Half way there

So we're all half way through January and 31st is looming large. How is it looking for you?

Down here we are quietly confident. There are still an awful lot of Tax Returns yet to file, but very few sets of accounts left to prepare, and with one exception they are all very simple ones that in one of my previous firms would have been prepared by the tax department and would never have got near the accounts team.

But there are still too many loose ends that need joining up in the next two weeks. I am setting aside a couple of days to do tours round the countryside to visit little groups of clients that I can cover in sequence, so tomorrow, for example, I should be able to pick up half a dozen returns in the morning and call in on a company client on my way back to the office. At this stage in the month it's all about being as efficient as possible.

At the same time I need to make sure I find time to get 31 December 2013 audits under way and make sure the planning for 31 March 2014 audits is in hand, so there's never a dull moment.

Oh, yes, and I still have to attend networking events and business breakfasts so that we keep a steady flow of new work to replace the unavoidable deaths and business closures that always eat away at the client base. Fortunately, the West Country remains somewhere that people want to live and is generally a good place to base a business.