The last month of tax season just started and if you are like most practices, it will be the busiest period of the year. Three ways of easing the workload and creating a lighter atmosphere are for everyone to follow the system, improve scheduling, and shift some work from reviewers to preparers.
Using your system
Following the systems is a no brainer and is a function of management. If you have a system, then it should be followed. If it isn’t being followed, then change it to what is being done. Otherwise, chaos will ensue or, at a minimum, tumult, confusion, disorder and wasted time. Capturing that wasted time can only provide benefits and doesn’t appear to take much effort. Either you have a system or you don’t. It is up to management to make sure there is full compliance with the system.
Improve scheduling
Improving the scheduling is a simple procedure that coordinates the people who will work on the same returns, projects or engagements. Since tax preparation is the season at hand, I am offering a suggestion that can be implemented pretty quickly and without much effort. This involves coordinating the availability of a reviewer with the preparer for complex or complicated returns. Here are some steps:
- Schedule the reviewer when the return is assigned to a preparer.
- Coordinating the schedules includes the preparer being available to make changes, if needed, after the return is reviewed.
- An example of this is for a return that might take the preparer two days to work on. Schedule the reviewer for the first thing in the morning after that second day and make sure the preparer will be available to make any changes as soon as the reviewer is finished. It will be fresh in the preparer’s mind. As soon as the corrections are made, it can be re-reviewed, processed and forwarded to the partner for their review and signature. If the reviewer’s schedule is not coordinated with the preparer, a few days could pass before the reviewer gets to it and then the preparer might not be available for a few days afterward, possibly making something that could be handled smoothly into a last-minute rush. Either way, whatever work that needs to be done will be done eventually. However, the delays likely would add wasted time for reacclimating the staff with the return as well as handling and “touching” the file.
Reviewer bottlenecks
- If bottlenecks develop with reviewers, try to push down some of the reviewers’ work to preparers. This will reduce bottlenecks at the reviewer level and also the reviewer’s time, elevate the performance of preparers and permit a smoother flow in the office.
- Some of this work could be reviewing input, preparing schedules, reconciling the return with the original data such as the gross sales of capital transactions, or 1099s for interest, dividends or self-employment income, or K-1 entries, or explanations of surprising or unexpected results.
Accountants are said to see things as simple black and white, without shades in between. I don’t agree with that, but I do agree that we see things in terms of what is logical or not logical. I challenge you to tell me what is not logical about anything suggested above. If you agree with the logic, then why not make some changes along with what I suggested?
Have a great tax season and don’t forget to maintain order and have some fun.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at
