The fourth quarter of a highly contested basketball game is often the most intense. The coach has to call the right plays and make the necessary adjustments to win the game, while the players have to execute and be smart on the court. If they don't, the team will fail and the players will fall short of their ultimate goal: Winning.

The end of the year for small accounting firms is often similar to the fourth quarter of a basketball game. Accountants and financial professionals have to be on their game with all of their clients during this busy season when they are trying to tie up all the loose ends in their bookkeeping. Tim Mezhlumov, director of advanced markets for consulting firm 1st Global, recently composed an article for AccountingWeb listing some tips accounting firms can use to "win" during busy season.

Meet with clients in person
Today's business world often operates in a virtualized setting, but to help clients prepare for the end of the year, and the start of a new one, finance professionals at accounting firms should meet with all their clients in person to go over their books and answer any questions they may have. During these sit downs, they can even suggest their clients begin to use budgeting planning software in the cloud, if they aren't already. These solutions can allow accountants to work with their clients' finances from anywhere with an internet connection.

Create a sense of teamwork throughout the firm
Although some accounting professionals believe they can do it all, it may be better to allocate tasks and have clearly defined roles throughout the team to tackle the busy season. By allowing different people at the company to manage client meetings, handle the mass amounts of income and consult clients, professionals are small accounting firms will have greater ease dealing with the heaps of work they will have during busy season.

Plan ahead for busy season
Small accounting firms with many clients need to forecast how the few months before busy season will look, and work ahead in order to manage all of their customers' requests. Not only will preparing and planning for the busy season make it easier for the firm to deal with clients, it will also demonstrate to all members of the business that if they are planning to "win" there is no issue they won't be able to tackle.

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