tax prep is:
- Time Management
A successful business requires high productivity. A tried and true method to ensure good productivity in a tax preparation office is to practice great time management.
Balance your time between servicing existing clientele, bringing in new clients, and handling the pile of tasks required to run the office. Tasks like payroll, employee reviews, training, and checking email correspondences.
Develop standard systems and procedures to manage such tasks with greater efficiency. With a system in place, you won’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out what to do each day. You’ll have a standard response to each task item as it comes up.
It takes time to determine the systems and procedures that your office should adopt. But once these are in place, your office will accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently. That is sure to boost productivity!
Finally, prioritize certain tasks over others. Good time management involves knowing what tasks should be prioritized.
- Organization
Tax preparers must handle large volumes of documents and information, IRS forms, client records, email messages, and much more. Productivity depends on good organizational skills.
It is virtually impossible to be a disorganized tax preparer. Meeting with a client, you need to know their details and recent communications with them. You should be ready to access the tax forms they require and the tax information they will ask about.
Set up an appointment calendar to manage your time and avoid any scheduling conflicts.
Ensure that each client’s tax folder is well organized. Clients may provide a pile of tax documents, financial records, and other files. Your office will want to make sure that these documents are safe, secure, and correctly filed.
Organizational skills are important to develop. But you don’t have to do everything on your own. You’ll want to hire people that will help you with organizational tasks. That’s part of good organization, too! Being able to delegate certain tasks to other people!
- Customer Service
Tax preparation is a service-oriented business. While it is largely about doing tax returns efficiently and accurately, you don’t stop at simply fulfilling basic obligations. You can’t neglect the customer service part of the experience.
What does that mean? Basically, it means making the customer feel that they are in good hands. Making them feel that they made the right choice in coming to you. Make customers feel welcome in your office. Make them feel that they can rely on you to do a good job for them, and keep all information confidential.
This does demand people skills that not every tax preparer may have. If you are struggling in this area, you will want to hire people who can do it well.
Whatever you do, don’t neglect customer service. According to a Salesforce research study, 78% of consumers will give a company return business after a mistake if that company scores high marks in customer service. Great customer service inspires loyalty!
Be mindful of the following to provide a positive customer experience.
- How you treat customers.
- How you relate to customers.
- How Attentive you are to customers
- Problem Solving
Tax preparers must develop a winning mindset. That means viewing problems as challenges and being driven to find the right solutions. Good problem solvers do not get weighed down by negativity and anxiety; they are thoughtful and work smarter.
The problem-solving trait must extend to both clients and staff. Clients are looking for you to do their tax returns, which involves figuring out what deductions they can claim and how to claim them. There are numerous issues that can arise within the staff:
- An employee can make a mistake on a return
- A client might miss a payment
- A computer or workstation might experience issues
- A simple tax return may turn out to be a bigger challenge than expected
You should review your systems and procedures on a regular cadence. There may be more efficient and productive ways of solving the task. Being a good problem solver can help increase your bottom line!
- Salesmanship
Although contactless tax preparation has become popular since the pandemic, the business still involves a bit of face-to-face interaction. Regardless of whether that is via video conference or actually in the office, tax preparers are connecting with (potential) clients.
The tax preparer represents the business and every interaction with a client is essentially a sales interaction. The goal of giving you their business or continuing to give you their business is a sales motion. Even after closing a deal, there is still client retention, upsells, and partnerships that are critical to the business-client relationship. So continue to highlight the benefits of doing business with you and keep looking for signals that will drive more retention and more business!
BONUS: Software Literacy
Digital transformation is critical in today’s tax preparation offices. In 2021, the IRS estimates that 96% of all returns were e-filed. This number will only go up. Client documents must be scanned, securely stored, and delivered electronically to multiple sources.
Electronic communications using web browsers, word processors, spreadsheets, databases, document managers, digital calendars, and messaging apps have significantly improved the efficiency and performance of tax offices. In addition, remote office setups are the norm and not the exception.
Software literacy has become a critical skill for every tax preparer. You have to be able to use various, disparate applications with skill, confidence, and competence. The offices must also follow security best practices to protect their client's digital information.
Contact BOSS Taxes and learn more about running your tax office.