After the rush of tax season, Pennsylvania accountants and CPAs are ready for a break. After the busy season, it’s important to take a deep breath, exhale, and smile. Most of the stress is past. Reward your team with a party or tangible gift for their hard work. Now, at a comfortable pace, take some time for self-reflection, review, and preparation for the year ahead.
Your first step is to debrief: review how the tax season went, and consider communication, procedures, team dynamics, and revenue growth.
Based on the evaluation from your debriefing, consider possible upgrades, such as investing in new technology or professional development for yourself or team members. PSTAP offers many courses and seminars that not only fulfill CPE credits but also provide you with the opportunity to expand your knowledge base and grow your business.
Most of us will have clients who have requested tax extensions. These clients, of course, need continued tax services. But they also provide opportunities for add-on services. By evaluating the reasons for your clients’ extensions, you may discover additional services that you could offer them to help them avoid extensions in the future.
Clients who were surprised by their tax bill may benefit from tax consulting to help them make wise, tax-friendly decisions in the future.
Although accountants and CPAs are always busy, the “slow season” is a great time to reach out to your clients for feedback. Their tax returns should give you a great deal of valuable information about your client base with regard to income or revenue, types of investments or business assets, and family size or company size. This information can help you create your ideal client profile. But a survey will give you the personal information that will help you grow and provide your clients with the very best service.
Reach out to your clients either by phone or by mail. Email is easy to send and just as easy to ignore. The person feels more valued the more effort you put out. A letter in the mail shows more effort and is more likely to be noticed. A phone call is personal and makes an emotional connection with a client.
Find out what your client likes best about your firm, something that you could have done better, and what financial challenges or goals your client may have. If you have services to help your client, discuss them. If you are not currently offering such services, ask if your client would be interested if you did offer them. This outreach can solidify your relationship and increase customer loyalty.
With information from your debriefing and your client outreach, you should have a handle on what changes you need to make to improve efficiency and help your revenues grow in the following year. It’s important to reward yourself for a busy and successful tax season with a little relaxation time and a tangible thank-you to your team but keep the ball rolling to make the year to come even more successful than the last.