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‘Tis the season for deductions, accountants, and impending deadlines… that’s right, once again its tax season! Though April 15th may still seem like a long way off, we all know, from years of experience, how fast the month will inevitably creep up on us.
But taxes don’t just take a toll on business owners; they also affect our employees with an underlying feeling of stress, especially if you work in an industry that specializes in tax preparation services where your customer service team is fielding questions left and right on taxes. During the couple months leading up to April 15th, tensions can run a little higher than usual in the office, and as the boss, you want to keep your employees working with clear minds and positive attitudes.
This isn’t an unusual thing to strive for, as you don’t ever want to have one group of people doing all of the work, but during tax season it’s easy to put a senior department member in charge of more assignments or working overtime. This can cause a lot of inner resentment when everyone else appears to be going home early. Be sure, especially around this time of year, to distribute the work evenly among your employees.
Create a daily countdown calendar of how many days remain until April 15th and keep it updated each day. This is a helpful reminder for both employees doing their own taxes as well as reminding your customer base about the days left to get started filing.
Another gesture that benefits both customers and employees is to create a deduction cheat sheet. There are a lot of areas that can be easily overlooked when it comes to deductions and you don’t want to miss a potential area to receive a refund. Remind your younger employees of the student loan interest deduction, and your big-hearted team members of the charitable contributions deduction, among others.
On an internal level, once you get the necessary paperwork to your employees, announce that the first five employees to file their taxes will receive a reward. It could be lottery tickets, a Starbucks gift card, or a congratulatory lunch at a nice restaurant for the top winners. Not only does this ease the inevitable worry that you’re running behind on filing your taxes, but you’ll be able to place your concentration into helping others get a leg up on their own returns!
Deborah Sweeney is the CEO of MyCorporation.com. MyCorporation is a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, providing start-up bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent, DBA, and trademark & copyright filing services. MyCorporation does all the work, making the business formation and maintenance quick and painless, so business owners can focus on what they do best. Follow her on Google+ and on Twitter @mycorporation.
Working with your employees and customers to help them during tax season is a great example of a smart business practice. Learn more business success tips with the free Salesforce e-book below.
