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Practice management

Your 2021 to-do list

ByDaniel Hood
January 5, 2021 9:00 AM

Whatever plans you had for 2020 were likely disrupted by the events of the year, so it seems presumptuous to try to set anything in stone for 2021. We’re not going to let that stop us, though, and so, as we do each year, we’re using this space to offer you 12 tasks you can put on your to-do list right now.

January

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Ģirts Raģelis/Girts - stock.adobe.com
With so many staff working from home, it’s hard for them to just walk down the hall to ask a question. Instead, offer them “virtual office hours” — set up an open Zoom call or Google Meet for an hour or two each week where you’ll be ready to talk to any employee who calls in.

February

Lease contract, close-up
andia-faith/andiafaith - stock.adobe.com
Hopefully, we’ll all be talking about resuming regular work regimes, so this would be a good time to survey your staff about when, whether and how they want to return to the office — if they want to return to the office at all. You also might want to dig out your lease and see if you have any options for reducing the amount of space you use.

March

Tax extension form
Picasa
Pick a date, and tell any clients who don’t have their tax docs in by that date that they’re going on extension. Then stick to it.

April

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After each tax return you complete, take a brisk five- or 10-minute walk.

May

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yurolaitsalbert - Fotolia
Start making sure everyone has a chance to be heard in meetings, either by calling out interruptions (which are rude, anyway) or by instituting a turn-based system where you deliberately give everyone a chance to weigh in on the topic — or both. The loudest person isn’t always right.

June

Summer reading 2019
Dudarev Mikhail/Dudarev Mikhail - stock.adobe.com
Pick a business-related article, video, podcast episode or book that caught your interest, and share it with staff. Then meet up virtually (break into smaller groups, if necessary) to discuss it and how it applies to your firm. Repeat on a monthly basis. Accept suggestions from staff.

July

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Africa Studio - Fotolia
Pick a single process at your firm — whether internal or client-facing — and ruthlessly drive out any paper-based steps. Repeat.

August

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prima91 - Fotolia
Investigate accepting new types of payments — everything from credit cards to ACH payments, PayPal, Venmo and cryptocurrencies — and adopt whichever will work for your clients.

September

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creative soul - Fotolia
Experts had been predicting a worldwide pandemic like the coronavirus for 30 years. Research some other challenges that experts say are likely in the future, and figure out how they’ll impact your firm — or your clients. (Climate change is certainly a good choice here, but bonus points for going beyond that.)

October

Technology gap
Sergio Donà/itestro - stock.adobe.com
Conduct a technology inventory. Does everyone on staff have all the screens, scanners, tablets, etc., that they need? Is all their software appropriately licensed, and all their security software up to date? Alternatively, check the service-level agreements on one of your cloud-based apps. Are they living up to the terms?

November

New York City map with pushpin
Robert Byron/Rob Byron - Fotolia
Check your client list to see what percentage of them are within 25 miles of you. Then go through your service offerings to determine how many actually require you to be able to meet face to face with the client. Draw your own conclusions.

December

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We’ve suggested this before, but as the years get harder, it’s only getting more important: Close your office between Christmas and New Year’s.
Daniel Hood
Editor-in-chief, Accounting Today
Practice management Client relations Tax season Work from home
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