Taking Inventory

For lack of a better term the span between February 15 and April 15 is when most of us at our company go into a sort of involuntary hibernation.

That two-month window is when we get a lot of the tedious administrative work done – such as updating our records in Salesforce, preparing lists of potential merger candidates and generously spreading our bylines around various accounting centric publications.

Any calls or visits to firms during that period are usually to the much larger practices, where the managing partners don’t have a stack of 1040s on their desk the height of a double-pastrami on rye at New York’s famed Carnegie Deli. As I’ve mentioned previously in this space our calls are usually treated like a boiler room stock broker pitching a minimum investment of $5,000. And that’s the way our good clients treat us. Decorum and public decency prevent me from describing a typical cold-call conversation.

So, after the frenzy of another tax season dies down and we hear ad infinitum the familiar vow from practitioners of “that’s the last tax season I will ever work,” I usually suggest that their post-filing period begin with an annual checklist to determine their goals, not only for the short term but for several years down the road as well.

For example have any of the partner’s timelines for slowing down changed in the past year? Have you admitted any new partners or lost any large clients? How about any critical staff members closing in on retirement? Are you thinking of adding another location or client niche service line? Do you have adequate bench strength to ensure an orderly succession?

The above-cited are often the uncomfortable questions that firms have to address but have the convenient “out” of tax season before they have to confront them.

And I’m here to tell you that sans extensions, you have at most three to four weeks before you have to do so.

For some firms it might be status quo and they’re perfectly happy the way the ship is running. For others it may signal the need for a change in strategy to ensure the long-term success of the practice. Regardless, much like a big box retailer takes monthly inventory; I respectfully suggest that many of you do the same to get a clear idea where you’re headed for the rest of 2015 and beyond.

Because after mid-April, we’re off and running and coming to a firm near you.