The Radical CPA: 1099 Nightmares (How Not to Have Them)

It’s funny how a regulatory change can create intense havoc to a firm.

Why such havoc?

Because the firm has done a poor job of standardizing its process for fulfilling something that happens EVERY year.

It becomes even funnier when you hear about a large firm acquisition and the obscene amount of hours needed to work in January because of poor process. Add to that, when the midsized firm being acquired thought the bigger firm might actually have a process, but NOPE it just was a bigger amount of chaos.

Yikes.

I really hope this blog doesn’t come across as smug because truly I don’t mean it to be.

But I gotta say, come on already!

There are firms out there who have standardized processes and cloud technology that can process 1099s in minutes, not hours. Yes, it’s good technology but the firm worked to get everything connected before January. As a result, a regulatory process change like 1099s and W-2s being filed in January has almost no impact on a firm.

I guess if you still get paid by the hour and it takes more than two hours to file something that takes another firm mere minutes, that can be a profitable model. But what happens when your team quits or you can’t find anyone to work for you because you have created a tax season that lasts 18 weeks instead of six? Why would I want to wear my team out in January on a clerical process?

Or when your customer’s questions why that Form 1099 costs so much money.

There are lots of things we can’t control, but if you are a Radical CPA you control and standardize the things you can.

Food for thought.

Originally published on The Radical CPA blog. For more content like this, subscribe to The Radical CPA newsletter or buy the book, "The Radical CPA: New Rules for the Future-Ready Firm."