Busy season is, well, busy.
It's not the easiest time of year to go out of your way to make time for nurturing those client relationships. If you work on taxes, or especially if you work on other aspects of a business client that your firm does taxes for, you've gotta reach out.
Doesn't have to take long. Doesn't have to be rich with substance.
But a simple "how are things?" and "what's going on these days?" and a "I've been thinking about you" all go a very long way.
I'm not a CPA. But I've hired quite a few. I'm a small business owner. Not an ideal client in every respect (certainly not high-wealth, but I'm working on that...) but when my CPA ignores me during tax season, I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that I'm the bottom rung client.
Don't get me wrong. I've worked in-house in a CPA firm through many a tax-seasons and I've done my fair share of tax prep both on a bookkeeping basis and as a volunteer with St Louis Tax Assistance Program. I know how crazy and demanding this time of year is. And so do some of your clients.
The rest of them don't need to know. But they might if you continue to ignore them. And they sure won't refer you work if they think you're already up to your eyeballs in alligators.
This is the worst time to send the message you are too busy for your clients. And this is absolutely the worst time to let them even THINK they are a bottom rung client--especially if they aren't.
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Your accountant sucks and here's why
They stopped learning, stopped caring and forgot what the purpose of their job is.
I never understood why my profession is governed by the idea that “old” is automatically good – that an individual with 30 years of experience is often seen as “knowledgeable” and “experienced.” While experience do play a big role in our industry (my mentor has been in the industry for 15+ years and I definitely respect a lot of that,) it is not everything. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of clueless people with 30 years of experience under their belt. Truth is, they stopped learning or caring about 20 years ago.
I know it may be hard to believe for some, but business has changed, accounting has changed. We know things today that we didn’t know only 5 years ago (let alone 30.) Microsoft Excel (one of the most prized software for accountants) has come a long way since version 5 in 1993. People stopped running DOS on their computers (you’d be amazed how many accountants out there still keep 1 DOS computer in their office just to run their “custom” accounting software.) Sarbanes-Oxley Act wasn’t even around until 2002, and even this young regulation has gone under significant change from the guidelines of AS2 to AS5. And yes, we’ve (for the most part) stopped using paper ledgers to avoid a complete “data loss” as a result of spilled coffee and to avoid the origami lessons required to fold them neatly into a binder.
Wake up and see that the world around us is changing and we must change with it. Stop holding on to the “prestige” of having X years of accounting experience under your belt and start learning again. Remember that your job is to provide stakeholders with financial information that help them run their business. To answer questions like “what is the margin I make on my best selling item in the Western region during our peak season?” in the most effective and efficient way possible.
Just because that’s how you’ve done it for 30 years, doesn’t mean it is still the best way of doing it.
Reprinted with permission from DeepSky.