Takeaways from Busy Season 2024

At a recent NextGen Roundtable meeting, we discussed the successes and challenges of busy season. This roundtable consisted of more than a dozen partners and partner candidates from small to mid-sized firms based in the US.

In an initial poll, members rated this busy season from best to worst. Using a five-point scale, 33% of respondents ranked it among the best and 33% as typical, indicating a balanced mix of experiences.

New Approaches

Many systems, programs, and internal processes were discussed as helping increase efficiency. Here are what some of our NextGen Roundtable members reported as one new thing they tried this year that worked well:

• Introducing SafeSend and SurePrep aided in managing out-of-town clients and improving processing efficiency.
• Switching to SurePrep’s SP Organize and SP Verify streamlined processes; SP Verify addressed the previous year’s issues effectively.
• Outsourcing 1040s through Expitax yielded impressive results, surpassing expectations in quality and turnaround time.
• Utilizing CCH AutoFlow allowed for intern hours to work on data verification.
• Adding 15-minute firm-wide meetings and processing/tech tips mini-courses.
• Instituting team lunches for the office on Fridays to work out kinks in new systems and get everyone on the same page.
• Embracing a paperless approach, with Workstream-enhanced project tracking and reduced reliance on physical documents.
• Delegating clients to managers.
• Bringing in new associates in June so they had experience by the time the busy season arrived. Having watched how extensions were handled and doing mock returns yielded the best group of new associates in a long time.

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Recurring Problems

You might have already guessed it, but this group indicated that staff-related issues were at the top of their minds when asked what recurring problems or challenges they experienced this year. Fewer people are sitting for the CPA exam, the pipeline in schools is shrinking, and many currently in the workforce are reaching retirement age, which is a recipe for staff-related issues.

Here’s a summary of staffing-related challenges our roundtable members faced:

• Work compression leading up to compliance deadlines
• Finding the right people for the job
• Maintaining a balanced workload among staff
• Seasoned preparers lacking complex preparation skills and technical review capabilities
• Finding and keeping mid-level employees
• Lack of training
• Lack of accuracy in work
• Not enough experienced staff to handle certain levels of billable work
• Work not getting out the door quick enough
• Unexpected resignations during the busy season

Possible remedies we explored include:

• Investing in training
• Refining hiring processes and changing your interview questions, administering knowledge testing to confirm skill sets pre-hire
• Looking at non-accounting degree students as recruits
• Expanding remote work options and flexibility
• Exploring outsourcing for certain work
• Fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability

Conclusion

We would love to hear from you in the comments about how your busy season went, whether your most significant challenge was also staffing related, and what worked well for you this year. Are there technologies or strategies that made a huge difference?