‘Tis the Season for Gearing Up

What’s on your holiday wish list? Sound off here.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

That shiver you feel could be the first chilly breezes before winter. Or it could be the imminent start of busy season.

With tax prep being a core revenue-producing application in many practices, the time to consider what your office will need is well before the end of the year. But let’s not forget auditors and finance managers. They’re facing busy seasons of their own. And many will have the same questions, issues and wish lists.

Judging from the buzz in the profession, the top issues this year seem to be paperless office, dual monitors, Microsoft Vista and possible post-holiday hardware price cuts.

It doesn’t matter whether the upcoming tax season is your first as an independent preparer or you’ve been grinding out returns for years — it pays to completely assess your needs each and every year. In performing this assessment, consider five critical areas: software, hardware, infrastructure, procedures and — the new one this year — connectivity.
Let’s start with connectivity. By this, we mean the capabilities to work remotely — out of the traditional office, perhaps at home. And we mean wirelessly, that is, going mobile — connecting to your office, your colleagues and your clients from anywhere at any time. The first — working remotely — adds greatly to your chances of recruiting top-notch people working anywhere. And the second — going mobile — means enhancing client service with speedy responses based on real-time client information. So, this is the year you should be considering a Smartphone mobile device that combines e-mail, cell phone, client-relationship management data and document retrieval tools.

Nevertheless, software remains at the top of most CPAs’ wish lists this year. If you already have a vendor that you’ve used in prior years, you need to assess how well their software served for your client base, and how well the vendor responded to their software’s bugs and support issues. With a diminishing number of tax prep software vendors remaining, those that still survive are desperate to have your business. If you’re satisfied with your current vendor, is the package still a good fit? Do you have more clients, fewer clients or just a different mix of clients? Is this your first time setting up an office? All of these concerns should help you choose a vendor and software package.

Hardware is another concern. Tax prep is a mission-critical application. If your hardware fails, so does your revenue stream. Today’s PCs and laptops have a fairly short working life. After about two years of heavy use, your best bet, some say, is to upgrade to current technology, and use the older system, on an office network, as a backup. If your production machine goes down, you’ll be able to continue processing returns without a hitch. That doesn’t mean you should back up your data files to the old machine; you’re better off using a high reliability device like a network attached storage (NAS) drive. These are available from a wide number of vendors, easy to install and inexpensive. Laser printers are better than ever, faster and less expensive. If it’s been a few years since you bought one, it’s time for a new unit. For tax work, a monochrome printer is fine. If you’ll be doing other types of work that would benefit from color, consider two printers — an affordable color laser or inkjet and a higher-speed monochrome laser.

A laptop is a good choice if you want the ability to enter data right at the client’s location, while a desktop will give you more performance for the same money. If you’re using a desktop, make sure you buy a UPS (uninterruptible power supply), so you can perform a controlled shutdown in the event of a power failure. Laptops, with their internal battery, have the equivalent of a UPS built in.

Infrastructure is another important consideration. Do you have or need an office network? This is almost a must-have if you will use part-time staff to help you out. A high-speed Internet connection is also necessary to perform software updates and it eases client contact.

Finally, think about how you can improve your procedures. Using Outlook or a similar contact manager and scheduler can help you meet with clients in a timely manner, and remind you to stay ahead of deadlines. Keeping a spreadsheet on client status may not be as snazzy as a practice management application, but it’s better than yellow Post-its on your PC’s monitor.

Most of all, schedule some downtime and activities. Stress during tax season is unavoidable, but it can throw a monkey wrench into even the best-planned and managed tax office.

So get ready, get set and go! But don’t forget your family, your sanity and your health.

Happy Holidays!

[First published by the AICPA]

Posted at December 10, 2006
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] |

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