tax season

team expectations: a checklist for busy season

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what do you think your staff knows about tax season? check again.

by kristen rampe

busy season is here. are you ready? is your team ready?

you might feel your team “should know” your expectations, but that’s not always the case.

more rampe: pandemic lesson: innovate faster | tax season savvy: five ways to stay sane | why host a partner retreat? | survey results: effective stay interviews for cpa firms | the 16 biggest #fails in delegation | survey: work-life balance: according to whom? | new survey results: two ways your strategic plan can reduce turnover |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a client of ours once assumed a five-year staff they hired from a top 10 regional firm would know tax professionals work on saturdays from february – april. she chose not to show up for any of them in february.

while the managing partner stewed over this behavior, we realized three key factors were in play:

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you’re not just taxes

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make sure tax clients know about other services.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

during a tax return preparation interview, getting a client’s information is a tremendous opportunity to find out the concerns of the client and how you can help.

more: 20 good ways to boost tax season production | how to recoup staff training costs | 10 ways to stay in control | advice to new accountants | clients don’t lose sleep for overpaying taxes | when time-based pricing works
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the assistance you give can sometimes provide a life-changing benefit to the client while enabling your firm to increase its service base and gain additional revenues.
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how to implement the laziness equation

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time is money : clock hands on $100 billscalculate and cut turnaround time.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

one of the funniest parts of launching clarity practice management has been watching my business partner, peter daniel, learn about the business acumen of cpas and accountants. peter and i founded clarity as a collaboration between a cpa firm client (peter) and a cpa firm (me.). he knew what he wanted from a client perspective, and i knew what we wanted as a cpa firm.

more: the happier, saner, richer tax firm | ‘quick questions’ and other client sins | when clients create errors | how we killed the tax season client meeting | why small firms can win the talent wars | there are no easy answers | how to thrive as a 21st-century firm
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peter owns a software development company and believes in the rational decision-making model for businesses. the rational decision-making model is totally irrelevant to the way most cpas and accountants run their practices. for instance, consider this interchange between peter and a practitioner at our clarity booth during a trade show.
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20 good ways to boost tax season production

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people in office releasing balloonspeople like fun … but that’s not all they value.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i have always loved accounting and tax season, but i have worked with many people who did not.

more: how to recoup staff training costs | granting unconventional request pays off | 20 best practices for staff training and retention | what does the client want to see? | 6 ways to increase your fees … if you dare | the clients who got away
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they resented many of the working conditions and had a closed-in feeling that heightened their dislike of my great profession. i resolved that when i had my own practice i would not create that type of atmosphere.
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the happier, saner, richer tax firm

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scrambled thoughts enter man's head, straightened ones come outit’s not easy, but it is possible.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

i’m back. since writing the “relentless cpa – the new 21st century system for driving success at tax and accounting firms,” i have spoken to dozens of cpas and accountants, been called a dozen names (some of them deserved), and received a few death threats.

more: ‘quick questions’ and other client sins | how to train clients | how to reduce tax return errors | why your firm needs to attract more millenials | the fool in the room | the 3 biggest tech failures of accounting firms | 7 steps to effective project management
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

actually, the death threats came from my wife, who said she’d kill me if i said “yes” to any new projects. she watches lots of crime shows, so the fbi regarded her threats as serious. i am writing this to buy a bulletproof vest for when she gets out of jail. thank you for your contribution to saving my life.
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deadlines? ha! don’t make me laugh

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blindfolded at computerwhen they’re missed, figure out why.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

distractions, distractions and more distractions, coupled with deadlines. ah, deadlines! those are the bête noire of executives, journalists, record producers, book authors and anyone else in the workforce whose deliverables are expected by a certain date.

more: 5 steps to better time management | a rapidly changing business environment requires flexibility | another meeting?!?! … sigh | organizational trust: top-down and bottom-up | building teamwork under covid pressure | listening: how a conversation works | political correctness or just common courtesy? | effective communications in the age of covid | syncing up for the covid era
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

and what about those dates? are they arbitrary or do they have the real urgency of, say, a court order?
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five time management tips to survive busy season

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ask why you’re putting things off.

by ty hendrickson

tax season is already here and in full swing in our house. i know what you are thinking, “she doesn’t have tax season anymore!” but that is not true. some of you know that not only am i a cpa, but i’m also married to a cpa so i couldn’t manage to get away from tax season even with a career change. that means that this time of year is always a little stressful as everyone adjusts to new schedules and routines, but with a little planning and the correct mindset it does not have to be bad.

more: sales shouldn’t be scary | sell your services on value, not price | 3 steps to getting the most out of every meeting | why choose you? | the one big reason your hiring sucks | are you botching your first impression?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

each year we look for new ways to better manage our time and become efficient so that we can make these three and a half months as stress-free and easy as possible on everyone involved. today, i’m rounding up our top five time management tips to help make these crazy few months operate just slightly more smoothly for you as well.
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‘quick questions’ and other client sins

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young businessman with forehead resting on handshow to quietly convince them to pay for tax planning.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

a well-known practice management expert, whom i greatly respect, advises cpas to never tell clients that you don’t have time for them. i disagree with the never part. you know how it starts. on march 25th, the call comes in.

“i know you’re busy but …”

more: how to train clients | avoiding projects hung up in process | teaching the meaning of ‘done’ | why millennials are the answer | calculating and cutting turnaround time | debunking the demise of the cpa firm
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a request follows that could most certainly wait until after tax season. you are hip deep reviewing all the personal tax returns that got stuck in process while you climbed out of the march 15th corporate tax ditch.
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how to train clients

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skip this, and both service and satisfaction decline.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

you’ll hate me after this post. i’m about to reveal that many of the behaviors that you rationalize as good client service are really just desperate measures to avoid losing bad clients. we’ll talk about getting out of that mess later.

more: avoiding projects hung up in process | when clients create errors | how we killed the tax season client meeting | why small firms can win the talent wars | there are no easy answers | how to thrive as a 21st-century firm | farm-aid for accountants? | whittle down wip
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clients are trainable – at least as trainable as jack russell terriers. that is to say, they’re somewhat trainable. however, like jack russell terriers, you train clients or they’ll train you. somebody’s getting trained. here’s an example of how that works.
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peer-to-peer: your best advice for 2021

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clockwise-from-top-left-raizen-wehr-paulson-swigert-anderson-stitely.png
pivoting to 2021 (clockwise from top left): raizen, wehr, paulson, swigert, anderson, stitely

‘clients still need us.’

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

keep calm and carry on.

that may be the best overall advice for the situation we’re in.

more in surveys & research: survey: a glint of optimism for 2021| accountants say: brace for a dismal 2021 | ppp client fraud: how much risk is too much? | ppp traps: 1 in 5 accountants report shady dealings | cloudy forecasts call for rainmaking

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

and by “we,” we mean “everybody in the world.” because everybody’s got it tough. whether covid has touched close to home or not, its presence is impacting everyone.

but… how should accountants carry on? we asked. and you – the readers of 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 – delivered. adapt, pivot, focus on the client, watch your expenses – just a few of the themes gleaned from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 business barometer.

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avoiding projects hung up in process

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businessman with fingers crossed behind backhow to climb out of “done but” hell.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

a project hung up in process is one when there is a disagreement as to the status between people involved in a project. for example, a client thinks he has answered your tax return questions, while you believe he has not. another example is when a tax return preparer believes a return is ready for review while the reviewer does not believe it’s ready.

more: when clients create errors | how to reduce tax return errors | why your firm needs to attract more millenials | the fool in the room | the 3 biggest tech failures of accounting firms | wip-ing clients into shape | maximize your role as visionary
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the result of a hung-up project is a dead project – one that’s not moving to completion. if a tax return gets hung up, eventually your client calls you, and you get to waste time determining why the project stopped moving. by now, you know this increases wip and thus decreases turnaround time.
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