Tax Season is Over; it’s Time for Celebration and Lesson Learning

There is always cause for reflecting on the season to see what worked well. Whether you are a full-time professional or seasonal, surviving a long tax season is a cause for celebration and evaluation.

If your tax season was anything like mine, you are probably ready for a much deserved break. It was a long four months, and fortunately, only the last two weeks were truly tiresome with long hours. Nevertheless, it was one of the least stressful tax seasons in my 22-year career. Each year, I strive to be more efficient with technologies I implemented, constantly work to improve my processes and work even more remotely with clients.

It’s always a big advantage when you can spend time and resources working on tax returns versus meeting with clients. I always take great pride in meeting fewer clients in person as each year goes by – and this year was no exception. The outcome is high efficiency, improved productivity and less stress. And, no matter how we each operate our offices during tax season, it’s always a stressful time as the tax deadline approaches and procrastinators begin to contact us for tax preparation. Combine the workload with taxes and IRS representation cases, and the hours dramatically increase.

I’ve been thinking about going on vacation to the beach or Las Vegas, which won’t probably happen since I have IRS cases I am representing and can’t leave the office right now. Of course, fantasy is sometimes the next best thing to reality, and sometimes we must opt for this if we can’t get away just after tax season.

Since April 18, I have already evaluated and begun modifying some of the technologies I use to help make next year more efficient, even though I prepared 32 percent more returns and grew my client base by 16 percent. It all boils down to planning, preparation and implementation to make the future better than the past.

As you reflect on this tax season, what lessons did you learn and what will you celebrate? Was it a great year, or one you can improve on to make it better in the future? Leave a comment below and let me know!