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TAX PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Show value, add value, and
bring value to your team
During the whirlwind of the busy filing
Editor: season, it is often hard to see the forest
April Walker, CPA, CGMA for the trees. Due to the need to “get Soon after the April
it done” and move the returns out the 15 deadline passes is
Authors: door, CPAs struggle to take steps to a good time to take
Brent Forbush, CPA, CGMA strengthen their team and service offer-
Jeffrey Solomon, CPA ings. But the opportunity remains. Soon a step back from this
completion mentality
the firm will be able to celebrate the
completion of another busy season, and and move toward the
practitioners will have time to reflect on
strategic vision.
successes and struggles. This is often the
best opportunity to change your focus
from “completion” to “strategic.”
Firms can obtain It is easy to lose sight of the internal ■ Showing value;
exponential returns team when the focus is the client and ■ Adding value; and
■
Bringing value.
getting work completed. In today’s
by involving staff in world, where finding good talent is very This month’s column focuses on
the development of difficult, you must focus inwardly to matters of value internal to the firm —
the firm’s strategic keep your team happy. leadership, staff, technology, workflow,
Soon after the April 15 deadline
and process. The second column, in June
mission and showing passes is a good time to take a step back 2022, will focus on the external facets of
from this completion mentality and value — relationships and interactions
a commitment to their move toward the strategic vision. Review with clients.
future professional what transpired between Jan. 1 and
success. April 15 from a holistic viewpoint. Most Show value
importantly, look inward and think Show that you value your team by con-
about the firm’s future. To help take this sidering employees’ physical and mental
first step, it is important to have a tax health and job satisfaction, among other
season debrief and detail the good, the things. The best way to do this is to focus
bad, and the ugly of the past busy sea- on them personally. Learn their personal
son. Recommendations on best practices stories and backgrounds. Create an envi-
for this debrief can be found in Lagarde ronment where diverse backgrounds are
and Forbush, “Prepare for Next Tax Sea- encouraged to thrive. This shows that you PHOTO BY LEEYIUTUNG/ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
son by Looking in the Rearview Mirror,” value the entirety of the person of those
51 The Tax Adviser 202 (March 2020). who make up your team. Remember in
The present column is the first of a this remote-working environment, build-
two-part series that will discuss three ing connection may be more difficult, but
key areas vital to a firm’s health: it is still very important.
44 March 2022 The Tax Adviser
