by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
accountants joining the annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer poll are recommending regular rest and recreation among their leading survival strategies.
some know how to balance things just right, like vic butcher who says to “exercise every morning and go out for pizza and drinks every thursday night.” we can’t object to pizza and drinks, although alan gray would have us “eat and drink less.” read more →
tip #5: get paid before filing.
by sandi smith leyva
accountant’s accelerator
here are some fast tips to help you make the most out of busy season, which is when you have the highest amount of your clients’ attention all year long. read more →
tax professionals fight political uncertainty, ragged clients, toughened rivals.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
after what for many was a disastrous season in 2013, many tax prep professionals are laying new plans and taking on ambitious initiatives to avoid a repeat of last year and maybe even vault ahead of the competition.
with input from more than 400 practitioners, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 expects 2014 to be rocky from the start, with washington politics playing a big role, and also highly competitive, as practitioners battle both fee pressures from clients and each other for a smaller pool of good clients.
in the last 30 days, practitioners’ outlook has been generally positive as they start to get their plans in place and with a momentary lull in washington infighting. as of today, about 60% of the more than 400 practitioners surveyed expect a better season than last year, including 12% who are hoping for a “much better” season.
if there are themes among the new strategies from lessons learned last year, they fall into a few general categories: read more →
executive summary
by rick telberg
cpa trendlines
most tax practitioners across the nation are preparing for the 2014 busy season with the hoping it can’t possibly be as bad as last year’s “worst tax season ever,” according to exclusive 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 polling.
about 61% of accountants today expect at least a “somewhat” or even “much” better season this year, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, a tracking poll now approaching its 11th year. some 26% expect no change from last year, and 13% are bracing for “somewhat worse” or “much worse.”
in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 special report, responses and comments from more than 400 practitioners surveyed have been tabulated and analyzed. key findings:
more
updated with responses from may 2013.
the latest update to the topline results for the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer shows additional confirmation of four key findings, beginning with the across-the-board problems of a late-starting season and buggy software.
how did your season compare? we’d love to hear. send your comments, rants raves, ideas, or questions to me here. – rick telberg
key finding #1: most practitioners, across all size firms, report a tougher 2013 than 2012. (see chart below for comparisons by size of firm.) read more →
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer
tax and accounting professionals of all shapes and sizes, ranging in size from the soloist to the regional leader, are reporting a filing season markedly more problematic than the year before, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer. the data for april, still coming in, shows majorities of firms in all class sizes reporting “somewhat worse” or “much worse” performance and results this year.
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, now in it’s tenth year, is a real-time tracking poll of tax and accounting professionals’ sentiment, performance and results. as a reward for joining the survey panel, participants get early previews of top-line results and notifications.
in this report, we present the first wave of in-depth details, starting with a chart that shows the number of respondents reporting on busy season conditions.
those reporting a “worse” season include:
and:
for complete busy season coverage, click here. and stay tuned to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 as we report on new developments in the data and analysis.
true or false: you had the worst tax season of your life this year.
small firms and enrolled agents suffer the most damage from washington shenanigans and balky software. [pro member exclusive]
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
join the survey; get the results
with tax season 2013 finally (gratefully) at an end, the latest soundings from the field show conditions continuing to deteriorate into the final hours, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
in this report:
in earlier reports:
stress management is critical to a successful season.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
i don’t want to stress you out, but we really do need to do something about our stress levels.
the american psychological association says our kids are getting headaches, having difficulty sleeping, and eating too little or too much due to pressure from school and household finances. the worst part is that most parents were not aware of the severity of their children’s stress.
many adults reported not knowing what to do to change their lifestyle so they could reduce their stress, so it just makes sense to talk about this a little.
here are the most common stress-reducing tasks that some people do, according to the survey: read more →
how many will survive? join the survey; get the updates.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
if you’re having one of the toughest tax seasons in years, you’re not alone. in fact, you’re one in an unusually large crowd.
unless trends reverse in the last four weeks of tax season 2013, many practitioners – mainly those practicing solo or in small firms – should be bracing for significant declines in revenues and profits from last year.
tax season trending:
better or worse than last year?
some 64% of solo practitioners are reporting “worse” trends than last year, with half of them terming it “much” worse. about 16% are enjoying “better” trends overall.
to be sure, small firms may be feeling more than their fair share of pain. but many larger firms are hurting too. among the largest firms surveyed, 30% are experiencing positive trends, with 50% reporting negative trends.
more busy season trends:
practitioners across the nation are reporting severe issues. for one practitioner in monroe, la., the season has been running “slow as molasses!”
for some, tax season 2013 may be the last straw. “between the delays caused by the fiscal cliff, software delays and angry clients, it may be time for retirement,” says one veteran of 35 tax seasons and a partner in an 11-partner firm.
“all the irs delays have put my clients in slow motion mode!,” says liz hegarty, an austin, texas, soloist. “my in-flow is down 25% but all that means is a really compacted ‘extension’ craze in april! and i already have a crazy extension ‘season’ due to late k-1s.”
the latest analysis of survey data sheds light on key financial metrics, including trends in:
will this be remembered as another “tax season from hell?”
join the survey; get the updates.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the last time tax professionals slogged through a tax season from hell, it was 2008, the financial world was crashing into a million little pieces, and 1 in 4 accountants was reporting disastrous operations.
before that, long-timers might recall 1995, when the irs deployed a filing fraud crackdown that delayed millions of refunds.
more tax season research: tax pro’s turn negative on busy season | busy season outlook 2013 | top tax season trends, issues and opportunities
this year, with the irs opening the filing gates not until march 4, could 2013 become another one for the record books?
in the latest update to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, topline findings include:
and a couple more ideas for high performing firms.
by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide
if you have staff, have happy, cheerful, helpful people. don’t surround yourself with downers and nay-sayers. make sure they are 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. you need to create that atmosphere.
here are three things that might help:
washington brinksmanship spells big crunch for preparers. join the survey; get the updates.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
with tax season 2013 delayed by last-minute code changes, staffing problems and software glitches, the mood of the profession is turning markedly sour.
“irs delays will cause confusion and errors, and many upset clients,” says charles postal at santos postal, a five-partner firm in rockville, md. “more extensions will depress cash flow.”
at the same, postal adds, “clients will have more tax needs, but the struggling economy will depress their ability and desire to pay for services.”
in order to battle the business pressures, postal’s firm is “pushing back on fees, using standardized billing by product rather than hours, and adding on charges for technology, audit and tax notice insurance.”