A clean tax compliance process can change the entire arc of a return. No combing through uploads trying to match filenames; no toggling between last year’s depreciation; no trying to decipher a vague “Same as last year” note. When you trust what you’re working with, you move steadily. And that sense of control carries forward all the way to the signature page.
There’s a strange stillness as one starts to fill out a tax return. It doesn’t resemble a process. It’s just a folder in a binder, a few attachments, maybe some notes someone left in the portal without much context. You click in and start looking for trouble:
- Are the files labeled at all?
- Do the statements cover every account?
- Are there any documents we still need?
- Was there any new financial activity from the client?
- Did someone already give up halfway through?
When documents arrive clean, people tend to expect everything else will line up. If they don’t, the team starts guessing:
- What’s missing?
- What’s outdated?
- What should have been flagged but wasn’t?
The job tilts away from review and toward reaction. That tilt adds pressure, and sometimes it reduces the urge to double-check what looks familiar.
This pattern tends to surface during the height of tax season. A folder looks complete at first glance, so someone moves on. A few days later a partner or reviewer notices a missing 1099 or a basis schedule that expired two years earlier. The problem is rarely neglect – we simply did not leave room to catch it. Momentum took over once the return was started.
A process, however, begins earning its value long before the review. An organized intake does more than collect files; it lowers the background noise. A naming rule can turn confusion into something obvious. A note in the portal can confirm when an item is truly missing instead of just being delayed. Small routines that help us move faster also make it easier to spot mistakes – but only if everyone agrees on what those routines are. A process.
Confusion rarely starts with the client. It usually forms upstream. Source documents do not appear by accident; they mirror the firm’s communication style, including its gaps. When one staff member asks for labeled folders and another says, “Just email whatever,” the client adjusts. The outcome is inconsistent; the data soon follows the same pattern.
It’s easy to pin the problem on software. Sometimes tools are clunky or the portal fails at the wrong time, but in most cases the issue began long before anything was uploaded. The list was too vague. The instructions were written for last year’s return, not this one. Follow-up never happened.
Clients aren’t careless by nature. They respond to the tone we set. If we send unclear messages, they send unclear data.
A breakdown becomes more noticeable right before a big deadline. For example, let’s say a firm is hard at work halfway through September rushing to close out files that hadn’t been touched since early spring. Some clients sent folders that made sense at a glance; others uploaded messy packets full of missing pages or reused filenames from last year. One return can take under an hour, while another drags across three days, with breaks for clarification and backtracking. Both clients pay the same. Both had the same filing deadline. What differs is the runway we give ourselves and the strength of communication that ensures the firm has what it needs to complete the work efficiently and correctly.
What we sometimes fail to understand is that both clients from the example believe they had done what we asked. One had. The other misunderstood, and no one followed up. When disorganization sits too long, by the time it becomes visible a firm is too close to the due date to fix it. Of course, accountants will respond and the return will be filed. But what the disorganization reveals is not a lack of effort, but rather a gap in communication that no one caught in time.
Most staff won’t say this directly, but the challenge often isn’t technical. It’s structural. What counts as complete? What should be flagged? What ends up getting fixed silently because there is no time left to ask? These questions don’t appear in checklists. They surface in habits, in how teams operate under pressure, and in the quiet decision to let something go because no one claimed it.
Here's another example: staff prepared a return that unraveled without ever looking suspicious. The math worked. The review passed. But something basic had been skipped. The client never confirmed whether a property had been sold, and the prior-year depreciation was carried forward without verification. It wasn’t that anyone ignored the details; it was that no one felt responsible for asking. The result isn’t just a filing error; it is a missed handoff.
That’s the part I believe is most important. It’s about what stays hidden when no one slows down long enough to clarify. The return might still be accurate, or it might not. The uncertainty lingers, and it usually shows up later in small but uncomfortable ways: a notice, a call, a client unsure of what we actually filed. Accuracy can't start in review. It has to start much earlier, with intake and with the tone we set across the team.
A clean beginning can change the entire arc of a return. You’re not combing through uploads trying to match filenames. There’s no chasing after a K-1 you thought you had. And you’re not toggling between last year’s depreciation and a vague note or deciphering a comment that says, “Same as last year.” The difference may not be dramatic, but it’s real. You move steadily. You trust what you’re working with. And that sense of control carries forward all the way to the signature page.
Culture shows itself in what people skip. If a senior finds an error but never records it in the file, another staff member will likely spend 30 minutes fixing it again. When a partner sends directions by email instead of keeping them in the system, the thread disappears once the team rotates. Everyone has seen this happen. Few stop to name it. It is a communication gap that hides behind the label of workflow.
Real improvement seldom looks dramatic, and the strongest changes are often ordinary:
- Clear folder rules.
- Early questions when files are missing.
- Naming that tells its story without translation.
Compliance tends to be reduced to paperwork: signatures, archives, screenshots saved in the client folder. That isn’t wrong; it’s just partial. Most of the time, what holds a return together is less visible. Teams that work in rhythm don’t always feel fast, but they stop guessing. They stop hoping someone else remembered the missing 1099.
Sometimes you’ll have returns where everything balances, but the job still feels off. The numbers check out and the review file will close without comments. Yet, the preparer will walk away with a list of things they hadn’t confirmed.
The client places their trust in the firm. It is the firm’s responsibility to ensure every effort is made to accurately represent the client in the return that is prepared. When that trust is met with care and communication, the process works as it should. When it isn’t, even a technically correct return can fall short of what the client deserves.
Good work leaves a shape behind it. You can see it in the way someone names their files or how they flag a document without being asked. You notice it when a handoff happens, and no one needs to explain what changed. That’s not magic. It’s not even technical. But it’s the thing I’ve come to trust most. When a return lands cleanly, it rarely feels like a surprise. It feels like someone was watching all the way through.
Anthony J. Borrelli is a staff accountant at Maillie LLP in West Chester, Pa. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh and is committed to maintaining compliance and upholding the integrity of accounting processes.
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Statements of fact and opinion are the author's responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.
