A two-partner Toronto tax practice
T1 season triage for a two-partner Toronto practice
Two partners and three seasonal staff
Every scenario below is illustrative. SpeedNum does not publish customer results it has not measured, so these pages describe firm archetypes and the workflow that fits them — no client names, no quotes, no numbers we cannot stand behind.
The situation
A practice whose volume is concentrated into ten weeks has a scheduling problem, not a capacity problem. The same five people who are comfortable in September are the constraint in March.
The usual failure is not missing the filing date — it is discovering in the last fortnight which returns are still waiting on client documents, when there is no longer time to chase them.
How the workflow fits
Every return is a project with a status
A project per client per season, with ordered tasks, means "waiting on documents" is a column rather than a recollection. The board answers what is blocked without anyone being asked.
Chase from the board, in batches
Because blocked returns are filterable, document chasing happens once a week against a list, rather than continuously against whoever comes to mind.
Seasonal staff onboard against the record
A seasonal hire opens a client and sees contacts, services, prior letters and what is due. The ramp-up does not consume a partner's chargeable time.
What changes day-to-day
- Blocked returns are a filter, checked weekly, not a memory exercise in April.
- Partners see the whole season's state on one board rather than in a status meeting.
- Seasonal staff answer client questions from the record instead of interrupting a partner.