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The right software lets fi rms provide invaluable direction to clients

A GUIDINGWHERE BUSINESS IS PERSONAL: HOOKS CPA

TIPS, TRENDS AND CONNECTIONS FOR USERS OF THOMSON REUTERS SOFTWARE ISSUE 2 | 2016

LIGHTTHE SURVEY SAYS... MAKING SENSE OF CLIENT FEEDBACK

TAX WORKFLOW EVALUATING YOUR EFFICIENCY

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2 SOLUTIONS ISSUE 2, 2016

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Solutions is published by the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, 6300 Interfirst Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108; 800.968.8900. Printed in the United States. Copyright 2016 Thomson Reuters, Issue 2, 2016. Photo credits: Cover: © Thinkstock; page 4 and above: © Thinkstock; page 6: © Pierre Maldonado (Jayson Brannon); page 7 and above: © THINKSTOCK/Thomas Northcut; pages 8 to 11, above, and cover (inset): © Kathy Anderson (Chasity Hooks); pages 12 to 13 and above: © REUTERS/Denis Balibouse; page 15: © Corbis.

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12Tax.TR.com/Facebook-USFirms

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Tax.TR.com/LinkedIn-USFirms

Tax.TR.com/YouTube-USFirms

ISSUE 2 | 2016

4NEWSLINE

What to know about 529 plan withdrawals; recent product releases; and the new president

of the American Payroll Association.

7IN YOUR WORDS

Falling in love with GoFileRoom and FirmFlow— and the benefits they bring.

8USER PROFILE

Hooks CPA takes a personal, consultative approach to meeting clients’ needs.

12INDUSTRY AT LARGE

The right practice management system can help firms reach their goals.

Questions or feedback? Email your thoughts to [email protected].

Join our online users’ forum, at Tax.TR.com/Community.

Find more on the web, at Tax.TR.com/CS.


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VIEWPOINT

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Thomson Reuters Takes Action Against Tax FraudIdentity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in America—and tax refund fraud was the most common form of identity theft for the past five years. On top of that, a recent IRS alert indicated a 400% increase in email tax scams this filing season over the last filing season.

But while the statistics may be grim, there is reason to be hopeful.

At Thomson Reuters, we take the trust of tax and accounting professionals seriously. We’re giving you the information you need to protect your firm and your clients, and we’re also aligning ourselves with some of the most powerful fraud-fighters in the galaxy.

When the IRS takes an average of 278 days to resolve identity theft cases, there’s no time to waste.

To start, Thomson Reuters is working with the IRS, states and other partners to combat tax refund identity theft. In March of 2015, I attended a Security Summit meeting in Washington, D.C. with IRS officials including Commissioner Koskinen, software developers, payroll and tax financial product processors and state tax administrators to discuss common challenges and ways to leverage collective resources to stem the tide of tax refund fraud. That was the first meeting of its kind. Participants at the Summit agreed to form a public-private partnership, with different groups focused on sharing information to detect and prevent refund fraud, strengthening authentication practices and also creating long-term strategies to develop proactive solutions to combat refund fraud.

Subsequent to the summit, over the course of two months a number of subcommittees were formed and we collaborated to identify new safeguards and security measures to prevent tax-related identity theft, ultimately agreeing that a multi-layered and coordinated approach was necessary to combat the ever-evolving methods thieves use to target taxpayers.

Much was accomplished in 2015 in preparation for tax season. As a result of the partnership’s detailed meetings, the IRS added more than 20 new data elements to the electronic filing schema to help authenticate taxpayer information. Now, they also require tax software providers to adhere to certain authentication standards to minimize criminals’ abilities to take over an individual’s account.

It’s also important to be aware of spear phishing schemes, many of which are aimed specifically at tax and accounting professionals. Spear phishing is a scam where an unsolicited email can contain attachments that—if opened—install malware on a device or within the network, which can track keystrokes including login credentials that could provide scammers access to firm data.

Because our clients entrust us with their personal information, accounting firms must protect themselves from this type of exploitation. You can report phishing schemes directly to the IRS, and Thomson Reuters is helping to prevent phishing by providing microsites to report issues and also offering tips and advice in our Help & How-To Center.

While there is no doubt that identity theft will continue to be an issue and regulations will continue to evolve, the proactive use of cutting-edge technology and the commitment of the IRS, software developers, tax firms and more can ease the burden on accountants.

Stay safe out there—and in the meantime, know that we’ve always got your back.

Regards,

Jon BaronManaging Director, Professional Segment, Tax & Accounting, Thomson Reuters

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NEWSLINE

CS Professional Suite®

ACCOUNTING & AUDITINGAccounting CS®

Accounting CS Client AccessAdvanceFlow®

Engagement CS®Workpapers CS™

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENTFileCabinet CS®

GoFileRoom®

MOBILE APPS Mobile CS®

myPay Solutions®NetClient CS®

PAYROLLAccounting CS Payroll

myPay Solutions

FIRM & WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT

Practice CS®FirmFlowTM

TAXUltraTax CS®

GoSystem® Tax RS Fixed Assets CS®

Planner CS® ToolBox CS®

WEB SERVICESSaaS for CS Professional Suite

Virtual Office CS®Web Builder CS®

NetClient CS®

Thomson Reuters OnvioTM

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENTOnvio Documents

CLIENT PORTAL SOLUTIONSOnvio Client Center

ACCOUNTING & AUDITINGOnvio Workpapers

FIRM & WORKFLOW MANAGMENT

Onvio Time and Billing

Important Things to Know About 529 Plan Withdrawals

W ith college starting up again soon, many clients will use 529 plan withdrawals to help pay the bills. The big advantage

of 529 plans is that qualified withdrawals are tax free. That’s easy to understand. However, the full story is a bit more complicated. Here are some important things to know about 529 plan withdrawals.

Withdrawals may be taxable (even in years with substantial college costs). Distributions are tax-free to the extent used to pay qualified higher education expenses (QHEEs). To calculate QHEEs, add up tuition, fees, room and board (if the student attends at least half time), books, supplies, computers, software and internet access costs. This total is then reduced by tax-free educational assistance (such as, PELL grants, scholarships, fellowships, and tuition discounts) and any costs used to claim other education deductions and credits.

If distributions exceed QHEEs, all or part of the withdrawn earnings is taxable. They may also be subject to a 10% penalty to the extent they exceed QHEEs unreduced by any tax-free educational assistance or costs used to claim other education deductions and credits.

Beware of withdrawals from 529 accounts funded with custodial account money. The client can take withdrawals and do whatever he or she wants with them—subject to the potential tax implications—so long as the account was funded with the client’s own money. On the other hand, if the account was funded with money from a custodial account set up for the 529 account beneficiary (the student), the withdrawals must be used for the benefit of the student. That’s because the funds in the 529 account legally belong to the beneficiary and not to the person who set up the account.

The payment designee should follow the money. Generally, the client can have the withdrawal check cut in his or the beneficiary’s (student’s) name or paid directly to the college. If not paid directly to the college, the check should be made out to whoever (the client or the student) will benefit from the funds. That way the tax consequences of the withdrawals will more easily “follow the money.” (Although not entirely clear, whoever benefits from the withdrawal should logically be the one to pay any taxes.)

Visit Tax.TR.com/Checkpoint for industry-leading intelligent information for tax and accounting professionals.

Thinkstock


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Jim Paille Achieves New Position with APAMay was a big month for Thomson Reuters myPay Solutions Director of Compliance Jim Paille, who was named as the new president of the American Payroll Association (APA).

“Technological advances, the rise of millennials in the workforce and other

factors are disrupting the accounting profession—including the payroll processing sector,” said Jon Baron, managing director, Professional segment, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting. “As a result, organizations are rethinking their business models and turning to advocates with the ideas, skills and expertise to lead during this time of rapid evolution. Jim Paille is one such leader.”

Jim has been a member of the APA, which provides payroll education, publications and training to more than 20,000

members nationwide, since it was founded in 1982. He served on its board of directors for the past 11 years, and as president-elect before moving into his new position in May.

At Thomson Reuters, Jim brings his 40 years’ worth of accounting and finance knowledge to his position as a payroll expert for myPay Solutions by regularly speaking at quarterly webcasts and an annual compliance webinar on recent and proposed payroll issues.

To learn more about myPay Solutions, which provides online payroll processing service in partnership with accounting firms, visit Tax.TR.com/myPaySolutions.

Jim will serve as president of the APA through May 2017. All of us here at Thomson Reuters send Jim our warmest congratulations on this honor.

The Latest EnhancementsCheck out these recent releases and enhancements for three of our most popular Thomson Reuters tax and accounting products

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Accounting CS, our integrated, real-time professional accounting software, is designed for professional accountants who serve multiple clients and is flexible enough to handle all types of industries and organizations.

Among the recent updates in Accounting CS:• You can now transfer a component of a client into another client—

for example, if you’re setting up a new client, it’s possible to take the Chart of Accounts from an existing client in a similar industry and transfer it into the new client

• Integration has been added with GoFileRoom (automating the print process), with QuickBooks® Online, and with Thomson Reuters Onvio Documents

• The efficiency of the Batch Handwritten Payroll Checks data entry screen has been increased

• You can now customize and edit the layout of accounts receivable deposit slips

• Accounting CS Client Access now has the ability to restrict certain general ledger accounts from being selected by the client—for example, the professional accountant can restrict accounts that clients normally wouldn’t make entries to (i.e., depreciation or contra accounts)

GoFileRoom, our advanced electronic document management solution, allows tax and accounting professionals to easily store

and manage documents electronically, while also automating scanning processes and workflow.

Updates and enhancements include:• New browser and device-independent document

management capabilities• API initial release, including document retrieval• Enhanced BIDI Document screen, including column filtering• Enhanced FirmFlow notifications• Compatibility with Microsoft® Office 2016• Support for changing compliance due dates• Upgraded full-text search engine with enhanced performance• Foreign language compatibility

Workpapers CS, our workpaper management and trial balance software, helps firms manage workpapers with real-time online collaboration and powerful tools for managing documents and data from a variety of sources.

Among the recent updates:• Workpaper reference links to workpapers• The ability to transfer information between clients

Learn more about these products—or any CS Professional Suite or Onvio product—at Tax.TR.com/Accounting-Solutions.



BEHINDTHESCENES

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SOLUTIONS: As a team leader in Sales, what are your responsibilities?

JAYSON BRANNON: I have a couple of main objectives. One is to manage the Web Builder CS sales team, which is the people management side of my job. The other two components are overseeing the sales objectives of Accounting CS and Onvio.

What does a typical day look like for you?I work with my team to understand their challenges and how they can better meet their sales goals. I also provide the customer perspective in our cross-departmental meetings, so we can ensure their voice is represented.

How do you measure success for clients and Thomson Reuters?We’re looking to put out the best product mix we can. As Onvio becomes a mature suite of products, we want to give our clients solutions that are cutting-edge and allow them to be more efficient and profitable.

What inspires you most in your profession?When I was a sales rep, one of the things that was most impactful was when firms would tell me that after implementing our software they were able to put in less overtime during tax season, which meant they could spend more time with their kids or grandkids. Now I’m thinking strategically about what we can do to create more of those success stories.

QA

SMOOTH SAILING

On the water: Jayson isn’t a sailor, but he is an avid boater. “Spending time outdoors in the summer is awesome in Michigan,” he says. “It’s even better when you’re on a boat.”

At home: When he’s not enjoying his lakefront view, Jayson enjoys being creative with home improvements, such as building a bar surrounded by his own artwork.

Fresh catch: Jayson is an experienced angler and he loves to cook. “My favorite is catching and cooking my own dinner for friends and family, maybe some walleye or perch,” he says.

Paving the Way for ResultsMEET JAYSON BRANNON, a team leader who joined Thomson Reuters in 2009 as an associate account representative in Sales. He was promoted to his current position in January 2016.

Pierre Maldonado


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INYOURWORDS

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When you set ambitious growth targets, having the right arsenal of tools can help you hit them. That has certainly proved to be the case for SS&C Solutions, Inc., which has four offi ce locations in Kansas.

In 2015, the fi rm decided to migrate from FileCabinet CS to GoFileRoom and FirmFlow. The practice did its homework fi rst, and saw that the tools were a good fi t.

“We reviewed FirmFlow and, quite frankly, fell in love and moved forward,” says Brian Lang, CPA, CVA, CEPA, the fi rm’s chief technology offi cer. “We got the ball rolling for the transition over the summer and went live with the product October 1, which gave us time to get acclimated before busy season hit.

As it turns out, though, fall 2015 was a pretty busy season for the fi rm anyway. As part of the practice’s growth objective, SS&C Solutions acquired two fi rms and merged them into its existing operations. According to Lang, FirmFlow helped the practice make the most of those mergers, which increased the fi rm’s revenues by 37% year over year as of April.

“I believe FirmFlow helped us manage those mergers and acquire additional business,” he says. “It helped us manage that process more effectively, because we were able to spend less time chasing status and moving paper, and more time in other areas to improve turnaround in client deliverables.”

Thanks to the mergers, the fi rm nearly doubled the number of income tax returns it prepared—productivity that was facilitated by GoFileRoom and FirmFlow. Lang says GoFileRoom and FirmFlow are better suited to the complexities that come with a larger fi rm like SS&C Solutions.

Although the fi rm has been paperless for a number of years, it was still using paper fi les to track projects, something that is no longer necessary with GoFileRoom and FirmFlow.

Lang cites a number of ways GoFileRoom and FirmFlow have helped improve operations. From a management standpoint, the fi rm is able to see where projects are in real time: how many returns are in process, what stages they’re in and how long they’ve been there.

“That lets us identify where we have bottlenecks,” he says. “We can reach out in real time to get that thing moving.”

Real-time communication, combined with greater ease of information-sharing in a fully paperless process, helps reduce the physical barriers to accounting work, Lang says. “It allows us to employ individuals in areas where they are available instead of where we have the work,” he explains.

Customer service has also improved, because the fi rm can provide information through client portals in real time. Plus, these faster, more effi cient processes mean benefi ts for the staff, too.

“People can work remotely more effi ciently than ever,” Lang says. “That’s allowed a better work-life balance for the staff—me included.”

More Get Up and GoHow new software tools helped this fi rm boost effi ciency—and revenue

THINKSTOCK / Thomas Northcut

FirmFlow helped the practice make the most of those mergers, which increased the fi rm’s revenues by 37% year over year as of April.


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PERSONALPERSONALCustomer service comes fi rst at Hooks CPA, where staff combine business savvy with personalized support

SHE MAKES IT

USERPROFILE



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C hasity Hooks, CPA, had no experience working in a public accounting fi rm when she established Hooks CPA in 2008, though she had been handling all the accounting work at an oil fi eld company.

What she did have was many years of experience in customer service. Hooks began working at age 14—everything from waitressing and telemarketing, to jobs using her degrees in respiratory therapy, human resource management and accounting.

Still, Hooks had never worked under another accountant, and everything she’d done while working for oil fi eld companies after earning her accounting degree was self-taught. Plus, she was fi nding that the work wasn’t fulfi lling. In fact, it was downright bad for her health. “I had a lot of stress and I went to work with chest pains every day,” Hooks says. “I fi nally had enough. I realized I needed to be self-employed.”

So she set forth launching her own fi rm. From the beginning, Hooks knew what kind of services she wanted to offer at her fi rm. It was a natural extension of her years of work as a respiratory therapist, with the only difference being that she went from patient care to client service.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS“The basis for the fi rm was the idea of being the hand to guide a small business owner or anyone who has a dream of going out and selling their product or service, but just didn’t have a clue how to get started,” she says.

Hooks says most of the fi rm’s clients are “mom-and-pop” operations, which often need services on a monthly basis. Hooks CPA takes a personal, consultative approach to meeting clients’ needs, offering services such as bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax processing, worker’s compensation audits and insurance audits. The fi rm also provides general consulting, such as training in QuickBooks or setting up and maintaining inventories.

“I want to be their right-hand person—the person who comes to mind whenever they have a problem,” she says. “I provide the kind of attention the smaller and mid-size businesses we cater to really need.”



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CAPITALIZING ON SUCCESSThe firm has grown more than Hooks initially expected, so she takes advantage of every opportunity to capitalize on that. One example is the Practice Forward subscription consulting and content offering from Thomson Reuters. Hooks says Practice Forward’s business model concepts mirror much of what the firm was already doing, but helps them do it more strategically.

“Accountants give so much stuff away for free,” she says. “We have so much knowledge and people think, ‘Oh, I’ll just ask my accountant that question’—but it’s often not something tangible you can bill them for.”

Hooks says Practice Forward has helped her firm capture the value of sharing that knowledge with clients. For one thing, the firm implemented a flat-rate billing structure, looking at the services each client needs during the year and creating an all-inclusive package that’s billed at a monthly rate. Clients benefit from a predictable monthly cost and the firm benefits from more consistent cash flow.

Thanks to Practice Forward, the firm has also started offering one-hour training sessions for clients, where they can ask all the “nit-picky” questions the firm was never able to charge for in the past—for a fee.

FIRM FACTSBASICS: Established in 2008, Hooks CPA is based in Lafayette, La. Chasity Hooks, CPA, leads a full-time staff of seven women, plus one woman who works part-time. The firm offers a full array of tax, accounting and consulting services. With an emphasis on small businesses, the firm’s motto is “We handle the business of your business.”

WEBSITE: At the firm’s website, chookscpa.com, there are a variety of financial tools for clients, as well as a secure client portal.

SOFTWARE: Hooks CPA uses a number of Thomson Reuters software products: Practice CS, UltraTax CS, Fixed Assets CS, Planner CS, ToolBox CS, FileCabinet CS and NetClient CS.


WHERE RELATIONSHIPS MATTERClient satisfaction is essential to any successful business, and Hooks gives her team all the credit for the fi rm’s high level of client retention and referrals.

“Yes, I can go out and sell our business, but I think the reason clients stay with us is the strength of our team,” Hooks says. “The fact that I have a great staff of knowledgeable, personable, intelligent women who are really good at the work they do—and really good at forming relationships with clients—is key to our fi rm’s success.”

Right now, the fi rm’s staff happens to be all women, which Hooks sees as a competitive advantage. “I don’t want to be derogatory toward the guys, but I think women are better at handling stress and are much more in tune with being nurturing and taking care of people,” Hooks says.

Understanding that happy employees mean happy clients, Hooks makes employee satisfaction a priority. Her staff has the fl exibility to leave the offi ce to take care of family or other personal needs, as long as the work gets done. Hooks also provides plenty of perks, from team lunches and shopping expeditions to a margarita blender in the kitchen that’s put to good use, especially during the frequent events in their downtown area. It’s a fun, family-oriented work environment—and regular bonuses help, too.

“We may not pay as much as some fi rms,” Hooks says, “but we offer a lot of other perks you can’t really put monetary value to.” The ability to work remotely is one of those perks, which is made much simpler by the suite of Thomson Reuters products in use at the fi rm.

According to Hooks, the workfl ow and effi ciency of the fi rm has improved signifi cantly thanks to the integrated suite, which also made last tax season more productive and profi table. “It really helped us to step up our game,” she says. “We’re very happy with the return on investment.”

Technology helps Hooks offer superior work-life balance to her staff, and herself. That means more time for other activities she enjoys—which include cooking. “I think of cooking as therapy,” she says. “If I’m having a stressful day, I’ll open a bottle of wine and cook up something great.”

Chasity Hooks has a sure-fi re recipe for chicken parmesan. “Everything is fresh and homemade. I think when you cook and you enjoy cooking, people can feel the love you put into it.” Likewise, when you put love into your work, customers are bound to feel top-notch service.

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“The basis for the fi rm was the idea of being the hand to guide a small business owner or someone who had this dream of going out and selling their product or service, but just didn’t have a clue how to get started.”

— Chasity Hooks

Kathy Anderson



INDUSTRYATLARGE

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MAPPING YOUR

PATH TO SUCCESSUsing a practice management system to track and share performance data is helping this firm reach its goals

Imagine an airline pilot sitting down in the cockpit and saying, “Okay, we’re going to taxi down the runway and we’ll set the compass to west and with any luck we’ll wind up in Los Angeles.”

That’s the analogy Ryan J. Niedoba, chief operating officer at Niedoba, Beppel & Company in Berlin, N.J., uses to describe

what happens if a business doesn’t have a plan for achieving its goals.

PRACTICE CS AT WORKTo chart its course with confidence, Niedoba, Beppel & Company relies on its practice management system—Practice CS—to provide all the data necessary to determine where it is and where it needs to be.

Every week, each member of the 14-person staff gets a metric report, essentially a report card that lists a number of key performance measures. These include net and gross utilization—also known as billable time—along with target ranges, for all the projects they completed that week. The report lets each staff member see how well they did at reaching their various targets for the week,


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along with a breakdown of each project. Did they complete the project on budget? Under budget? Over budget? The report includes week-over-week comparisons as well as details on how employees are doing toward their year-end targets.

“It’s an opportunity for us to identify a skills gap, or maybe there’s a client who’s in need of improvement because the information they gave us isn’t adequate,” Niedoba explains. “Along with those metrics we provide individual commentary on specific items they should keep in mind for the following week.”

The firm also publishes a weekly digest email that shows how the firm did overall, which includes firm-wide figures, individual

recognitions, firm news and policy updates. According to Niedoba, these two reports give employees a chance to track their own performance and compare it to the rest of the firm’s results.

“We unofficially refer to it as mission control for our practice,” Niedoba says. “That’s where all this information resides. We can make assumptions, but without hard facts to back them up it’s a hard case to make. So having a good practice management tool really enables us to share good, accurate information.”

DATA DRIVES Niedoba has been using data to drive performance ever since his first business venture, an Italian ice franchise he purchased his junior year of college. He says it proved

to be a very effective way to manage “17 scatterbrained high school team members” and make sure everyone was in sync. He’s been applying data to improve productivity ever since.

At Niedoba, Beppel & Company, the strategy is paying off in profitability gains. One way to measure that is utilization. The firm’s current utilization rate is 80.5%.

“The higher percentage of time your team is spending working on client-related matters, the more profitability and revenue it’s going to generate for your firm,” Niedoba says. “That’s why we think it’s incredibly critical to measure, monitor and track utilization.”

This data tracking and measurement reveals other areas for improvement, too, which may have nothing to do with individual employee performance.

“We want to minimize the amount of time being spent on what I call the lost admin time—time spent going through junk email or having unproductive conversations,” Niedoba says. “By tracking this, we discovered we were losing 30 hours a month because our IT infrastructure was not up to snuff. Once we identified that we were able to implement a change and cut that number in half over just a couple of months.”

Of course, it’s not all about the numbers. Every business must have a clear strategy. But the numbers don’t lie and they aren’t open to interpretation, which is why the firm relies on hard data to measure its performance.

“You need to have a consistent playbook for getting things done, and practice management software can’t do that for you,” Niedoba explains. “But without documenting and replicating your playbook throughout your client base, you’re leaving an awful lot of things to chance.”

No firm wants to leave their destination to chance. Instead, design a data-driven playbook with the right practice management system.

REUTERS / Denis Balibouse



ANSWERS&IDEAS

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Have you ever thought in detail about the inefficiencies that impact your daily work? There might be more than you realize—and regardless of your role, everyone must collaborate effectively for the firm’s overall success.

Here are some common tasks that can happen in each step of the tax workflow process. How well is each person in your firm prepared to tackle these responsibilities, based on his/her role?

1. Preseason Readiness When gearing up for tax season, it’s important to walk through everything you do each fall to prepare for tax season. Make sure you know who performs each step in the workflow by clarifying the roles of each person in the firm—including daily responsibilities and how much time is invested in each responsibility. Preseason readiness tasks can range from system synchronization, to proforma of client data, to collation, assembly and physical/electronic delivery.

2. Tax Planning During the tax planning stage, the firm identifies clients for tax planning services and sets up tax plan projects for them. Tax planning tasks can range from preparing and sending client communication materials, to generating reports for clients, to providing additional check-in evaluations with clients.

3. Client Info Collection Collecting client information is a continuous, ongoing task throughout every step of this process. Tasks for client info collection can range from ensuring you have a signed engagement letter from your client, to confirming payment of estimates, to routing to the Chief Risk Officer to confirm all of the information is in order.

4. Front-End Processing Once you collect all that client data, you enter into the front-end processing stage to assess whether the client gave you everything you need. This step involves primarily

administrative tasks. Some common tasks are doing front-end scanning and data imports, estimating hours required for engagements and reviewing prior year returns.

5. Data Entry & Preparation Tasks for this step range from importing source document amounts, to making all necessary federal and state-level entries, to reviewing on paper or onscreen with tickmarks and notes. If you discover that any information is missing, now is the time to go back to that ongoing client info collection step, and get the data you need.

6. Review & Sign-off Tasks here can range from entering review notes and conducting a review meeting with staff accountants, to staff accountants implementing recommended changes, to obtaining a partner signature (which may involve routing back to the reviewer once or twice).

7. Assembly & Delivery This step primarily involves the admin team or office manager. Generating a PDF and printing and manipulating returns is the first stage of assembly and delivery. Often, excessive manual manipulation of documents occurs, which can result in a lot of wasted time. The returns must then be delivered to clients for review and signature, and then the firm must ensure they’ve received a completed 8879 from the client.

8. Meeting & E-File The final step in this process. Tasks range from ensuring clients schedule appointments, to monitoring e-file acknowledgments daily, to providing easy-to-understand explanations for clients about their tax returns and setting the groundwork for planning, estimates and additional work.

To learn more and see the challenges for the specific roles in the firm at each of the eight steps, download our white paper at Tax.TR.com/Workflow-Assessment.

PRESEASONREADINESSSTEP

1TAX

PLANNINGSTEP

2CLIENT INFOCOLLECTIONSTEP

3FRONT-END

PROCESSINGSTEP

4DATA ENTRY

AND PREPSTEP

5REVIEW AND

SIGN-OFFSTEP

6ASSEMBLY

AND DELIVERYSTEP

7MEETING

AND E-FILESTEP

8

Maximize Your Firm’s Efficiency with a Tax Workflow AssessmentEvaluate the effectiveness of the tax workflow process at your firm


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When a request came from senior management to survey the firm’s clients, you took that request and ran with it. You solicited input from the staff, defined your goals and audience, carefully crafted your questions, calculated the number of responses that would make the survey a success, tested the survey and sent it out.

And suddenly your inbox is stuffed with answers waiting to be interpreted.

So…what now?

First of all, give yourself a pat on the back for even sending the survey out in the first place. Too many businesses don’t bother surveying their customers. According to a 2014 survey by online survey provider

SurveyMonkey, 83% of businesses that describe themselves as “successful” measure customer satisfaction1.

Next, understand that you need to give consideration to all the feedback—praise and criticism. If you find some less-than-complimentary comments, this is a golden opportunity to fix the situation before you lose clients to a competitor.

Now it’s time to analyze the survey data. If you’ve used an online survey-building tool like SurveyMonkey, Polldaddy, SurveyGizmo or another of the dozens of tools available, the level of help available to you will depend on the plan you’ve chosen. You can also Google “how to interpret a customer satisfaction survey” or a variation to find

helpful tips, although you may have to wade through some sales pitches to find information (SurveyMonkey has a good, if basic, primer at surveymonkey.com/mp/how-to-analyze-survey-data).

But you can also just use the old-fashioned method: glance it over and look for patterns in the answers. Does one client think you should put a less-perfumed soap in your office bathroom? Take it with the proverbial grain of salt (although it might be worth considering for clients with allergies). Do three-quarters of the respondents think your fees are too high? Now that’s something to look into.

If the respondents have indicated they want to be contacted, contact them! This is another great opportunity you don’t want to let slip by. Use their preferred method of contact—phone, email, etc.—and let them have their say. In most cases, loyalty rewards honesty, transparency and the willingness to make things right. People just want to know their concerns are being heard.

And as you work to address those concerns, make sure you or one of your staff contacts the client personally to thank them for their input and give them an idea of how they helped to make things better. We all like to feel invested in the businesses we patronize, and to know they’ve helped spark a change for the better can make someone’s day.

By the way, make sure you keep track of any client contact or follow-up in a central place where everyone who might need to access the information can easily do so. You should also track the results of any changes made, as well as additional input you get from other clients.

The topic of customer satisfaction surveys is so wide and deep that the information could fill up a college course, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that the process of interpreting survey responses doesn’t have to be sophisticated or complicated. It just requires keeping an open mind, and really listening to your clients’ answers. So…what now? Onward and upward, that’s what!

You’ve Got Feedback. So…What Now?

1.https://www.surveymonkey.com/blog/2014/03/04/measure-customer-satisfaction/

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