Donny Shimamoto’s guide to tax automation and outsourcing

By Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Tax season seems to be getting worse every year. Last minute changes to the tax code, delayed tax software updates, workload compression and a shortage of experienced tax professionals continue to exacerbate what is already a grueling season for many accounting firms. Yet some firms have been showing strong growth and even increased work-life balance. To understand how these firms were bucking the general trends, we interviewed a variety of them to see if we could identify the secret to their success. The primary answers we found: increased tax automation and outsourcing.

• Why is outsourcing integral to long-term success?
• The keys to audit automation vs the keys to tax automation and outsourcing
• The keys to tax automation and outsourcing
  1. Appoint a tax automation officer
  2. Understanding your tax preparation process
  3. Adopt incrementally to ensure long-term success
  4. Determine which of your return characteristics are a good candidate for automation and outsourcing
  5. Use a pilot to build your business case
  6. Manage expectations: the importance of attitude and transparency
  7. Keeping a continual improvement mindset
  8. Provide training to reduce resistance to change and increase adoption
  9. Adopt value-billing to ensure revenue continuity
• How to leverage the keys to maximize your success

Want more information about Outsourcing? Visit our Outsourcing page!

Learn more in this 1040 tax automation whitepaper: Keys to success for tax automation and outsourcing!