It's Tax Season...Again!

17 years in and tax season is still a thing. Actually, if you talk to my husband or kids, they will tell you it's always tax season. This is the time of year when I am asked questions like "why are you working so late?" or "why are you working on a Sunday?" and my tender and loving response...because it's tax season.

---

When I entered this industry in 2005 tax season was really a thing. We worked 60-80 hours a week from 3rd week of January through April 15th. Long hours spent in an office with sunlight only being seen through the windows near our cubicles. But the summer, was slow. We were able to balance down time with the crazy time and flexibility was an ever-evolving thing. From August 15th through October 15th, we had our second busy season, but the hours were much easier. Instead of 60+ hours we were more like 50 max.

As you grew through the ranks, you were rewarded with more challenging work, more client contact and more responsibilities. The job market was competitive but if you were good at this work, you were in demand.

ENTER IN >> TCJA in 2017. The most overhaul the tax code had seen since 1986 and I mean it was brutal. Everything was new and we all learned on the fly because it was all starting now. So many new provisions from international tax to qualified business income deductions to interest expense limits.

2020 and COVID: We were all thinking we were finally getting the hang of new provisions and enter in March of 2020 when everything shut down. We all were able to work from home and this seemed really good for a while. But for most of us it meant much longer days which spread into longer nights, sitting at a computer to get everything done. We were helping clients with CARES Act and credits for paying employees who were unable to work. We were not considered essential personnel, but we did not get a break from the constant changing and evolving tax landscape. Almost 3 years later and we are all dealing with hybrid work schedules, in office requirements, training staff that have been left behind because of all of the change and TCJA rearing its head and many parts that were delayed are now coming into being.

So, what does tax season look like today? Well, there are positives and negatives that have come from so much change.

Let's examine the positives. We are leveraging technology in a way that it has never been leveraged before. Our people coming into public accounting are moving past data entry and jumping right into consultative mindset and analytical thought processes. We can work from almost ANYWHERE and have had time to do things we never thought possible pre-COVID.

For example, before COVID I would drop my 2 kids off at before and after care at 6:45AM and catch the 7:10AM train into Boston. They would go to school all day and go to after care where my husband typically picked them up by 5PM. I would come home 3 nights a week in time for bed-time and 2 nights a week on the last train home to accommodate tax season hours.

Post COVID my kids get on the bus from home at 8AM and get home off the bus at 3PM. My husband, myself or both of us get them on and off each day. They have more free time to play outside, do homework, be home and relax then ever before. I cannot put into words how AMAZING that feels for 2 working parents. Previously we had discussed working opposite schedules or one of us staying home full time to be able to do this.

Now negatives: people were very sick, the world is kind of a mess right now, we are all a little burnt out. Some of the new people entering this field were not given proper training because technology was not properly leveraged. We stopped talking face to face and zoom fatigue is a REAL THING!

For some of us the burnout of working 24/7 is wearing us down and causing disruptions in the industry. Finding people that want to work 50-60 hours 4-5 months out of the year (minimum) is difficult. The number of people sitting for the CPA exam has plummeted and even enrollment in accounting programs in colleges has taken a hit.

What can we do? I find that there are a lot of us that thrive on positivity and evolution of the industry. We can embrace that culture is the most important factor in someone determining to build a career with a company. Understanding that we all have different views on what life should look like and how to keep both professional and personal life a priority are keys to success. We need to embrace automation and process improvement as well as find new ways to interact and engage team members. Culture does not have to be 100% in person. I believe you can have a positive culture with people feeling included and valued outside of an office. We just need to be intentional about how we communicate. We need to change the stigma around public accounting and maybe part of that means changing out we operate in this industry. What I do know is that there is a lot of change coming and we all need to embrace it and find a way to live with it.

---

What are some positive things we can do to help this industry become a more attractive one for everyone? Please comment and let me know your thoughts! 😁