Informanagement sells newsfeed and other content services to the accountancy profession. As such, we have become aware of the seasonal nature of the compliance services offered by firms and how this affects their availability.
This is our take on this annual cycle.
January: the bunker closes and it’s all hands to the pump to clear any outstanding self-assessment tax returns. Our guess is that this is a bumper month for billing as it’s almost impossible to communicate with practitioners during this month. We would classify this as a “red” in terms of accessibility.
February – March: although the tax return filing season for the previous tax year has ended, firms still have to deal with any tax and business planning matters with clients as the end of March is the most popular accounting year end and is, of course, right on top of the tax year end. Practitioners also seem to take early, extended February half-term breaks to recover from the frenetic activity in January. We would classify this as an “amber” in terms of accessibility.
April – June: spring is in the air, a new tax year has started, and as this first quarter of the new fiscal year, gatekeepers appear to be more relaxed. We would classify this as a “green” in terms of accessibility.
July – August: summer holidays, dealing with kids during school holidays and generally yearning for siesta as the heat levels rise in the afternoons. Due to absences in taking annual leave, we would classify this as an “amber” in terms of accessibility.
September – November: holidays are usually over, there is the whisper of year end compliance pressures starting to build, but accessibility is generally good in this period, a “green” on our traffic light scale.
December: end of the calendar year, probably the second most popular accounting year end, the pre-Christmas hangovers, holidays and the impending self-assessment deadline all contribute to this being a bad month to try and speak with practitioners. A “red” for this month.
Hopefully, this will provide some insight from the other side of your gatekeeper’s world, the folks trying to reach you, and the way that the rest of us perceive communication effectiveness with your industry. Meanwhile, those of us who sell services to this profession, it’s back to the contact management system, follow up calls and un-responded emails. We will not give up on you…
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