it ain’t pretty: 62% of accountants switch outlook from “better” to “worse.”
busy season barometer
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by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the sentiments of accountants this busy season have been as up and down as the dow jones.
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the year started off on an optimistic note. but by the time the coronavirus got real, all hope had been abandoned.
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 2020 busy season barometer caught the profession’s emotional and organizational evolution as it staggered through one of the most dramatic periods in recent history.
in january and february, a heady 65 percent of respondents said they expected a busy season much better (15 percent) or somewhat better (48 percent) than last year.
by the end of march, the results had flipped and then nose-dived. a jaw-dropping 95 percent said they were expecting somewhat or much worse year. zero percent could bring themselves to hope for a much better year, and only five percent granted the possibility of a somewhat better year.
nobody thought it would be the same as last year.
but through energy and ingenuity, cpa firms are managing to get organized for life with the plague. within a few weeks, things weren’t looking too bad.
low but looking up
as we enter may, optimism is still low, but at least it’s looking up. the barometer tells us that the somewhat worse/much worse crowd has diminished to 62 percent. fifteen percent think they might do as well as last year. another 19 percent dare to suggest they might do somewhat better, though only 4 percent are out on the much-better limb.
an enrolled agent in california explains why he expects a “somewhat worse” year—a combination of time, communication, and fear. “it takes longer than usual due to working from home,” he says, “having little direct client contact, and keeping the office safe.”
deann hill, serving four states from her baxter springs, kan. office, says she expects a much worse year, but then she explains: “i guess it depends on your definition of “worse.” i am thinking ‘different.’ impossible to do tax prep work since mid-march due to client shutdowns, sba initiatives, etc.”
that, in fact, may be the defining characteristic of this year’s tax season: it’s less about taxes and more about dealing with disease and government programs.
ricky takemoto is juggling an extended tax period with the urgency of the moment. “the extended deadline merely defers the work and billing for our tax practice,” takemoto explains. “however, we have been spending more time than normal assisting distressed clients with various issues and working with clients to file their ppp loan applications – good work but difficult to recover our standard billing rate. some clients who are temporarily closed may not be able to pay their bills. we are busy but cash receipts are down.”
pain and opportunity
that’s the kernel of the problem and the key to success—clients are under stress if not outright distress. they need help more than ever but have less ability to pay for it. this is not a time to shed clients but to help them get over the coronavirus hump. pain means opportunity.
karyn vaughn, an independent ea who offers a variety of tax, accounting, and business services, is one of few who expect a much better year. apparently she’s succeeding by going with the change in the flow. “so far, very busy,” she tells us. “we pivoted to helping people with loans, documentation, etc., but tax season has stayed steady too.”
joanne bryson, principal the mom-n-pop shop cpa help now, thinks this year will be about the same as last year, but she goes on to say what she means by that. “last year was brutal,” she says, “as the firm where i’d been working doubled its client base through acquisition but did not ramp up staffing. this year i worked fewer hours at that firm but have had odd demands on my schedule because of the shutdown and sba loans plus my own practice has grown significantly.”
“odd demands” sums up the busy season pretty well. nobody—absolutely nobody—woke up on january 2 expecting to be doing in may what they’re actually doing now. but the profession is handling the crisis well. life looked dark, but it’s already looking better.