It’s a time of reflection in accounting. So-called ‘busy season’ is in the rearview (for most), but what do you feel makes it successful to you?
I’ve been hearing firms talk about it being a successful busy season/tax season for them, and I tend to get very curious about a term so subjective placed on something nearly every accountant (tax pros in particular) seems to endure every year. End of the day, if you are a firm leader, you run a business, and what makes it successful to you may not be so for others.
Is it measured in money, time, stress levels, productivity? Again, I ask what makes it so?
Now, you could get all “accountant-y” about it and say, “It depends on what you measure,” but in the end you have to face yourself, your staff, and your business and understand what success means to you. This process in and of itself takes a certain mindset, in that you probably need to go into each day, season, or year with a pretty clear idea of what it will be.
One of the better (in my humble opinion) responses to this question came from a firm owner who said they had “a successful busy season” because they spent less time on returns and on chasing down clients and had fewer weekend workdays. I am not here to judge at all, but I will say that if you went into this “busy season” with this as a goal, then yes, it was a success. Why? Because it was a plan or at least a goal and you met it.
The whole point is to actually plan and not just expect. Otherwise, you are coming from a position of work and even life happening to you rather than you flexing some level of control.
For firm owners in particular, this is something that at a key point in the year, whenever that is, you make the decision to say, “This is what will make a successful season or year for us,” and work every day towards that goal. Not only does it define that highly prized success, but having a clear sense of what it looks like goes a long way to preventing what accountants try to avoid most: burnout.
With your entire team, whether it’s 3 or 300, on board with a clear idea of what success is, it will increase your likelihood of reaching it. And yes, you will be making clear steps to prevent burnout in the process.
So, in terms of timing, why not now? Why not today? Seriously, sit with your managers, your entire staff if you can, and plot this out. White Board it if you want with the giant words “What Does Success Look Like?” Use sticky notes, a marker, a shared screen, or whatever it takes to give everyone a chance to just get everyone to weigh in on what will make it all work.
You don’t need a full-on scrum or too much deep thought, just enough voices that matter to make the difference in your business. In the end, everyone (including you) will not only know what success looks like for your firm, but they’ll feel better about what they do every day.
Try it. I’m willing to bet it works, and I for one sincerely hope it does because your clients need you, and you need to feel you are on the path to life-work balance. Having a clear vision and plan for what success looks like goes a long way towards that goal.