Why do it today

... when you can leave it until tomorrow? Or rather the last day before the deadline!

I'm not sure if it's the modern culture of instant gratification and the inability to wait or plan ahead, but it seems to me that clients have an increasing tendency to leave things till the last moment. I know many always did, but I think more are at it now.

Like today, a client was trying to get hold of his bookkeeper to get his Sage data emailed to us for his 31 March 2012 accounts.Why? Because he has to submit a claim form "urgently" (which probably means by the end of September!), and can we get some draft accounts to him very soon (I think he meant today)?

It's hardly like the old days when you had months if not years to get a set of accounts done! Of course, software means it's now possible, whereas twenty years ago we would have been working on A3 analysis sheets and extended trial balances, and then waiting a day for a typist to produce the final version. Today I can turn a set of Sage data into a draft set of company accounts in under 10 minutes, including delivering them in the client's email Inbox.

The trouble with that is it makes clients lazy. They know we can do the work so much quicker, and therefore expect us to. It's the same in all sorts of industries. Talk to a printer and they'll tell you that faster digital presses simply mean that clients expect their printing twice as fast. It's not unusual to receive artwork by email for delivery of printed materials the other end of the country first thing the next day. I'm sure readers will have similar experiences in many other industries. 

So the practitioner's job is to educate and encourage clients on the one hand to get their records and tax return data in promptly, and on the other hand to live with the expectations of a society and culture that expect everything immediately. Either way I can't help thinking it's a lot less fun!