Tax season is undoubtedly the biggest ordeal of the year for any company accountant, but surely not every job duty is centered around tax filing obligations. There are financial statements to generate, bookkeeping matters to take care of, tax returns to extend, and budgeting plans to be made; all of that requires year-round vigilance. But what should your accountants do after tax season?
What Should Your Accountants Do After Tax Season?
That isn’t to say that your accountants don’t deserve a big break after the busiest time of the year. There is always a little bit of breathing room after taxes are filed, giving your bookkeeping department a chance to take a step back and recalibrate. This is the perfect time to review the previous year’s accounting activity to determine what went well, and what can be done better. Below, we at Indevia accounting have listed our 5 favorite things for accountants to do after filing their taxes.
Handle Unfiled Taxes, Extensions, and Audits
Just because taxes were filed doesn’t necessarily mean tax season is over. As a small business or franchise, you may need to apply for an extension to give you a little extra time to meet important deadlines. Your accountant may need to offer some assistance in the off-season to help the company organize its financial statements, correct mistakes, and go through the audit process if necessary. It’s a good idea to use this time to play catch-up in order to avoid audits and missed deadlines in the future.
Update Operations and Technology
After the busy spring months, you can take things a little slower during the summer. Thi sis a popular time of year for franchisees to upgrade their technology, update their systems, and implement new strategies to improve operational workflow. This should be seen as a necessary review process to help facilitate better accounting systems moving forward.
Are your operations profitable? Are workplace duties and expectations consistent? Do the numbers make sense with each review? Is your workflow set up for maximum quality and efficiency? Document what you are reviewing and work with your accounting department to come up with a list of much-needed updates. By next year’s tax season, you will already be miles ahead of where you were in previous years. With Indevia’s robotic process automation for accounting, you can stay at the top.
Create a New Marketing Plan
Again, the post-tax season is the time for evaluation and reformation. Think about your current marketing strategies and what your overall spending looks like and compare it with the state of your taxes. Are there certain areas where you could have cut costs or saved money by implementing new strategies? Test these new operations out now! Set a new budget or tracking system for yourself and meet at least once per quarter to go over these plans. Evaluate how your company is running from the inside out and use this advantageous time to make any changes you see fit.
Schedule a Post-Mortem Review
Post-mortems, also known as after-action reviews, are important meetings that involve all departments of your company. This is a meeting where you can dig into the details of the past year, identifying certain methods that were executed well and whether or not your profit goals were attained. It is equally important to recognize weaknesses and pitfalls, or areas where your projects may have failed. Then, use this information to recalibrate your accounting department into something more efficient towards satisfying your goals while reducing the amount of oversight for the following year.
Try Out Professional Development
Is your accounting department suffering a lull in action after the stressful wave of tax season has passed? This is an opportunity to invest in furthering the education of your employees. You and your accountants can access training that will assist in the development of new skills and an expansion of the insights used to keep your business afloat. Look into certifications, credits, and technical training opportunities that your accountants can spare some time to finally get done.
Sharpen Your Accounting Efficiency with Automated Bookkeeping Tools
During the off-season, you should be taking a deep dive into the inner workings of your accounting department, identifying both the strong and the weak spots for future improvement. Throughout the new professional development meetings, after-action debriefs, and strategy conferences, there is still more you can do to ensure great success with new types of operations. Indevia’s all-in-one accounting solution is a tool that allows you to process the more complicated accounting tasks automatically. Use this well-deserved break from tax season to consider onboarding a streamlined system to make the next tax season an absolute breeze! Get in touch with us today!
