TAX SEASON

Sales & Use Tax Costs Are Higher than Anyone Thought

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Sales tax return activity represents the greatest proportion of total costs, followed by consumer use tax. Among all businesses surveyed, the total calculated cost (hours spent multiplied by cost per hour) is $14,811 per month. ESB average, $11,968.SMB average, $17,672 (48% increase over ESB segment.)

 

Ripe opportunity for accountants to take over clients’ costly recurring non-revenue-generating back-office drudgery.

By CPA Trendlines

Midsize businesses spend 163 hours per month on tax compliance – costing more than $17,000, according to new research released by Avalara, the sales tax automation company. Additional findings break down what tax requirements businesses spend the most time and money on.

Tax and accounting firms will be most interested in data related to clients’ recurring and significant spending on non-revenue-generating tasks, in tandem with the potential for human error and resulting impacts on compliance.

 

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These Five Procedures Will Simplify Your Tax Season

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Man talking to woman with checklistOf course, this includes checklists.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

One way to guarantee extra work is to have everything always done differently each time it is done.

MORE: 11 Steps to Better Client Tax Instructions | Get Your Team Ready for Tax Season
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Not establishing uniform procedures is bad business and unnecessarily consumes part of your life. Consistency in performance reduces work and review time and creates a greater reliance on the staff people.
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11 Steps to Better Client Tax Instructions

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Help them help you.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Providing instructions of what a client needs to do must be clear enough so that the client doesn’t call you to find out what to do.

MORE: Get Your Team Ready for Tax Season | 12 Ways to Squeeze Fun into Tax Season | 6 Ways to Get Paid Faster in Tax Season
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Sometimes taking an extra minute to lay out what the client should do can eliminate that call or indecisive moment a client might feel.
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Get Your Team Ready for Tax Season

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Happy multi-ethnic business team with thumbs up in the officeThree steps to a happier grind.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

If you have staff, have happy cheerful helpful people. Don’t surround yourself with downers and naysayers.

MORE: 12 Ways to Squeeze Fun into Tax Season | 6 Ways to Get Paid Faster in Tax Season
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Also have team players. Part of this is your firm’s culture. It takes work to get people to work together and to focus on doing what it takes to service the client fully, properly and timely.  Everyone working together gets it done.
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12 Ways to Squeeze Fun into Tax Season

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four young happy office employeesWhy not?

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Tax season presents exciting opportunities for accounting firms and their staffs. Every moment should be enjoyed and appreciated.

MORE: 6 Ways to Get Paid Faster in Tax Season

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Following are 12 reasons:

1. Tax season is profitable and accounting is a business where we try to maximize our earnings. Sure, there is a great concentration of work in a short period with occasional pressure, but if handled properly, the work can be managed sensibly with tensions at reasonable levels. I also believe much of the pressure is self-induced by poor scheduling, inadequate quality control and the lack of uniform systems that are followed by everyone in the firm, particularly the partners.

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