Nobody loves the feeling of a looming deadline, but in accounting, they’re a constant – especially during busy season. That means how your firm manages deadlines is one of the determining factors in your team’s performance.

If you lack consistent processes for deadlines across your firm, your team’s ability to meet deadlines will also be inconsistent.

But if you create visible, clear goals for your whole team, they might even be able to surpass your expectations. Here are 5 ways you can manage deadlines better to make this tax season your most efficient one yet.

1. Make deadlines central to and visible the whole team

As Steve Jobs famously said, “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” Your team might have 10 different things to get done today, but only 3 of them might be urgent. Yet too often, key decision makers can fail to communicate those priorities to more junior staff until the 11th hour.

When priorities are clear and centralized, every member of your team can shift from a personal to-do list to working on the firm’s top deadlines.

In ProCharted, the firm’s deadlines are on every team member’s homepage. As soon as a team member logs in, they get an instant overview of deadlines, team progress, and work status in order to help them prioritize their work without relying on direction from senior staff.

2. Create subtasks for each project

You’ve probably often heard that it’s better to break down large goals into smaller, achievable tasks. But have you ever wondered why that is? Turns out, there are several important reasons why this is effective:

• Having a concrete list of takes makes people more efficient because they’re not spending energy trying to remember what to do next.
• When people successfully complete a task, the sense of accomplishment creates a positive feedback loop and makes them more productive on the next task.
• Progress indicators can enhance motivation. When people know how much longer a project will take, they tend to be more inclined to put in that “final sprint” it takes to complete the task.

In ProCharted, you can set and assign subtasks for each work item to instantly create smaller, achievable tasks for every project. Your whole team will also be able to see the % complete on each work item, which increases whenever they complete a subtask – giving them a big-picture view of how completing the subtask contributes to the larger project.

3. Keep the lines of communication open

Sometimes, teams miss deadlines when there’s a communication bottleneck. When team communication happens through multiple channels, it’s easy to miss messages and fail to see where communication has stalled.

When team communication is open and centralized, it’s much easier to see when you need to step in on a project to keep in moving. With ProCharted, you can also keep everyone up to date with automatic notifications whenever you mention a team member in a conversation about a work item.

4. Track time accurately for better estimates

Have you ever heard of the planning fallacy? It’s a common error in judgement that people tend to make when they’re planning something: they think the task will take less time than it does.

Scaled up over multiple projects, it’s easy to see how this can lead to missed deadlines. When you have 10 projects to complete and you’ve underestimated the time for each one, suddenly you’re chronically behind on everything.

To eliminate this bias, check the tracked time on similar projects you’ve done in the past. You can use that estimate to project the amount of time your next project will take. ProCharted integrates time tracking into your workspace for more accurate time across all your work items.

5. Automate wherever possible

Finally, whenever you can, automate. Whether it’s automating data extraction, Excel formulas, or other processes, shaving time off repetitive admin tasks can help you meet deadlines when you’re struggling. 

For example, you can use Verify to process documents efficiently, Docyt for bookkeeping, or Copilot for Excel formula automations. Whatever you use, aim to automate a task you do most for better results.

Deadlines are a team effort

Remember, deadlines aren't just about meeting external expectations; they're about creating a predictable and efficient workflow for your team. When you do, your whole firm will be empowered to deliver exceptional service to your clients and build stronger relationships.

Take control of your deadlines with centralized, clear, and standardized processes, and watch your team thrive. Want to centralize deadlines, workflows, time tracking, and more for your whole team? Try ProCharted free for 30 days today.