If you associate accounting with tax preparation, as many people do, than you may wonder what accountants do with their time after the April 15 deadline for filing federal income tax returns. After the chaos of tax season, accountants often experience less stress and fewer long workdays. However, they still have plenty of other work to keep them busy during the rest of the year.
You Survived Tax Season – Now What?
It’s no coincidence that even seasoned accounting professionals speak of “surviving” tax season. With deadlines looming and numerous clients needing your attention, your first tax season – and for that matter, every tax season – can be hectic. For many accountants, the end of tax season means the end of long hours and stressful months. It’s a time to catch up on rest or even plan a vacation. If the chaos of tax season has turned normally neat offices into major messes, the lull that follows tax season allows accountants to take a few moments to reorganize their workspaces and reorient themselves. Don’t worry about getting bored in the relative calm that follows April 15. Though tax season is over, there is still plenty of other work for accountants to do.
Accounting Isn’t Just Tax Preparation
Accountants do more than prepare tax returns. Increasingly, they hold an active role in helping companies, organizations, and even individuals achieve their financial objectives, according to The New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Accountants work with corporate clients to accurately monitor and interpret financial data throughout the year, so that the company’s records are correct long before tax season begins and the company can address financial problems sooner rather than later. Some ways accountants and businesses work together is through budgeting, strategic planning, and management of costs and assets. Accountants also help companies uncover ways to minimize their tax liability, thereby saving money.
After tax season, accountants may take on a consulting role in their interactions with corporate clients. As consultants, accountants help organizations become more profitable by finding ways to decrease expenses and increase profits. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics lists evaluating a company’s financial operations and costs and suggesting improvements to management personnel as key job responsibilities of accountants and auditors. When consulting with corporate clients regarding best practices, accountants also may recommend ways to manage payroll and benefits.
There’s no question that tax season is a busy time for any accountant whose job description includes tax preparation. While the end of tax season is the beginning of a well-deserved break for hardworking accountants, it is by no means the end of their jobs. In fact, some of the most interesting and rewarding parts of an accountant’s work life happen after the tax returns are all filed. When consulting with individual businesses, accountants can craft money-saving budgets and make detailed and personalized recommendations that can have a big, tangible effect on the company’s productivity, profits, and future.
