Practical Ways to Simplify the Tax Season Before January

reading time: 6 minute(s)

No one wants to find themselves in the middle of January with unfinished tax forms, missing information, and inaccurate submissions. That’s why December is the ideal month to prepare for the upcoming tax season.

By verifying accuracy, ensuring system readiness, and strengthening workflow efficiency now, you set yourself up for a more efficient and organized tax season. The actions you take today directly support a streamlined filing process in January.

Having a foundation built on accuracy is a key part of maintaining January compliance—and you can begin building today by ensuring your data is correct. Start by reconciling year-to-date payments, confirming contractor compensation amounts match your 1099s, and running trial balance reports to catch discrepancies early. December is also the ideal time to run verifications, including TIN matching, address checks, and duplicate information alerts, so that you start the year off with accurate data to ensure IRS compliance.

Confirming system and workflow readiness helps create an efficient filing process. Update your information, including client details, team member roles, and permissions in TaxBandits, and check your other systems for software updates and data accuracy. Addressing these items now helps eliminate unexpected system-related delays in January.

Just as your data and systems need to be ready for the filing season, your team also needs to be ready. Prepare your team by assigning training videos and guides, providing support numbers, and detailing the workflow. Also, ensure everyone understands their individual roles, how to escalate issues, and deadlines. Keeping everyone on the same page means there’s less miscommunication and confusion, which can slow down the process.

By preparing in December, you minimize the pressure, protect compliance, and start the new year with confidence—ready to focus on what matters most.

Learn more about December preparation by visiting our preparation webpage.