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Tax season workflow

This category covers running a firm through the season. Posts explain the stages a return moves through, preparer and reviewer queues, return status tracking, capacity planning and staffing, and how to measure the hours staff spend keying in numbers that are already printed. Practice management and workflow software are compared by job, and AI for accounting firms is treated as a workflow question. Document collection and follow-up have their own categories. Start with "How to Automate Tax Season, One Stage at a Time", which maps each stage of a return to the work that can and cannot be automated.

  1. Tax Season Post-Mortem: Questions for Next Year

    Run a tax season post-mortem with your staff: the questions to ask, the numbers to pull, and how to turn the answers into next season's plan in May.

    October 16, 2026tax seasonplanningworkflow

  2. Tax Season Workflow: The Stages of a Return in a Firm

    A tax season workflow mapped from intake to e-file: each stage a return passes through, who owns it, and the handoff where returns usually stall.

    October 13, 2026workflowtax seasonprocess

  3. Busy Season Staffing for Accounting Firms

    Busy season staffing for accounting firms: how many people to add, which roles seasonal staff can fill, how to onboard them, and how to limit burnout.

    October 8, 2026staffingtax seasononboarding

  4. Tax Season Deadline Calendar for Accounting Firms

    A tax season deadline calendar for accounting firms: each IRS due date from January to October, and the internal finish date staff work to before it.

    October 7, 2026deadlinestax seasoncalendar

  5. Accounting Firm Automation Software: Where It Fits

    Compare kinds of accounting firm automation software by the job each one removes, and see which manual steps in a firm are worth automating first.

    October 5, 2026automationsoftwareworkflow

  6. Extension Strategy for Tax Firms: When to File Them

    An extension strategy for tax firms: decide which returns to extend and when, explain it to clients, and spread the work into the months after April.

    October 3, 2026extensionstax seasonworkflowplanning

  7. Tax Workflow Software: What It Should Track

    What tax workflow software should track for a firm: return stages, assignments, due dates and documents, plus how to compare options without a sales demo.

    September 12, 2026softwareworkflowtax season

  8. AI for Accounting Firms: Where It Helps in Tax Season

    Where AI for accounting firms helps in tax season, from reading documents to drafting client emails, and where a CPA still has to check every answer.

    September 5, 2026aitax seasonreview

  9. How to Automate Tax Season, One Stage at a Time

    How to automate tax season stage by stage: which steps of a return software can take over, which still need a preparer, and where to start first.

    August 28, 2026automationtax seasonworkflow

  10. Review Queue for Tax Preparers: How to Set One Up

    How to set up a review queue for tax preparers: ordering returns, routing review notes back, and keeping reviewers from becoming the season's bottleneck.

    August 18, 2026reviewtax seasonworkflow

  11. The Cost of Manual Data Entry in an Accounting Firm

    Work out the cost of manual data entry in an accounting firm: documents per client, minutes per document and staff cost, plus the rework errors add.

    June 19, 2026data entrytax seasoncost

  12. Scheduling Client Appointments in Tax Season

    Scheduling client appointments in tax season without losing preparation time: who needs a meeting, how long to book, and how to handle no-shows.

    June 19, 2026appointmentstax seasonscheduling

  13. How to Reduce Data Entry in Accounting Firms

    How to reduce data entry in accounting work: use files clients already have, read documents automatically, and keep a person checking what matters.

    May 18, 2026data entryautomationtax season

  14. Tax Return Bottlenecks: Where Returns Stall

    The tax return bottlenecks firms hit most, from waiting on documents to review backlogs, how to find yours in the status data, and the fix for each.

    May 13, 2026bottleneckstax seasonworkflowreview

  15. Work in Progress Report for Tax Firms

    A weekly work in progress report for tax firms: the counts to show by stage and preparer, the layout partners read, and when to send it each week.

    May 1, 2026reportingtax seasonworkflow

  16. Accounting Firm Capacity Planning for Tax Season

    Accounting firm capacity planning for tax season: estimate hours per return, compare demand with staff hours, and decide early what to extend or decline.

    April 28, 2026tax seasoncapacitystaffing

  17. Tax Return Status Tracker: Statuses That Mean Something

    Build a tax return status tracker with a short list of statuses, clear entry rules for each, and a view that shows which returns are stuck and why.

    April 15, 2026tax seasonworkflowreturn status

  18. Accounting Practice Management Software, Explained

    What accounting practice management software covers, from time and billing to client records, and how to judge whether your firm needs a suite at all.

    September 27, 2025practice managementsoftwarefirm operations

  19. Client Tracker for Accountants: What to Track per Client

    What a client tracker for accountants should hold for every client, how a spreadsheet compares with software, and the columns that earn their place.

    May 14, 2025tax seasonclient trackerworkflow

  20. Tax Season Hours Saved: How to Measure Them

    How to measure tax season hours saved after a process change: a baseline per return, what to time, and how to avoid crediting savings you never had.

    March 25, 2025tax seasonproductivitymeasurement

  21. CPA Firm Software: The Stack a Small Firm Needs

    The CPA firm software a small practice needs, layer by layer: tax prep, documents, workflow, billing and storage, plus where tools overlap and conflict.

    January 16, 2025softwaresmall firmspractice setup

  22. Assigning Clients to Preparers Before the Season

    A method for assigning clients to preparers by return complexity, experience and history, plus how to rebalance assignments when the season shifts.

    December 25, 2024staffingtax seasonworkflow