Don’t Forget the Post Tax Season Postmortem!

With tax season coming to an end this week, the next 60 to 90 days offers firms a chance to take a deep breath, consider the high and lows of tax season, and come to some conclusions about what they need to do to make it better the next time around. A tax season postmortem will help your firm learn from the past to build a more efficient firm.

Tax Season Postmortem: Five Questions to Ask Yourself

For example, here are five questions to consider:

• Did tax season go as smoothly as it could have?
  • If the answer is yes, was anything different than year’s past?
  • If the answer is no, is there a reason why that you can identify?
• Did we have enough staff to get the job done?
  • If the answer is yes, how did you keep your staff happy and provide a work/life balance?
  • If the answer is no, did you consider taking advantage of outsourcing or temporary staff to meet client demand
• Were clients happy with the service they received?
  • If yes, can you point to a reason why?
  • If the answer is no, what are you going to do to ensure they remain “your” clients?
• Did the technology the firm utilizes create new efficiencies, help staff save time and be more productive, or eliminate the need to work in disparate systems?
  • If yes, can you point to an end result (e.g. new, additional, unexpected revenue?)
  • If no, are you considering making a change?
• What changes — if any — do we need to start thinking about and/or implementing in the short term vs. the long term to ensure the future success of the firm?
  • Is it staffing?
  • Is it a technology upgrade?
  • Should we be moving to the cloud?
  • Should we be more proactive and responsive to clients?  And if so, how?
  • Should we schedule best practices software training for employees to ensure they’re using it correctly?

As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider before you just flip the page on tax season and start addressing the extension season. So before you do so just that, take a little time to think about the tax season you just finished.

Find out what other firms are doing to improve their tax processes. Dozens of firms share their experiences: The Many Faces of CCH Solutions