5How to operationalize hope in tax season: Team goals that connect to firm goals. Don’t just say “file on time.” Pick two or three experience goals (e.g., “<10% rework,” “24-hour client response,” “no weekend email after 6 p.m. except critical”) and show how they ladder to client satisfaction and realization. Weekly 15-minute “pathways” huddles. Ask: What’s your next step? What’s in the way? What help do you need? Keep it practical; move obstacles in the moment. Agency boosters. Rotate “win of the week,” publish small progress signals (returns moved from Review → Ready to File), and protect focus blocks. Mentors and buddies—beyond new hires. Let people choose a check-in colleague who actually fits. Informal support often beats formal assignments. Respect the whole person. If someone is caregiving or volunteering, make flex time explicit and visible on calendars. When life is acknowledged, hope rises—and turnover intention drops. 5Leader script you can use tomorrow: “Here are our team goals for January through April. Here are the pathways we’ll use. Here’s how we’ll help each other when we get stuck. If your load changes or life throws a curveball, tell us early—we’ll adjust together.” 3. CYBER HYGIENE: MINIMUM VIABLE HARDENING BEFORE PEAK RISK Tax season amplifies cyber risk: more Personally Identifiable Information (PII), more email volume, more fatigue. A lightweight hardening sprint this month can prevent catastrophic downtime later. 5Your December cyber checklist: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on everything (portal, tax app, email, file storage, remote access). No exceptions. Patch and update all endpoints and your tax stack; verify Endpoint Detection and Response/Antivirus (EDR/AV) is installed and reporting. Email security basics. Turn on advanced phishing protection and external sender banners; quarantine auto-forward rules; disable legacy protocols. Password manager rollout (firm-wide) and a short live demo on creating/using vaults. Secure file exchange only. Kill ad-hoc email attachments; use request links with upload encryption and expiry. Least-privilege access to client folders; time-box elevated rights to 8-12 weeks and auto-revoke post-season. Two 20-minute drills: 1. Phish-spotting huddle—show three real examples; practice reporting. 2. Lost laptop playbook—who to call, remote wipe, client notification thresholds. Tax season success isn’t luck; it’s systems and signals. When you align your tools (workflow), people (resilience), and protections (cyber), you produce fewer surprises, faster throughput, and a team that ends April tired—but intact. Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, is the founder and inspiration architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation, which enables transformation by guiding professionals through the adoption and change required in order to step into the future of the accounting profession. He is also the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, a Hawaiiheadquartered advisory‑focused CPA firm dedicated to improving the world by helping small and mid-sized entities (SMEs) accelerate their business transformations through the application of Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) frameworks right-sized for smaller organizations. 1 Hopson, Katelynn, “Never Fear, Hope is Here: A Quantitative Analysis of Public Accountants’ Hope During Busy Season” (2025). Dissertations. 1529. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/1529 A ONE-PAGE STARTER PLAN This Week Publish your tax stack map + Kanban board. Enable organizer reminders and standardized e-sign packets. Schedule weekly pathways huddles (15 minutes max). Turn on MFA everywhere; confirm patch status firm-wide. Next Week Launch intake gates + daily triage lead rotation. Roll out the password manager and phishspotting drill. Block three prep mornings on calendars through April 15. Week Three Review cycle-time and rework data; remove one step that doesn’t add value. Run the lost-laptop drill; confirm leastprivilege access. Survey team on “hope drivers”: What goal, pathway, or support would most help you this month? 17 nescpa.org
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