Running the Bases of Tax Season

By Taylor Daugherty, CPA

Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over, til it’s over,” and that’s about how every accountant is feeling this time of year.

With the belief that everything in life can be explained through baseball, I tend to imagine busy season as one long baseball game. Everyone is doing their warmup stretch in January, cleaning up their books or gathering all the necessary information for us to complete their return. Come February 1^st, the first pitch is thrown, and we see a spike in the amount of information received from clients. Then for the next several innings (aka weeks), we rally.

Similar to a baseball player running the bases, the tax return for each individual or business must go through a process to make it back to you. We begin by throwing you an engagement letter and organizer for you to sign and fill out accordingly. Once you’ve gathered all the necessary information the ball hits the bat and your return takes off. At first base your return is prepared by a staff member of MHCS, followed by a review of the return at second base, a signing of the return by the appropriate individual as it rounds third base, and a return of the finished copy back to you, as the client, where it all began; home plate. Now, some at bats go better than others with some returns rounding the bases so fast it must have been a home run, while others may get stuck on first base due to the need for additional information from the batter (client) or another team (a third party).

Most years, the recent March 15^th deadline signifies the 7^th inning stretch. However, with the newly announced extended tax deadline of July 15, it feels more like we are moving into game 2 of a double header. We are not done yet, but our team has worked hard thus far and will rally to finish the season strong with help from great current and future clients like you.

P.S. Go Cardinals!

Taylor Daugherty, CPA | Senior Accountant
TDaugherty@MHCScpa.com