Question:

Case 1.1--The Owner of a CPA Firm Who Asked for Too Much

The tax season was coming to a close and the owner of a small accounting firm called John Smith Accounting was under a lot of stress. The employees were starting to complain because many of them were spending 12 to 14 hours on the job each day. Crucial documents from clients had begun to trickle in, but much to the chagrin of the owner the documents were often the wrong documents and nearly half of the clients' tax returns would possibly need to be extended. This was a problem with individual returns, not so much for business clients whose tax season ended in the middle of September. Because employees' bonuses were predicated on John (the owner) collecting all fees, the uncompleted tax forms could not be used when calculating bonuses.

Clients do not like to, and some refuse to, pay penalties and interest on unfinished tax returns-even when they did not provide crucial documents! Extensions for some clients meant a call from these clients to the owner screaming in his ears. John knows the seven employees, all of whom but one is a CPA, can do the work. Nonetheless, asking them to make these deep sacrifices has the ramifications of spilling over into their personal lives, causing friction between employees and their spouses, especially those with very young children at home. The previous year, some employees threatened to quite due to the stress. Others deliberately ignored jobs logged into the work schedule leading to nearly 40% of all returns needing to be extended. The IRS penalties and interest falls on the firm in such cases where clients provided all documents on time to the firm needed to complete their tax returns.

The owner did not wish to hire any additional accountants because he would lose money during the off- tax season down times. His only solution was to motivate and communicate with the employees.

CASE 1.1 QUESTIONS

What are two immediate steps John could take to get the employees motivated?

What are some face-to-face tips you would suggest for him in terms of interpersonal communication strategies?

If a CPA employee storms into John's office complaining and frustrated at the workload, what could John do to communicate solace to the employee?