bad for her.
she also gave her husband a tax organizer that she demanded he complete each year. i wish i were making this up.
many have strange gaps in knowledge. i worked with a new hire with a master’s in taxation who was a really great preparer, except for one thing. she didn’t know how to handle dependent care benefits on a w-2 form. that’s a strange gap in knowledge for someone who was so good at everything else.
advanced preparers should be able to prepare schedules c, d, and e easily. they should be able to scrub the accounts and do the basic data entry for business tax returns. they should be able to read balance sheets and tell when accounts have incorrect balances. they should be able to competently prepare workpapers supporting the amounts for business tax returns. they should be familiar with basic tax depreciation methods. in short, they should be able to handle most tax returns from beginning to end with little assistance.
now for the bad news. most advanced preparers still need a lot of assistance managing workloads and setting priorities. you, or manager-level staff, will need to keep close track of project statuses.
one issue i see with a lot of very good preparers is that they lock in on one type of task during tax season to the exclusion of everything else. for instance, they decide to work on nothing but new returns and let returns that are closer to finalization sit unloved. when that happens to returns near finalization age, clients start to call. you end up in “what’s the status of” hell.
good project management software is key to solving this issue. you must know your project statuses and ages to know which ones are getting old. we teach preparers to do a little of everything during tax season instead of focusing on just one type of task. we teach a slight bias toward returns nearing completion.
manager-level staff can help advanced preparers set good priorities. if you have no managers, that’s your job then.
here are some tips on managing advanced preparers. first, help them grow professionally. if they have never prepared business returns, give them that opportunity. have them prepare tick and tie reviews for returns prepared by newbies. nothing improves preparation skills like reviewing the work of others.
you’ll be amazed at the errors they’ll catch on others’ returns that they miss on their own returns. building review skills automatically builds self-review skills, an area where even the most experienced preparers fall short.
second, give advanced preparers work flexibility. once you know someone’s work ethic, there is no reason to closely manage where and when they work. manage the results instead. monitor project statuses and billings. i don’t recommend a lot of flexibility for newbies. they need constant interaction with more experienced staff to develop good work skills. if you have doubt about an advanced preparer, you made a bad hire.
third, pay for training. advanced preparers can remove a lot of your load if you let them. we offer bonuses and pay for cpe and any other training they select. of course, we help them select. in our firm, i’m not an expert on everything. we have someone who is expert at the foreign earned income exclusion, for example. i go to her when i have one of these. i can’t and don’t need to know everything about everything.
last, advanced preparers aren’t immune to praise. they need to know you value them, just not every 10 seconds the way newbies do. preparers who have worked for bad firms value a sense of belonging and family in a firm. we do a lot of group lunches during tax season, at which we all take a break and eat together. we hold regular company events from concerts to volunteering for charity events to winery and brewery tours. the events are a fun way to get to know each other outside the office.