Tax season challenges
As an accounting firm owner, you've undoubtedly experienced the rapid increase in demand leading up to the end of tax season. While it can be one of the most profitable periods, it is also stressful. If not managed properly, you could see a decrease in employee engagement and satisfaction and increased turnover, stress and burnout.
Increased demand
For accountants and bookkeepers, April to August is the busiest time of year, but that doesn’t mean routine work stops. Your clients will still expect you to complete their profit and loss statements, payroll, balance sheets, bookkeeping, audits and financial documents on time.
How do you manage customer expectations during tax season’s spike in demand?
Tax season puts advisors' in the spotlight and balancing standard client requests with tax-related tasks can be demanding. If you’re unprepared for the rush, you may miss deadlines, lose clients or see the quality of your team’s work decline.
One way to juggle tax season’s demand with typical workloads is scheduling client appointments well in advance. It will ensure your team doesn’t become overwhelmed, you can manage workloads properly, and customers receive the care and attention they expect.
Proactively managing your team resources is also key. We suggest the following to determine the required capacity to manage workloads without risking burnout:
- Making sure you’ve worked through your capacity planning process
- Looking at your expected returns workload with current and prospective clients
- Assess your team BAU workload, along with anything affecting your team’s capacity like annual leave.
Overburdened staff
If you’re one of the many accounting or bookkeeping firms struggling to recruit experienced professionals recently, you’re not alone. The industry has been facing a talent crunch for almost two years now. Tax season’s usual surge in demand may increase profits, but at what cost?
Overwhelming workloads during tax season could have severe impacts on your team, including:
- Anxiety, depression or other mental health challenges exacerbated
- Reduced productivity and engagement
- Lower employee satisfaction and retention
- Higher turnover.
Meeting your team’s needs with flexible, structured workloads will ensure your firm’s success through tax season and the rest of the year. Providing them with the tools they need to work anytime, anywhere and ensuring you have enough staff to handle incoming work will also be crucial to your success.
