Hello friends! We are roughly 6 weeks post June 15th, the most recent major IRS deadline for a large group of taxpayers. This time of year is generally among the slowest for tax professionals, and the perfect time for taking a well-earned vacation. Likewise, many business owners that have non-seasonal businesses may experience a slump in activity, as well.

Aside from going somewhere lovely for a vacay, there are a few other ways to take advantage of the summer slowdown. When enjoying this downtime, it’s easy to forget that there are things that can be done now, in order to make the remainder of the year a bit easier on you. If you’re lucky, taking action now may create some additional pockets of downtime even during the busier seasons! Here are some things both tax practitioners as well as taxpayers can do during this quiet period:

• Start compiling the documents needed to complete the next scheduled quarterly estimated tax payment (for people that do not pay taxes through wages – the next quarterly due date is September 15, 2022)
• Contact any clients that have filed extensions, and provide a quick checklist of documents to have before completing their returns. If they need to request missing documents, this is a perfect time to do so. If you’re not a practitioner, then reviewing IRS’s records for your most recent tax year is also a good idea: as a taxpayer, it’s helpful to know what figures and income statements IRS has, so that you can ensure that you have all of the documents reported under your tax ID number.
• Conduct a review of 2022 business activities up to this point, and identify 1-3 areas for improvement. Come up with one small, concrete step that can be taken today, to move toward that improvement.
• Reach out to clients to express appreciation for continued support (this applies to tax practitioners as well as individuals that have goods- or service-based businesses).
• Start and finish reading one book related to your area of expertise. Select another book or two to read during the last 4 months of the year.
• Digitize any paper records that have been missed, and save these documents in secure ways.
• Find one thing to outsource either for the summer or the upcoming fall and winter seasons. Set up a payment arrangement to cover the outsourced service until the end of the year.
• Set your remainder of the year goals (September to December goals). Get a head-start on some of those goals now.
• Review your paper calendars (or digital calendars) for the past three months. Complete anything that was inadvertently missed.
• Create a business vision board (I’ll be upgrading mine and sharing it in a future post).
• Write out your business vision for 2023, and use the remainder of the summer, as well as the upcoming seasons, to arrange your affairs for a smooth transition into your vision.
• Check on the completion status for required continuing professional education courses (CPE). Schedule and take those necessary CPEs while you have free time.
• Review your current memberships and affiliations to see if you’re taking advantage of all of the benefits of being a member. If not, start using those perks today. If the organizations you’ve joined aren’t providing enough benefit, reconsider whether you should remain a member (cancel memberships if appropriate).

I am already scheduling most of these activities for myself, because these are tasks that I have been neglecting for a while now, and I know my life and business will improve drastically once I work on these. If you’re doing any of the things listed above, let me know about it in the comments below! I’d love to hear about your plans.