Back to business – for everyone!

No, that was not a mild 3.0 on the Richter Scale most of you felt last week, but rather the collective exhale of thousands of exuberant CPAs delighted that another 1040 season is in the books.

Now it’s back to business as usual – not only for 50,000 or so accounting firms across the country, but for us as well.

Firms that from mid-February through April 18^th treated us like telemarketers trying to convince them of the virtues of the pocket fisherman or how good a Chia Pet would look in their offices, are beginning to once again address the succession issues that a busy filing season managed to sideline – albeit temporarily.

So for the next few weeks, our team embarks on the gradual process of resurrecting the relationships we formed during BF (Before Filing) and hopefully, pick up moderately close to where we left off before their clients began dropping tax organizers like a Vermont snowfall.

Now in my fourth full year of making the difficult transition to the consulting world, I’ve come to expect a number of post-tax season inevitabilities.

Topping the charts is of course, the oft-heard vow of “this was absolutely my last tax season, and I want out.” While that mantra may resonate well into June, I’ve come to learn that by November, many practitioners will have adopted a revisionist version of exactly what transpired during those 18 hour days, six and often seven days a week a bit earlier in the year.

The other is a pledge to make a good hire after busy season that will alleviate any or all succession issues. Case in point: one practitioner client of ours has been seeking such a solution for 18 months. No matter how many times I tell him, if he couldn’t hire and retain someone in a year and a half, it’s probably time to look elsewhere for an answer. Besides what makes him think that if he makes such a hire that he/she will work out?

Lastly, I’m counting the minutes until I hear from a former potential seller who now fancies themselves as an entrepreneur and has determined that if they become a buyer firm, the issues of both growth and succession will be solved.

So let me understand this, if they lacked the capacity for succession before, they can now handle a larger firm – with the possibility of some owners of the seller firm stepping down as well? Congratulations, you will have effectively doubled your succession problems.

Let the fun begin!