De-Stressing During Tax Season

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From the February 2007 E-Newsletter.

Alright, tax season is now officially here, the national chains have been advertising for a couple of months, nearly every individual filer has received their W-2s, and hopefully they’re lining up in throngs for your services.

February to mid-April is the busiest time of the year for many practices, even those with year-round write-up, bookkeeping or other services. In fact, for some practices, this two-and-a-half month window can account for 70 percent or more of their annual revenue. In addition to the stress that comes with servicing a greater number of clients (many of whom are new or confused or angry about the tax situation they’ve dug for themselves), the principals of small practices may also have the added stress of knowing that their firm’s fiscal well-being depends upon this critical time. If something were to go wrong….

In addition to the key stress drivers above, a multitude of other stress contributors exist during this time of year.

Stress Sources

• New or difficult clients
• New tax laws/treatments
• Lack of sleep
• Expanded work hours
• Less time with family/spouse
• Technology concerns
• Practice’s financial concerns

Stress Relievers

Of course, the best way to reduce the stress of tax season is to prepare for it in advance by implementing productivity-enhancing technologies, training staff on the systems, educating them on new tax changes, encouraging clients to prepare and meet with your prior to tax season, and more.

But what now? What can you do in the middle of February, or March or April? Here’s a short list:

1. Take time for yourself. Although it may seem impossible to do, you need to schedule a recurring time a few times per week to take an extended lunch or break away from the office (one to two hours). What you do with this time is up to you, but don’t do work. Instruct that only emergency calls be forwarded to you. Don’t open your laptop, even for recreational use (you know that you’ll end up checking e-mail and other work items). Also, if you routinely work late into the evening during tax season, reserve time to spend with your spouse, your children and even the family pet. Recommend these suggestions to your staff, as well, and support them in their scheduling requests.