Long ago, Benjamin Franklin rightly said that “There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes” Unfortunately, we can’t escape either death or tax season, but fortunately, we can figure out how to deal with the stress of tax season. While the New Year is a time of celebration and hope for better things to come, it also means tax season is nearing. It brings with itself the stress for both accountants and for taxpayers.
While long work hours and a heavy workload are psychologically and physically stressful for accountants during tax season, the fear of owing the government a large sum in back taxes is frequently the main source of stress for taxpayers, not to mention the anxiety of a tax audit. So, In this article, we will discuss tips to mitigate & manage tax season stress along with the role & benefits of offshoring staff!
A Few Tips to Manage Tax Season Stress!
After talking to professionals in the area & other mental health experts, we’ve narrowed down a few tips which can significantly help in reducing the tax season stress. Read them below!
Exercise and Eat better!
When we are stressed, we tend to crave stuff that is bad for us, especially when it comes to food. If you are putting in 10-12 hours of work a day, what you should do is, eat what’s healthy, nutritious & good for your gut. Eating well accompanied by an exercise regime of 30-40 minutes a day goes a long way. Exercising won’t just keep you physically fit; it’ll also make you mentally strong, which will consequently make you more efficient.
Hire Offshore Staff!
It gets quite hard to find full-time assistance for tax season, but you can supplement your team with Offshore Staffing firms where you can hire staff on either a full-time or part-time basis. Offshore staff will reduce the impact of tax season across your firm, lessening the burden on your employees. If you know what you need and have a good hiring process in place, now is the time to get that extra assistance. Offshore staffing helps you build capacity so that a lot of your compliance gets done by your offshore team, and your onshore team gets more time & energy to invest behind their clients and their business.
Use the Latest Technology!
To date, more than 60% of accounting firms use accounting software solutions. For many, tax season appears to be the worst time to consider an investment in a new software package, but having the advanced Technology on your side will surely speed up your efficiency & increase your productivity. As demand for accounting software grows, new & updated accounting technology will keep coming to help with this need.
Don’t Forget to Take Breaks!
With the long work hours and high levels of stress, burnout is inevitable. To avoid it, you need to draw a clear line between work and home.
You should make sure you squeeze in time for taking care of yourself and for doing things you enjoy. When you are on a fast-paced career track, you don’t want to slow down, but sometimes cutting back a little can help you rejuvenate & save you from total burnout later, which can be detrimental. Focus on your long-term goals of being successful and not on how many clients you can jam into one day.
Maintain a Healthy Work Culture!
Having a healthy work culture is a natural stress reliever. Remind your employees of how grateful you are for their contributions. Words of appreciation and thankfulness are scientifically proven to relieve stress. Further, offshore staffing will surely help in keeping employees happy & healthy, which consequently makes the whole working environment vibrant & positive.
Tax season is approaching & now is the ideal time to think about how to adequately prepare for the extra work, longer hours & stricter deadlines that accompany this time of year. Even companies that have accountants on staff often need to complement their team with extra, highly qualified talent. Prior to this pandemic, about 6% of the accounting firms used offshore staffing. That percentage has now risen to almost 42%.
Benefits Of Offshore Staffing!
We’ve listed down a few benefits of offshore staffing as follows:
- Provide relief to your already overworked in-house staff.
- Flexible weekly hiring options of 10/20/ 30/ 40 hours/week or hiring on-demand.
- No payroll taxes, compliance, benefits/health insurance, infrastructure costs & overheads
- Cost-cutting as the hourly wage is less & ranges from $9 to $14/hour only.
- Hire as per your Needs – (Shortlist from pre-screened resumes, interview, test, and hire)
- No recruitment fee or upfront fee
- Flat & transparent pricing
- No long-term issues or commitments
- Tax Season specific hiring
- New Talent pool to explore
Tasks That Can Be Offshored Easily
- Tax-Related matters such as Planning Projections, Reviewing, etc.
- Daily Tasks such as Managing AR/AP, Payment of bills, etc.
- Periodic Tasks such Month End Close, Quarterly review & Financial year Report.
- Strategic Advisory Matters such as Planning, M&A, Valuation and another sort of advisory)
- Business-related Matters such as Team Evaluation, Managing team, Designing of Incentive Plan, Evaluating Performance of Department, etc.
Summing Up!
Implementing the above-discussed tips & benefits of offshoring, you’ll certainly be able to mitigate the tax season stress quite significantly. Further, Contrary to a common myth that offshore staffing changes a lot in your day-to-day work, there’s actually very little that changes which is almost negligible. With the efficient implementation of a couple of practices, you will yourself realize there was barely anything that made much difference. Offshore staffing opens up a myriad of options for firms, from cost-cutting, reducing workload to finding staff aligned to your firm’s vision & culture. Thus, firms must explore it.
Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.
