Training seasonal staff.

• Author: Moore, Daniel T.

Having the right team in place makes a world of difference, especially at tax time with seasonal staff. The key to developing a working training program for seasonal staff is to start early.

As tax season approaches, a firm should think about the ultimate goal for its seasonal staff. Does the firm want them to focus on one aspect of the process or to have a working knowledge of the whole tax return? Will they be entering data for individual returns? Will they need to know their way around a Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business, or a corporate return? Perhaps they will work directly with clients contacting them about the information needed to complete their return and meet with them when they drop off their tax information. What will they need to know if they are handing out a completed return or sending an electronic copy of a return to a client portal? Once the firm has its objectives in mind, it can work to achieve an effective training plan.

The first step in managing seasonal staff is to find the right candidates. Firms can choose from many types of employees who may not have traditional accounting experience or are not on the CPA track. Good candidates may come from a large variety of sources, including the following:

* Banking professionals: Bank tellers and back-office banking staff have comprehensive knowledge of financial transactions. These individuals are often a perfect fit for many steps in the tax season process, including scanning, data entry, and customer service.

* Staffing agencies: Several national and regional staffing agencies specialize in meeting the needs of accounting firms. With a staffing agency, a firm has the advantage of receiving prescreened qualified candidates. Also, a staffing agency can fill a short-term need such as assisting on one project, working through tax season, or filling the spot of an employee on medical leave. Often, employees who join a firm through a temporary service stay on as full-time employees.

* Veterans: Veterans bring a unique skill set to the job because of their real-world training. They are often good candidates for supervisory positions.

* Local colleges and universities: A local college or university is an obvious source for qualified accounting candidates. Students in majors other than accounting should not be overlooked. A dedicated student who is not an accounting major may be perfect to fill a short-term need.

The next step in finding the right candidates is to create an advertisement that will attract them to the firm. When advertising for available positions, the firm should pay careful attention to how it words job titles and descriptions. The variety and quality of job applicants could vary greatly for the same position based on how the advertisement is perceived...