CPA Practice Advisor

NOV 2015

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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8 November 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FEATURE By Paul McDonald W ith tax season looming, n o w i s t h e t i m e f o r a c c o u n t i n g f i r m s t o ramp up their staffing strategy. Determining your needed mix of full-time and temporary professionals — before holiday time-of — will set you on a course for success come 2016. Here are six tips for seting a sound strategy: 0NE. Review your recent pay roll histor y. Te frst thing you'll want to do is to review your payroll records from this past January through April. How much overtime did your frm pay non-exempt, f u l l-t i me sta f f ? How ma ny hou rs d id i nter i m employees work? W hat data do you have on the amount of comp time you prov ided to exempt accountants? By gathering all these numbers in advance, you will be beter prepared to determine the staf levels you'll need for this tax season. TWO. Revisit your error rate. Mistakes on recent years' returns could indicate you may be stretching your staff too thin. Be sure to analyze what you fnd. If the error or omis- sion rate is also high during slower months, you m ay ne ed to c on sider longer-ter m stafng corrections. THREE. Do a mora le i nventor y. Wa s t h e r e a w o r r i s o m e nu mber of compla i nts of stress in the workplace last tax season? Did you notice a h i g h e r - t h a n - n o r m a l rate of absenteeism? Low employee morale could be a sign of understafng. Extra hands going forward might help you take care of more clients and prevent burnout among your full-time accountants. FOUR. Ask for feedback from your core tax team. A fer each tax season, make it a habit to check in with your team about what worked and didn't. A nd if you m i s sed t he oppor t u n it y l a s t yea r, there's no time like the present to get f e e d b a c k a s y o u p r e p a r e f o r t h e impending crunch. 6 Tips for Tax Season Staffng at Accounting Firms

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