Reflecting on tax season 2019

April 15th was a welcome relief for most tax practitioners, myself included. We are so incredibly lucky and grateful to have such fantastic clients, and a wonderful team at BakerStarrett that made the best of the worst tax season I’ve seen in my career. Between government shutdowns, massive new tax law, lack of guidance on said new tax law, tax laws changing midseason (hello Iowa), IRS guidance being released during the last week, and more, it was quite the wild ride. 

Thank You Clients

First and foremost, an immense thank you to our clients for being so understanding & patient. We truly, truly appreciate it. We have a number of you on extensions, and will be working to get your returns done over the next several weeks. 

Team Reflection

Secondly, our team always takes some time to reflect on what went well, what didn’t, and what we can do to improve. This exercise for us is so important, and allows us to always be a work in progress (and that’s a good thing)!

How are you Improving?

All of this got me thinking….if you’re a small business owner, are you doing the same? It’s so easy to get your head stuck in the here and now of the business. Someone told me recently that they’ve made a conscious decision to “put their oxygen mask on first”. So, they now take the first few hours of each week to work on their business rather than in it. Even if you can’t do this every week (how many of us hit the ground running on Monday morning?!), can you do every 2 weeks, or once a month.

Step back, look at the bigger picture, take time to focus on that laundry list of things you want & need to do differently. Set some goals, think about your long term business plans. What’s your exit strategy? How do you position yourself to get there? Do you need to step up your marketing game? Do you need some strategic financial effort or guidance? If you have business partners, when was the last time you looked at your operating agreement and does it need refreshed? 

If you don’t own a business, read the above and apply it personally! What are your financial goals? Paying down debt?  Saving for college for kiddos? Maybe retirement is on the horizon. How do you get there? Maybe you’ve been aiming for a promotion and need to focus on what will help elevate your career to the next level. 

Whatever it may be, I encourage you to make sure you’re a work in progress, too!