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Personal question, kind of


JimTaxes

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Personal in the sense that really impacting me.. kind of, meaning this is so tied up with the busy tax season and the interconnection between me as a person and the grind of tax season..

I work most days in tax season, backing out maybe an hour and a half for breaks, dinner, exercise, trying to unwind, from about 7:45 am to maybe 10:30 pm. Sunday i try and not do much work and saturday maybe from 8 am to about 4 pm and again about 10 pm for another hour or two after that.

This starts in late january though really heats up mid February.. but between 1099s, payroll, W-2s and payroll taxes, company accounting, business returns and then of course 1040 season it is a whirlwind.. during this process keeping my business clients going with their books.. I get really motivated for it and love the challenge and all the excitements..

That leads me to my question.. Is anyone else having some struggles now, after tax season.. I mean I feel really dejected.. I have never had such a good tax season.. over 1,000 returns including business returns, no major mixups, no files lost, no real snafus, clients love me, new referrals.. I felt it coming last week before the end.. anticipatory let down... last two days have been really tough for me.. really feeling so dejected, out of sorts, defeated even..  i have 60 returns on extension, business accounting to do, some classic cars for a hobby but I don't feel like doing any of those things. road are full of salt here so the cars cannot come out.. don't feel like doing anything.. am i alone in this quagmire sinking?  

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No, you are not alone. Every year I feel something similar to an extent, I have to re-learn how to have a life outside of the office, and have come up with a schedule to get back to some semblance of 'normal.'  My plans include being off every Friday, starting tomorrow. Every Friday off I have a household job to tackle. Tomorrow's job is to clean the laundry room and dryer vent. One of my dogs is really itchy with the oak pollen so he needs a soothing medicated bath .  I have not been on my bicycle since early January so will ease back into that Saturday for a short bike ride.  Another Friday I need to defrost the drain lines on both my refrigerator and freezer.  The closets in the spare bedroom, my late mother's room, need another cleaning. I have new gardens that need weeding, (big sigh ... ). 

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No, you aren't alone.  If feels just like the day after the last final exam.  Sort of a letdown after all that work.  Where's the parade?  Hubby and I go to a special vacation spot every year after tax season.  Takes me about three days before I'm really in the vacationy, beachy, boozy, (dare I say sexy) swing of the whole thing.  I think it's important to take a vacation after working so hard.  If I just stay at home and try to relax, I feel the same dejection and emptiness you seem to be describing.  Have an adventure!

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I think part of the emotional letdown is that for months now you have been building up for the race, focusing all of your time and energy and thoughts into it, and now it's over and you've crossed the finish line.  Think of those runners in the Boston Marathon on Monday.  They spent months training, a few hours running, and now what?  Go back to running their 5 miles a day or whatever they do, it's just not the same.

The other part is that for these few months, we have been the most important person in many of our clients' lives.  They need us, depend on us, confide in us, and now we're just another service provider.  This can be a real downer.

Think it through.  No one can keep up the pace we do during tax season all year long.  Would you really want to?  Not me.  And while it does make us feel valued and important that so many clients trust and depend on us, that responsibility is what overwhelms us as tax season draws to a close.  I am so looking forward to a normal life after the past few weeks.  It does take a little time to "come back down." 

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I don't feel like I slow down until sometime in May.  We have put off bookkeeping for some of our clients that can, and have quarterly payroll tax reports to do, plus the returns on extension and the several 990s that I do that are due May 15. So I usually get to come our of the pressure cooker more gradually, which I think helps avoid such a sudden let down.

This has been an incredibly hard season for me, however, and I am looking forward to some down time to recover and re-think some priorities.  So many of my clients have been sympathetic and supportive when they found out that my mom (who was also my business partner and mentor and sometimes chastiser) passed away Feb. 1, but I really wanted to just not talk about it with them.  Sometimes I find it very hard to accept sympathy without going to pieces.   

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I also work year round and agree that helps with the let down phase.  But I experience it some, too.  I have a pile of things to do yet, and I admit I have very little motivation.  I think Gail phrased it very appropriately:  we're in a pressure cooker during tax season.  I know many of you are better business people than me, and for the most part I'm ok with that. I have a very comfortable life.  I work six days a week for ten weeks, but I don't kill myself during tax season.  I come out of it looking like death on a cracker anyway,  I think mostly because I spend a lot of time chatting with clients, and I'm an introvert.  I mean, come on, people are idiots, why am I chatting with them?? 

I wonder how these preparers do 1,400 returns, half of which are entities, single-handedly, twenty minute appointments,  study for EA exam at the red light on the way to the testing center.  Oh, and this is their side gig.  I get a little jealous.  Then I remember they are full of sh*t and lying thru their teeth, and I feel better. 

 

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After quite some time, I figured out to just be very thankful for any successes.  I generally do not discuss my work with anyone other than a few close friends, as my "discussion" tends to be either about horrible/awful situations, or terrific successes.  Many do not have much success to discuss, and can find it uncomfortable to hear my successes, or to hear the corresponding lows.  The part I have constantly work on is to "let go" is how rotten some people can be, and not to be the guy who is always talking about horror stories...

After a few decades, I accept my preference for the high/low style, versus the ride the middle.  My actual stress time has been compacted into Jan and Feb, but issues can pop up anytime.  My family has adapted to my schedule, and supports me.  I have also, finally, learned to be able to turn off if needed, and accept the reality is there are no accounting emergencies, all things can be dealt with later, in a calm manner.

Maturing in both internal and external age is a great teacher... the older I get, the more I can take life as it comes, and to remember to live it while I have the ability.

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After keeping pace with all the hustle and bustle of tax season, when it ends, I just keep going.  Many people depend on me all year, especially friends and family, so I need to keep myself healthy. I don't have time to be depressed or even to think about it, I have a plan for everyday and try to use time management to my advantage.  I keep good notes to make sure I finish what I started.   I work for a friend who has a small consulting firm with 2 employees that I run all the financial aspects of it, I guess I'm a controller, but the work is not challenging or time consuming, but it keeps me involved in the field.  I have a lot of outside interests that I always try to fit in, all work and no play makes for an unhappy me. 

I do have some consternation about the future.  I have a family member that will be needing me more and more as time goes on.  I'll be there for her, but am I depressed, no, a little worried, yes, about myself.   That's why I have to stay strong and I am doing everything I can to prepare for the challenge and live up to my purpose of being here, at least that's how I rationalize it.

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I used to get the post-season letdown until I learned to have activities planned for right after, that have nothing to do with taxes.  Garden.  Bicycle.  Family.  This year my younger daughter is planning an open house party for this coming Sunday, so I spent today out at her house, helping her get ready.  It really helps to have a right-away reminder that there is a life outside of tax season.

However, if you really start to feel hopeless, go see your doctor!  There may be something wrong; don't discount that possibility, if tackling a new task doesn't distract you from the sadness.

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I have lots of clients on extension and some year-round biz clients.  But, I do get lethargic after the April deadline.  I usually get to PA to spoil my granddaughter Avery.  Prior to Avery's existence, we'd hit a beach hotel or B&B in Madison, CT, for me to unwind.  This year, it's fitting in all the postponed doctors' appointments and trying to get a consensus re my pain.  It's looking like a hip replacement is in my near future with all the rehab that entails.  So, that will replace my Appalachia Service Project trip and maybe our family reunion on The Cape and even my usual CCH User Conference, this year in Miami.  I guess that'll give me 2019 trips to look forward to with a new hip!  And, we'll have to FaceTime or something Rita's BBQ.  Today, I'm catching up on paying bills for my church and need to get some laundry done.  Client is picking up her tax folder and bringing me a check after Church tomorrow.  Client who moved to CA is in town Monday, so we're going to Westport Country Playhouse and having dinner.  Payroll taxes.  A funeral next Saturday.  I never run out of things to do.  I do run out of energy to do them after coming down off that adrenaline high of preparing as many returns as possible by the deadline while being egged on by anxious clients!

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On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 8:47 PM, Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana said:

Tomorrow's job is to clean the laundry room and dryer vent. One of my dogs is really itchy with the oak pollen so he needs a soothing medicated bath .  I have not been on my bicycle since early January so will ease back into that Saturday for a short bike ride.  Another Friday I need to defrost the drain lines on both my refrigerator and freezer.  

Thanks for the reminder Lynn, I owe you one.

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I agree with the majority of the posts here.  The letdown is a really strange phenomena, and it can be overwhelming.  I, too, have started to plan many things for the week or two following the end of the season so that I can ease in to regular life (which is very enjoyable)!  The office feels a little strange now, but I have client meetings again starting next week, so it will regain its energy.

Another thought, if you enjoy working as much as it sounds like you do, is to consider what types of work you might add to make your business 'busier' year-round.  I do financial planing, and I'm a lawyer, so I do estate planning, M&A, and some financial mediation and forensic-type accounting for other attorneys.  It seems to me that there is a fair amount of this type of business 'out there' if you open yourself to the same.  You certainly don't have to be a lawyer to do most of the items listed.  Sky is the limit on what someone with good 'bean counting' skills can offer!  I might not be understanding how you are feeling . . . these are just suggestions.

Jim, please let us know that you are okay.

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Everyone, thank you for your comments.  Every tax season I go through this but this year has been worse.  Even before tax season ended, I felt this coming on, this time around April 10th as I knew what was going to happen. 

I wish it was as simple as taking on other tasks, taking a break, going on vacation, making plans, etc.  There is more involved.  I wish it was that simple.  There are some other issues that go  beyond accounting, payroll, taxes, and work load that I have to deal with, fight against.  I deal with some pretty painful OCD and anxiety issues.  In tax season those other issues do not go away but somehow I can push them aside, or at least press on in spite of them. 

Tax season gives me a challenge, sort of like Sara said, preparing for and running a marathon.  I prepare for this marathon if you will starting in November and December.  I only mention the following comments  as these steps are part of my preparation, the marathon, and then what I am left with.  It all starts in late December really.   I know 1040 season starts late January and really heats up February.  For me to be ready for that onslaught I have to get everything else done by late January.  I do a lot of companies books, payroll, and taxes. sort of like controller or part time CPA for companies.. By end of January I need to have so much done.  1099s, W2s, 1065s, 1120Ss, 1120s.  The first thing I concentrate on is W-2s.  With the help of Medlin Payroll, which I have been a customer for approx. 25 years I can get most of my payroll clients W-2s done in December.. .. but even then it is much more than W-2s.. there are the 941s, state and local reports, unemployment returns. etc.. So I like to have all W-2s done by New years day and am working on these through Christmas and New years holidays.  1099s, I can get most of those done by early January as I have monthly Peachtree activity for my business clients.. After January 1, I concentrate on business returns.. I can prepare a 1065, 1120, 1120S before I can a 1040 as I have the data by doing monthly or quarterly accounting. For all of this to work I almost need perfection, from everything to scheduling clients not rescheduling, clients not missing data, etc. Even the weather.. a snow storm could lead to clients rescheduling.  In spite of my other struggles my clients really like me and my service.  Most don't know about the struggles I face.    I just tried here to give a little background on my preparation and what other issues I face, without going into details on those as a courtesy as I did start the topic and felt I owed a reply to those asking about me and how I am doing.  it is just not taking every ounce of strength to get through tax season  with the work load but with the  other issues that I have to deal with I feel like I ran more than a marathon and more like one of those ultra-marathoners.   I am trying to shift gears into post-tax season life now.  Though the tax season crunch may be over, other issues remain that never seem to go away and make post tax season in many ways more difficult than tax season.   

 

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Use your OCD.  Clean and organize your office, schedule courses, touch base with all your biz clients to remind them of deadlines, tackle payroll taxes.  Especially this year, use your tax projector software to do a "check-up" on your individual clients.  Are they withholding enough under the new tables, or will they have unexpected balances due or lower refunds for 2018.  Create new Forms W-4 for your clients.  Schedule an appointment (in person or phone or...) with each client to talk about the new tax laws specific to each, such as W-4 withholding, 20% biz passthrough deduction, anything that your clients need to know about their own situations, personal and biz.

And, schedule yourself personally, not just business/courses/appointments, but schedule your doctor/dentist/eye appointments and exercise times and holidays/vacations, including shopping to be ready for holidays/vacations and time to try something new to see if it works for you (could be yoga or running that actual marathon).  And, schedule a day/time each week to check in here to report on your progress.  Have a calendar with the right amount of activity for you, well scheduled in advance, so you can feel comfortable and prepared looking at it and not have gaps to cause panic, only gaps you scheduled for a purpose.

I read that Martha Stewart would sit on a plane every 1 January returning from her holidays and schedule all her doctor appointments for the year.  Don't know how that worked from a plane on a holiday, but at least she had her working list ready to go!

And, my daughter had six months scheduled out when she started training for a half marathon by joining a training group that included scheduled runs and group meetings and individual appointments with the physical trainer, etc.

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Jim, Don't worry, be happy.  I know this is easier said than done but you need to find a way to get to that goal, don't let these feelings get the better of you.  Find a therapist to help you sort this out.  From all that you do and the respect you have from clients you appear to be very accomplished and a leader in the accounting business.  I too have some OCD, and I know it makes you driven to get things done in perfect order, I use it to help me with organization.  But you need to remember to think of yourself first, because what good will you be to everyone if you get sick.  Take care of this now Jim, life is too short to let this over take your life.

Be well my friend, you can do it,

Bill

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And Jim, please remember that in the history of this world there has only ever been ONE perfect person, and none of us here (including you, including me) are He.  It's OK not to be perfect.  And it's not like we have a choice.  Release yourself from the need for perfection.  Excellence, yes - but that is not perfection.  

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