Busy Season Problems: Sunday Funday, Lost Tax Documents, In Need of Super Powers
We are officially one week away until our tax pro friends complete the long, arduous first leg of busy season. And based on all the extensions they are filing for procrastinating clients, the second leg of busy season, which wraps up this year on Oct. 17, might be just as crazy. Let’s take a look […]
Tax Preparers Use Valentine’s Poetry to Express Their Busy Season Problems
Happy Valentine’s Day! Believe it or not, our friends on #TaxTwitter possess talents that stretch far beyond understanding the tax code, deftly dealing with awful clients, drinking massive quantities of coffee, and being able to function somewhat like a human after working 80-plus hours a week. They can also write poetry! And what better day […]
Busy Season Problems: K-2/K-3 Is Not OK; Weird Smells; Shadowy JPEGS
From time to time we like to check on our tax peeps to see how they’re holding up during busy season. Well … there’s the new schedules K-2/K-3 requirements for pass-through entities (see Michael Rapaport’s article for Bloomberg Tax on the new IRS foreign income reporting requirements for partnerships), which is driving tax pros completely […]
Busy Season Problems: COVID-19 vs. April 15, No Psychic Powers, IRS Hang-Ups
Got a busy season problem? First, put on some hand sanitizer. Then email us at [email protected] with “Busy Season Problems” in the subject line. Or you can text us at (202) 505-8885. News broke yesterday evening that the Treasury Department was seriously considering pushing back the April 15 filing deadline because of the coronavirus outbreak […]
Busy Season Problems: Sleep Deprivation, Where’s My Wallet?, Daylight Saving Time Blues
Got a busy season problem? We want to hear all about it. Email us at [email protected] with “Busy Season Problems” in the subject line. Or you can text us at (202) 505-8885. We have officially reached the point in busy season where our friends in tax are exhausted, cranky, and can’t distinguish between dreams and […]
Busy Season Problems: Quick Client Questions, Annoying Train Whistles, Autocorrect Fails
Got a busy season problem? Don’t be shy. Email us at [email protected] with “Busy Season Problems” in the subject line. Or you can text us at (202) 505-8885. It’s been exactly one month since tax season 2020 began. So let’s check in and see how busy season is treating our friends in tax so far: […]
Busy Season Problems: Moms (Usually) Just Don’t Understand
This week’s BSP is dedicated to all the Moms out there who still have no idea why you hardly call between late January to mid-April, why you’re working all day on a Saturday, why you look malnourished, and why you have bags under your eyes. my mom calls me: hi! how’s tax season going? are […]
Busy Season Problems: No Highlighters, Please; Clients Ignoring Portals; Bad Takeout Food
So we kinda slacked off on doing posts on busy season problems this tax season. Sorry ’bout that. But it seems like there hasn’t been as much venting on Twitter this year as in past years. However, now that there’s less than a month left until Tax Day, patience might start to wear thin, so […]
Busy Season Problems: People Are Flipping Out Over Their Small Tax Refunds
You guys have probably seen or heard that as of Feb. 8, the average tax refund was $1,949, down 8.7% compared to the first two weeks of tax season last year. And you’ve probably seen or heard that economists and tax experts are saying it’s way too early to start rioting in the streets, as […]
Exposure Drafts: Busy Season Adultery Isn’t the Worst Betrayal
Exposure Drafts appears every other Wednesday. Send your accounting cartoon ideas and Ashley Madison avatars to [email protected] You can follow Greg Kyte on Twitter.
Busy Season Problems: Confused Doorman, Z-Paks and Disappointing Chick-fil-A
Now that February is in full swing, the venting of busy season problems on social media is bound to pick up for the duration. I noticed that many of these occurred on Saturday, which suggests some firms are ignoring Rachel’s advice. Haven’t had a day off since January 1st. On the verge of a […]
How to Cope With Post-Busy Season Depression
When busy season ends, it takes time for many accountants to adjust to the 40ish-hour workweek again. For those of you who don't suffer from the martyrdom complex the return to a somewhat normal life is a welcome change. But for others, there are different feelings: @going_concern an article addressing getting out of post busy […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Happy Tax Season Birthday; An Unnecessary Brown Bag Lunch; The Final Countdown
It's quite obvious that we're getting close to the end. People are counting down, phoning it and the tweets from the final Saturday are a mix of hope and despair. Office obstacle course. Always in training. #BusySeasonProblems #taxseason pic.twitter.com/9yezQ2tpTN — Andrea Arriola, EA (@Tejandrea) April 7, 2015 Easily, the worst thing about #busyseason is the […]
Long Hours Are the Root of All Your Busy Season Problems
Perhaps you gleaned this from the exhaustive tournament we hosted recently, but we'll bring it up again: working a lot of hours causes a lot of problems. Among these problems: drinking. Harvard Business Review has the latest scientific research: Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and colleagues found that people who log […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Inflatable Sharks; Late-night Checklists; Unexpected Taxable Income
Now that we've officially crowned "WTF am I doing with my life?" as the champion BSP, let's catch up on what busy season problems have made their way into the Twitter ether over the past week. I haven't cooked a meal in over 3 months #busyseasonproblems — Trei Jolly (@Trei_Jolly) April 1, 2015 Sorry about […]
Going Concern March Madness: The #BusySeasonProblems Championship — Deteriorating Mental Health vs. That Voice Inside Your Head
Here we are. After hashing through 62 other busy season problems, we've arrived at the championship for this year's GCMM. It's been interesting to watch this tournament develop and learn what causes the annual busy season to be so terrible for accountants. Everyone has their own beloved annoyances, but to see the #6 Degrading mental […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Still Working Saturdays; Food-stained Clothes; Good Morning, Ireland
Since we're racing at ludicrous speed towards a mental anguish championship final in GCMMBSP, it seems prudent to scan Twitter to find out how accountants are handling their professional existence today. When the driver knows you work in accounting based on the hour you leave the office #busyseasonproblems #busyseasonprobs #accounting — Trever Eymard (@theteymard) March […]
Going Concern March Madness: The Final Four #BusySeasonProblems
We now, finally, have champions in each region of GCMMBSP: Life — Waking up early; Health — Degrading mental health; Work — Working on Saturday; Potpourri — Your brain asking: "WTF am I doing with my life?" Thanks for everyone who helped decide the bitter battle between Waking up early and Loved ones' guilt trips. It […]
Going Concern March Madness #BusySeasonProblems: Waking Up Early vs. Guilt Trips Goes into Overtime
Incredible. But I suppose this was bound to happen in such a hotly contested tournament. We had a tie at the end of regulation in the Life Region Final between #1 seed Waking Up Early and #2 Loved ones' guilt trips. Since GCMMBSP has no official rules for this kind of scenario, we'll just extend the […]
Going Concern March Madness: Waking Up Early vs. Guilt Trips, Self-doubt vs. Irritability and More in The Elite Eight #BusySeasonProblems
The contenders have emerged in GCMMBSP. There was little doubt about Working Saturdays and Long Hours making it this far. It's sad that only one will advance to Final Four. Maybe you could've seen Less exercise coming, but I did not expect such a strong performance from Degrading Mental Health. Now you've got me concerned […]
Going Concern March Madness: Saturdays vs. Deadlines, Eating Junk vs. Depression and More in #BusySeasonProblems Sweet 16
As exciting as Round 2 was, the Sweet 16 looks even better. Saturdays vs. Deadlines, Eating Poorly vs. Depression and Less sex vs. Less exercise are all toss-ups. Plus, we have some some Cinderellas left, so that's fun. Long hours is quietly going about its business and I suspect that it will make short work […]
#BusySeasonProblems: 3 AM Snacks; ‘No, I don’t do taxes’; Long (and Even Longer) Hours
Polls for Round 2 of GCMMBSP are still open but since we won't know who's moving on until tomorrow, it seems prudent to check on what busy seasons problems IRL are keeping the accountant down. My diet typically peaks in March. Specifically when I snack at 3:00am. #busyseasonproblems #idontevenlikeenergydrinks pic.twitter.com/K7B3jPYBVp — Andre M (@AndreDeGiant) March […]
Going Concern March Madness: #BusySeasonProblems, Face Time vs. Long Hours, Bad Take-out vs. Less Sex and More in Round 2
We had an exciting first round of GCMMBSP, with strong showings by the top seeds and only a few upsets. That sounds counterintuitive for any tournament, but really, it wouldn't be right if seeds like Working Saturdays and Less exercise didn't advance to at least the Elite Eight. Round 2 features several excellent match-ups including […]
Going Concern March Madness: More #BusySeasonProblems
Going Concern March Madness: #BusySeasonProblems got off to an exciting start yesterday. I trust you all would like to start voting in the Work and Potpourri brackets NOW, but please hear me out for two. Busy season problems are real — whether it's your 3rd meal in a row from the vending machine or a co-worker […]
Going Concern March Madness: #BusySeasonProblems
Yes, it's once again time for your favorite giant waste of billable hours in the 3rd month of the year — Going Concern March Madness. This year we've jumped on the popularity of Busy Season Problems. It wasn't an easy tournament to compile so you'll have to forgive the nuances between contenders (e.g. All the […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Three Square-ish Meals; 15-hour Days; St. Patrick’s Day FOMO
Several major deadlines have passed, yet the plight of accountants rages on. If you have a BSP that can't be addressed in 140 characters, post it to Open Items or email us. 10am and not a single chargeable hour? Guess I'll spend Saturday in the office too. #busyseasonproblems #auditlife — Katie Buyse (@kayteebee11) March 11, […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Late Nights with India; Enough M&Ms for Everyone; Awkward Moments with a Partner
Once again, it's time for that time honored tradition of combing Twitter for the Internet's most vexed accountants. This week seems especially rough due to the beginning of Daylight Savings and seeing deadlines just out of reach. But don't worry, next week some of you will get the pleasure of your IT team telling you […]
#BusySeasonProblems: Bad Dreams, Late Night Housekeeping, More Bad Dreams
Did you know there were 5 Tuesdays this month? Maybe I shouldn't mention that? Yeah, I won't mention that again. You know it's busy season when you consider leaving your house at 6:20 to be leaving late #busyseasonproblems #auditor — Jay Lo (@jaylormann) February 26, 2015 When you start dreaming about tax returns #BusySeasonProblems — […]
Busy Season Problems: “A Case of the Gary Buseys”
From the tip box: Fuck busy season. I haven't had a wax in like 9 weeks. Not that it matters since I don't get home before my husband is asleep. My roots look like shit and I haven't bothered with makeup for weeks. I look like Gary Busey. Well… it could be worse? On that […]
Busy Season Problems: An Awful Cafeteria; The Power Goes Out; Clients Drop the Ball
Welcome to this week's edition of busy season problems. Got a busy season problem? Email us at [email protected] with "Busy Season Problems" in the subject line. The final days of January are upon us so that means that for many of you, your lives are about to get infinitely worse. What that all entails will […]
Accountants: Tell Us Your Busy Season Problems
As many professionals embark on the tumultuous journey that are the busy season months of January, February, March, and April, it is inevitable that known and unknown problems will arise. Some of these are client-initiated and others are co-worker-initiated. Some of them are simple problems; some of them are complex problems. Some involve food odor; some […]
Ernst & Young Tax Associate Forced to Deal with the Slobs Around Him
We all know that when you're in the throes of busy season, a key to an effective team is having people spend as much time at their desks as possible. When the pressure is on, even spending a few minutes to take in some natural light or fresh air could mean the difference between a […]