Tax Season Staffing for CPA Firms
By the time a client's last 1099 turns up, three other returns are already late.
We staff the document chase, the extension calendar and the refund-status calls with people trained on how a season actually runs, so your preparers spend the crunch on returns, not phone calls.
Sound familiar?
The friction we hear most.
The season eats the practice whole
Every hour between January and April goes to the filing crunch, and the advisory and planning work you do the other eight months gets shelved until it is quietly forgotten.
The document chase starts before the return can
A return cannot be started until the W-2s, 1099s and K-1s are all in, and getting a client to send the last one often takes longer than preparing the return itself.
'Where's my refund' is not a tax question
The same call comes in a dozen times a week and it is not about the return, it is about a transcript status a preparer should never have to stop and look up.
Extensions get filed, not tracked
The extension itself takes five minutes to file. Knowing which of two hundred extended returns are still open in September is the part nobody has time to keep straight.
Who joins your team
Roles we staff.
Client Intake & Document Coordinator
Chases and organizes source documents by engagement so a preparer can start the return the moment the file is complete, not before.
Engagement & Deadline Tracker
Owns the extension calendar and flags which returns are still open past a deadline, so nothing surfaces as a surprise in October.
Filing Season Response Coordinator
Takes the refund-status and general questions that fill the phone lines every March, without pulling a preparer off a return to answer them.
Bookkeeping Support Associate
Keeps reconciliation, data entry and the payroll queue moving for year-round clients during the months the firm is buried in returns.
Day to day
What they handle, every day.
- Chase missing W-2s, 1099s and K-1s before a return can be started
- Track extension filings and flag which returns are still open past the deadline
- Field refund-status calls and check e-file acknowledgements without pulling a preparer off a return
- Schedule and reschedule client meetings around the filing-deadline crunch
- Organize source documents by engagement inside the document management system
- Send and follow up on engagement letters and signature requests
- Collect and log bank and brokerage statements for reconciliation
- Route new client intake and prior-year return requests to the right preparer
- Confirm estimated tax payment due dates and amounts on file with clients
- Keep the bookkeeping and payroll queue moving during the off-season
- Log the document chase and hand off open items to the morning team
The handoff
Where AI stops. Where we start.
Automation is genuinely faster at the first, predictable touch — that part is not in question. What follows is the moment it runs out of road, and a trained person picks up with the context already in hand.
A document-tracking system flags a missing 1099 mid-season
Where AI stops
A system can compare the document list against what's expected and flag the gap in seconds, accurately, every time. It cannot work out which of a client's four entities the missing form actually belongs to, or get a straight answer out of a client who has been dodging the call for a week.
What our team does
Works out which entity the 1099 belongs to, calls the client directly, and keeps chasing until the document — or a real answer for why it doesn't exist — comes back.
A document arrives at 11pm the night before a deadline
Where AI stops
An automated system logs the file the instant it lands and matches it to the open engagement without anyone touching it. It cannot decide whether what just arrived is actually enough to file, or that the return still needs one more piece nobody has asked for yet.
What our team does
Checks the file against what the return still needs, tells the preparer whether the deadline is makeable, and files the extension itself if it is not.
A client calls asking where their refund is
Where AI stops
A system can read back the e-file acknowledgement or transcript status accurately and immediately. It cannot tell a routine processing delay from a real problem, or notice this is the fourth call this client has made about the same missing refund.
What our team does
Reads the transcript for what it's actually saying, tells the client something the printout can't, and escalates a genuine IRS delay to the preparer instead of letting it sit.
A client asks whether they owe an estimated payment
Where AI stops
A system can pull the payment schedule on file and read out the amount and due date without missing a beat. It cannot know the client's income changed in March and the number on file no longer matches reality.
What our team does
Checks whether anything has changed since the estimate was set, and loops in the preparer before confirming a figure that might already be wrong.
Outcomes
What changes.
Coverage through the filing deadline
To full handover
Refund-status calls reaching a preparer
What this could save you
Put a number on it.
The outcomes above are what changes operationally. Here's what a role like this is worth in dollars at CPA & accounting firms.
What this could save you on CPA & accounting firms
Move the numbers to match the role you're costing. The totals below update as you type — no email needed.
US cost, all-in
$62,274/yr
GH cost, all-in
$20,800/yr
Annual saving
$41,474
66.6% lower than staying in-house
Full itemised breakdown
See the six line items that make up the US-side total — payroll tax, benefits, paid leave, equipment, and recruiting — for the numbers above.
No sales call. We'll just send the same breakdown to your inbox.
Every assumption this rests on
These are conservative public US averages — employer payroll tax, benefits load, paid leave, and the rest — not GH Business Solutions' own measured figures. They're disclosed here in full so you can check the arithmetic yourself rather than take our word for it.
| Assumption | Value |
|---|---|
| Employer payroll tax | 9.15% |
| Benefits load | 25% |
| Paid leave | 20 days |
| Workstation and software | $1,500 |
| Cost per hire | $4,000 |
| Annual turnover | 30% |
| GH rate | $10.00 per billable hour (our range is $9-$10 — we cost the top of it here) |
Ready to talk specifics?
Tell us what's piling up. We'll tell you exactly what we would take off your desk.
Getting started
Two weeks, start to finish.
Week one
We map your workflow
A dedicated team lead learns your systems, protocols and escalation rules before anyone takes a live call or opens a live ticket.
Week two
Supervised live coverage
Your new team works real calls and real tasks alongside your staff, with a safety net until every handoff is clean.
Full handover
Coverage runs on its own
By the end of week two the team runs independently, with reporting you can review each morning rather than a queue you have to check.
Compliance & data handling
Built to be trusted with what matters.
- Client confidentiality upheld across every engagement
- Records handling aligned with IRS safeguarding expectations for taxpayer data
- Named-individual access to client files with an audit trail
- Data residency and retention rules set by your firm, aligned to IRS record-retention practice
Related services
Common questions
Before you ask.
Can the team handle the volume during filing season?
Yes. The team scales up ahead of the season so document chasing, extension tracking and refund-status calls are covered through the entire crunch, not just the quiet months. Coverage flexes with the calendar rather than staying fixed at a headcount sized for October.
Will the team see our clients' tax and financial information?
They will, because the document chase and file organization cannot happen otherwise. Everyone on the team works under the same confidentiality obligations and records-handling practices your firm already applies to taxpayer information, and access is limited to whoever is actually working the file.
Does the team give clients tax advice?
No. The team gathers documents, tracks deadlines and answers status questions, and every technical question about a filing position, a deduction or a strategy goes straight to your preparer. Nobody on the team is authorized to interpret the tax code on your firm's behalf.
Can the team work inside the software we already use?
Yes. The team works in whatever practice management, document management and workpaper software you already run, using credentials you issue and permissions you control. Nothing is migrated and nothing new is installed on your side.
What happens once the filing deadline has passed?
The work does not stop at the deadline, it changes shape. The same team keeps the extension list moving, chases documents for extended returns and covers bookkeeping and client-service work that usually gets shelved every February and picked back up in a scramble.
How quickly can coverage start before the next deadline crunch?
Two weeks is typical. The first week maps your document checklist, engagement workflow and escalation rules and trains the team on them. The second runs live coverage supervised alongside your staff before full handover, timed so the team is ready before the next crunch, not during it.
With AI document scanning everywhere now, why do we still need people chasing 1099s?
Because scanning a document and getting it out of a client are two different problems. AI reads and sorts what arrives instantly, and that part is largely solved. It cannot get a client who is avoiding the call to actually send the missing form, work out which of their four entities it belongs to, or notice when a 'complete' file is missing something nobody flagged. That is what the chase actually is, and it is still a phone call and a decision, not a scan.
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Ready to see this running in your business?
Tell us what's piling up right now. We will tell you exactly what we would take off your desk.
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