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Time management tips for tax season

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16th Nov 2010
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Finola McManus offers some "Practice Perfect" pointers on how to manage your time and keep control of your sanity in tax return season.
 
Summer is now a distant memory and thoughts are already turning to Christmas. This may mean panic for many practitioners – I can already hear cries of, “I can't possibly think about business strategy or business planning until the 31st January has passed!”
 
Below are some helpful tips I want to share that I seen used to good effect over the years. They can help you manage your time and feel more in control. They might even allow you to take time off over the Christmas period without guilt or worry!

  • The more successful accountancy firms have systems in place to ensure that clients know that they will pay a premium fee if information isn't received by a certain date. This usually motivates clients and, at worst, relieves some of the last minute pain of completing late returns if you know you are being paid a premium for doing so.
  • Work out and document how many returns (and sets of accounts to go with them) you need to complete between now and the end of January in the available working days that are left.
  • Analyse this list – which is something you will feel comfortable doing as an accountant - into categories showing “Not started”; “In progress but awaiting information” and “No info in yet”
  • Ensure this list is updated weekly so you can readily monitor “the score on the doors” and plan how many returns need to be processed in the days remaining days, and what resources you have to hit this target.
  • People like to work to targets. When they can see clearly that they will achieve them it tends to remove the panic and stress factor that often contributes to low morale and silly mistakes.
  • Look at when your clients provided you with the information and work on a “first in first out” basis. The one thing any client truly hates their accountant for is being told with minimal notice what tax they have to pay in January! This is one of the most common reasons clients look to change advisors every New Year. Be warned and take action now.
  • Manage clients perceptions and expectations. Many clients will mistakenly think they provided you with all the information you need months ago and then get frustrated when you write or call asking for the same thing again. Frustration builds when you feel you have worked around the clock to finalise the return, only to find an ungrateful client cursing you for being the bearer of bad news and a tax liablity due at the end of Januray when their cashflow is groaning. To add insult to injury, the client then won’t pay your fee for months… sound familiar?
  • The solution is to call and talk to your client. Confirm wh’t information you need (if any remains outstanding) and apologise if you have sat on some information they sent in months ago without getting back to them. Tell them when you will complete the return and provide an estimate of what their tax liability will be. A simple call will usually keep a client happy and you can learn from this process to put systems in place so the same poor level of client service doesn't happen again in years to come. Result is happy client and happy accountant!
  • Communiaction really is the key to keeping a client happy and making your own life easier. Don't write but call. Talking is more personal, takes less time and is more highly valued by the client.
  • Trying to drag last minute overdue information in from clients is a perennial headache. In future, try managing this process from April. But now that we are in November you have to take remedial action. We all have some ‘A' grade clients who are last minute merchants and we jump through the hoops for them because they pay a handsome fee to mitigate the pain. But for clients who don’t fall into this category, you need to decide if whether you actually want to carry on acting for them.
  • For good clients who drag their heels you may want to consider offering a service to collect the information you need. This at least will give you better control over planning your own work production schedule.
  • Fixed fees and standing order payments are fast becoming the norm for personal tax work. Try asking clients who are not on this system to pay for their tax retrun completion when they bring in their records. Again, this is becoming the norm for the profession and it will ensure your cashflow stays healthy even as your stress levels rise in December and January.

Summary

  • Systems, systems, systems... they remain the key to good time management and dealing with the annual flow of tax returns. Even if you already use some of these techniques, I hope acting on one or two of the suggestions might help you steer a steady course through to January. If nothing else, make it your New Year resolution to put these systems in place for next year so you can have peace of mind going forward.
  • You also need to structure your business to ensure your team is trained on these systems and can complete the technical work. It is not the role of the partner and business owner to be burning the midnight oil in December and January processing tax returns! If this happens, you need to take stock and think about whether you are a technician with a job, or truly a business owner. Acknowledging this difference will push you towards changing your business into what you want it to be in the future.

If you have any specific questions on these suggestions or any other practice management issues then please e-mail me at [email protected]

Finola McManus is a chartered accountant and former senior partner, who now runs her own consultancy service, Practice Perfect
 

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By chrisjoynes
29th Nov 2010 12:51

Good CRM and set your own deadlines for your clients

We use a really good CRM software called Capsule which is great and getting our work planner sort out for the tax season. We also set our own deadlines for clients to get their information to us. If it is not with us by the end of September then we do not guarentee that it will be submitted ontime. This and a couple of email reminders automatically set up to go to all clients with outstanding information does the trick.

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Accountants for Contractors

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