A Post Busy Season Checklist for CPA Firm Leaders

As the intensity of another busy tax season eases, CPA firms can now shift their focus to critical processes that sometimes get overlooked during the hectic months. The post-busy-season months present an ideal opportunity for firm leaders to step back from working “in” the business and start working “on” it.

Below is a checklist designed to help CPA firms recharge, refocus, and revitalize their operations. Use it to guide you through essential steps – from evaluating employee and client rosters to strategic planning and professional development – to ensure your firm is primed for success in the months ahead.

1 – Take time to recharge.

While you can’t fully take your foot off the gas if you’ve got clients for whom you’ve extended tax returns or you still have miscellaneous projects to finish before the end of the year, giving yourself time to recuperate from the past few months is crucial to prevent brain fog and burnout. Firm leaders should set the tone by not only taking time off themselves but also encouraging their staff to do so.

2 – Evaluate your employees and make necessary cuts.

Given the scarcity of accountants, making any cuts to staffing might seem counter-intuitive, but holding on to underperforming employees can cause more harm than letting them go. Coming out of the busy season, where you’ve had a front row seat to their performance, is the perfect time to have conversations with all your employees – not just those you plan on letting go. For those that you plan to counsel out, doing so right after busy season will send the message to your staff about what is expected of employees who remain.

It’s difficult to think about reducing staff headcount considering the difficulty in hiring, but letting go of someone whose performance is well below average will make it easier to retain your star performers who don’t want to work with them either.

Having conversations now delivers feedback when performance is fresh in everyone’s mind and keeps morale high going into months where recruiters contact people to gauge their interest in pursuing other opportunities. Firms also give bonuses to their staff to show appreciation of their hard work and to keep engagement levels up.

Use these conversations to ask what your staff enjoy about working at your firm, what could make their job more enjoyable, or what else the firm could do to retain them. Think of this like a mini-stay interview.

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3 – Evaluate your client roster.

Just as important as evaluating your employee roster is evaluating your client roster and culling those who make us want to pull our hair out, usually because they wait until the last minute to send documents, send snarky email replies, or are overly demanding.

Engaging staff in this discussion, especially your all-star employees who show promise as future leaders of your firm, is a great way to expose them to important decision-making processes. One system that works well is to grade clients from A to F. Any clients that receive a D, E, or F may get a year to turn it around or a letter stating the firm’s intention to move on.

4 – Devote time to working ON the business.

Partners, this is especially for you. Too many CPA firm partners spend their time working “in the business” – reviewing audits or tax returns or meeting with clients – versus working “on the business.” Those things are undoubtedly important and necessary, especially during the busy season, but partners shouldn’t be spending most of their time in the business. Instead, they should be focusing “on the business,” which means functioning in a true leadership role.

Examples of working on the business would be researching and pursuing new service lines, expanding into new geographical markets, or engaging in business development activities. Post April 15 is a time when partners can take time away from client work to meet as a group and work on a strategic plan for their firm, which often includes setting a quantitative and qualitative vision for their firm and a roadmap for how they plan to get there.

5 – Invest in training and development.

After partners and employees have taken time to recharge and relax, devoting attention to areas that staff need more training on is a great use of the months when chargeable work is at a minimum. Survey all employees, either through performance conversations or a separate poll, to find out what they want more training on. Also check in with people managers to hear what they identified as weak areas while reviewing work products from staff. The summer months may be an ideal time to encourage staff who are pursuing their CPA license to use this downtime to study and take exams as well.

Partners, too, can benefit from continuous learning. What skills do you need to advance as a leader of your firm? Think both technical and leadership skills. Consider attending MAP conferences, the AICPA Town Hall or one of those week-long Hawaii-vacation CPE sessions. You deserve it!

CPA firms have a valuable opportunity to refocus and revitalize their operations. By following this post-busy-season checklist, firms can recharge, realign their priorities, set the stage for future profitability and growth, and make their firm a highly sought-after employer.