Tips for Tax Season

• Go home.
  Tax season is busy, but it does not have to be your life. With today's technologies, there is absolutely no reason why professional team members and partners shouldn't go home at reasonable hours and work from home during the busy season. Last year, I left at 5:00 and finished up working at home after I enjoyed dinner with my family. I feel more relaxed at home and, thus, more productive. (Ryan McCowan, CPA.CITP)
• Take at least one full day off a week.
  And that doesn't mean taking the work home instead of doing it at the office, or checking your e-mail from your BlackBerry while out with your family. That means clearing it from your mind completely. Even if it means you stay an extra hour or so on other days, it is important to have "away time." (Nancy Koonce, CPA, CVA, CFE)
• Keep smiling, no matter what.
  Your outside appearance forces an inner appearance to appear. If you appear happy, you will be. (Christy Snow, EA)
• Keep clients and employees happy by serving up fresh, warm, chocolate chip cookies.
  We use a toaster oven. We also offer hot tea. (Tim Miller, EA, JD)
• Manage your clients; don't let them manage you.
  You can learn a lot about how to run an efficient service business from a visit to the doctor's or dentist's office. (Christian Brim, CPA)
• Schedule a massage therapist to the office at least once a week.
  Again, a healthy and rejuvenated body will be better at keeping the stress out than one that is worn down. (Christy Snow, EA)
• Interact with co-workers once a week in a fun environment.
  Every Friday afternoon, our entire office takes a break to enjoy snacks and fun activities, such as playing Toss Across or Bowling for Bunnies. It does wonders to relieve stress and promote team building. (Nancy Koonce, CPA, CVA, CFE)
• Relax.
  Your inbox was full when you started working; it will be full when you leave. (Christian Brim, CPA)
• Take a breath and continue; it will all be over soon.
  Keep in contact with your family even if it's just to say goodnight to the kids and spouse. If you forget your priorities, that call will bring it all into perspective. (Christy Snow, EA)
• To minimize the hours in tax season, maximize the use of technology.
  Consider dual monitors, document management software, tax flow software, scan & organize/scan & populate products, etc. (Kevin McGillivray, CPA)

And to find out your firm's Productivity Score to see what you can do to increase your productivity & your profitability, take our Productivity Survey.

Document Management Product Selector

The number of document management products aimed specifically at the public accounting profession abounds. And perhaps it's that expansive array of choices that's paralyzed nearly two-thirds of the public accounting firms in America to the point of inaction, leaving them without the one tool absolutely required as the centerpiece of their journey toward the digital future.

The CPA Technology Advisor's document management solution product selector presents a series of comprehensive questions for you to answer. Your responses will trigger a report upon completion of the survey that suggests three appropriate DMS products for your firm. We believe that this tool will help your firm narrow the available products to those that best fit your stated criteria as you begin your journey into the era of digital documents.

Tax Preparation Fees Still Affordable, Says National Society of Accountants

Tech2Go provides a fast-paced roundtable discussion with Executive Editor Greg LaFollette and regular columnists Brent Goodfellow, Randy Johnston and Dave McClure. These thought leaders tackle current technology issues that are impacting the tax and accounting profession. Sponsored by ADP
SmallBusinessConsulting2Go features nationally recognized accounting software expert Doug Sleeter. He and Greg discuss technology, QuickBooks and other small business consulting accounting software, integration, add-ons, online software, and the process of developing and accounting software consulting practice. Sponsored by BillQuick
AccountingFirmSecurity2Go features information security expert David Cieslak. He and Greg discuss security issues like portals, anti-virus, anti-spam, digital certificates and more, all from the perspective of small and medium-sized tax and accounting firms.
DocumentManagementforAccountants2Go (DMA2Go) is our newest monthly podcast series that features Executive Editor Greg LaFollette and the country's foremost document management consultant, John Higgins. John is a CPA and a CITP and has been helping tax and accounting firms move to "the digital world" for over 20 years. He and Greg talk about product and system evaluation factors, scanning, workflow, portals, Adobe Acrobat -- all with a laser focus on the special needs of the practicing accountant. Don't miss the inaugural episode of DMA2Go, which will be available later this month.