Busy Opportunity Season: You got this!

By Paula Novak, CPA

"Busy Season." We've all heard about it. Lived it. Survived it even, some might say. Regardless of your previous sentiments towards this merriment season, as CPAs, "Busy Seasons" are here to stay, so I say: Let's slay this beast! Gathered from experienced employees of LBMC and members of the TSCPA, here are 3 tips to help manage stress through this exciting time:

1. Change Your Train of Thought: I've come to the conclusion that those that stay in this profession, secretly live for busy season. For 7-8 months of every year, you train yourself both technically and professionally for these 4-5 months. What things did you do better, faster, more effectively this year? How much less did you find yourself worrying about the small stuff? Think of "busy season" like marathons, or even self-created tests. You chose to run in the marathon, or to self-create this test, for a reason. Because you know the end reward leaves you feeling albeit exhausted, exhilarated and excited!

2. Treat 'Yo Self: Okay, so technically this came from Donna and Tom off of Parks and Recreation; however, it's a phrase that has been known to float around during this time of year. This one seems pretty easy to accomplish, yet it's so easy to mess up. Here's the catch, when you "treat yourself" to 10 minutes of ESPN or Pinterest, remind yourself that you're not doing anything wrong! It's okay to allow yourself a little indulgence every day. Now, I'm not saying to indulge 10 minutes of every hour, but yes, if you want to have a pudding cup and unplug for 5 minutes every afternoon, I say J-E-L-L-O!

3. Fuel Up: Always have a snack on hand and a bottle of water. I personally love KIND bars-they’re easy, small, and can hold me over between meals. Your body is a vehicle for your brain to function. So when you start to feel anxious, or get the crazy eyes, grab a snack! You’ll slowly start to see the red line go up as the gas light turns off refueling that thinking tank of yours!

Scholar Spotlight

Madeline Enderle, of Knoxville, is one of four exemplary students recognized by TSCPA and awarded a King Foundation scholarship for 2015. The King Foundation scholars receive a three-year scholarship totaling $25,000. The fund was established by Calvin and Jean King to assist accounting students in achieving their college and career goals.

Pursuing a B.S. in mathematics and a B.B.A. in accounting at Lipscomb University, Enderle plans on enrolling in the Masters of Accountancy program at Lipscomb and sitting for the CPA exam after she graduates.

Enderle, who grew up in Knoxville, believes the scholarship will open many doors for her. “I hope to go on after receiving my undergraduate degree to my masters,” she says, “and from there, I would like to eventually receive a Ph.D. I enjoy my studies and am excited by the possibility of continuing my education after receiving my undergraduate degrees; however, the cost of all of my schooling is an obstacle. This scholarship will substantially reduce that obstacle.”

She recalls, “When [TSCPA President/CEO] Brad Floyd informed me that I was to receive the scholarship, I was surprised and elated. I did not know that such a large scholarship was even available. So, it took a minute for the news to sink in.”

In her spare time, Enderle is a pole vaulter on the track and field team at Lipscomb. “I love my team and the sport,” she says. “In addition to being an all-around fun thing to do, it teaches me discipline, how to work as a team and much more.”

Enderle and her older brother Joshua, who is also an accounting major at Lipscomb [and a fellow TSCPA scholarship recipient, winning the Paul L. Royston Award this year] grew up traveling quite a bit with their family, and she has a love of new and foreign places that she hopes she can incorporate into her career.

“In my mind, accounting is the language of business,” she says, “and as such it is crucial for understanding a company, investing in a company, building a company, etc. Accounting is necessary in all industries, so being able to speak it opens up many interesting possibilities, and that excites me. I hope to have a successful career characterized by hard work and innovation.”

Time Management Tips: Working Efficiently & Effectively this Busy Season - A Staff Person's Perspective

By: Eamonn McElroy, Tax Associate at CBIZ MHM, LLC

What season comes after the holiday season?  Busy season!

Managing your time and how you work during busy season is really about more than saving hours; it will help to reduce stress and increase productivity.  Here are a few practices that help me manage my time during busy season and could prove useful to you:

• Delegate as much as possible to free yourself for higher value activities.  Delegate what you can to administrative staff, interns, and sometimes staff less experienced than you (especially if they’re looking for work).  Examples include: scanning documents, rolling forward data, and preparing technical items which are both routine and easy in nature.

• Know thy hotkeys.  As accountants, we live in excel.  The time saved by using hotkeys may seem miniscule but can pay dividends over the long-term.  Useful hotkeys range from the commonly known “Ctrl+C” to copy and “Ctrl+V” to paste, to the lesser known but just as useful “Alt+=” to generate the sum function, and finally to holding “Shift+Ctrl” and using the arrow keys to select a large amount of numbers.

• Use calendars, alarms, & flags if they’re available to you.  Microsoft Outlook has a variety of features which aid in managing workflow and helping stay on target for deadlines.  The calendar allows you to create appointments and “alarms” associated with them which are useful reminders.  Additionally, calendars can be shared among team members to help coordinate timing expectations.  Lastly, the mail feature of Outlook can be used to keep emails organized by using flags and color coding.

• Be mindful of the clock, but don’t be controlled by it.  Keep an eye on the clock, but don’t stress if you sometimes go over budget on a project assigned to you.  The ultimate goal is always to deliver the highest quality product to the client within our budget constraints.  If you’re halfway through a project and begin to anticipate that the budget may not be enough, make it a point to communicate with the person in charge of the project to devise a plan for the best way to proceed.

• Lastly, know yourself.  Work when you’re most effective.  Some people like to come in at seven o’clock every morning and get an hour or two of quiet work in before everyone shows up.  Some people like to come in at nine o’clock and work later because they’re more effective in the afternoon and evening.  Know what works for you!  If you work better taking a quick and small thirty minute lunch during busy season, do that.  If a full hour allows you to relax more and revisit your workflow rejuvenated, do that instead. 

Do you have any busy season tips, or any processes that would improve efficiency and effectiveness?  Share in the comment box below!