Professional Firms and Disaster Preparation

 Professional firms are subject to the same risks as other businesses.

Fire, flood, lightning strikes, power outages, tornadoes and hurricanes, the whole range.

What would happen if you lost access to your office for a few days, a week or more?

What if everyone had to work remote for an extended period of time?

What would happen if your Internet was out for an extended period of time?

What if another company in your office building did something to compromise the entire building?

What if a fire turned your paper records into a wet smoky blob?

What if a water pipe broke in the sprinkler system?

Anticipate and prepare!

Disaster Prep Series - Anticipation

 What could go wrong?

Fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, water leaks, vehicle accidents **, earthquakes, forest fires, power surges, etc.

In our area there is a significant probability of tornados, a near 0 probability of hurricane damage, a tiny probability of an earthquake, and depending on the location a significant probability of flooding. 

If you are in an office building or retail strip you need to worry about problems caused by neighbors.

Make a list of possible disasters, assign a probability to each, and think through your reaction (more on that later).

** Our city has regular episodes of vehicles driving into building lobbies or store fronts.  

Stages of Risk Management - Including Disaster Prep

Stages of Risk Management 

1. Anticipation of Risk Events

2. Potential Impacts of Risk Events

3. Probability of Risk Events

4. Develop and Implement Action Plan

5.  Monitor Environment

6. Transfer  (often with insurance) 

  

Fire and Floods and Wind

 I have an obsession with risk management, and that includes disaster preparedness.

This year has been a nasty season of fires and floods and tornados and the year is not over.

In my experience disaster preparedness is a low priority for many businesses and professional practices, until the water is seeping under the door or the flames are licking at the office building.

So I am going to do a series on risk management, some repeats, to help small businesses and professional practices prepare for disasters.

You may never experience a disaster, but when you do it will be miserable at best.

Be Kind to Your Tax Professional - Part 3 - BOOKKEEPING!

 One more time.....

Bookkeeping, sure it is boring. And repetitive. 

AND CRITICAL........

to accurate financial statements

to accurate tax returns (required by law)

to accurate analytics

to accurate billing

to lenders

etc.

Be Kind to Your Tax Professional - Part 2 - Business Returns

Business returns depend on a clean trial balance, in order to produce a clean income calculation and a clean balance sheet. Business returns can be easy for tax professionals or can be a nightmare.

The owner of the business determines which it will be.

About bookkeeping, which is usually a boring topic - but a critical topic.

The IRS requires accurate bookkeeping and accurate filings, and your tax professional should do likewise.

Not every bookkeeping and record keeping scheme is perfect, but you should strive for close.

 Also, accurate and useful analytics are only possible when the bookkeeping and accounting system is accurate.

Don't think much about analytics?  You should be.

Presenting your tax professional with clean accu.rate accounting records will save you money, save you grief, and has the potential to improve your managment

Be Kind to Your Tax Professional - Part 1

 Be kind to your tax professional.

Pros must work through high volumes of complex data and then apply a massive amount of data via complex statutes and regulatory law, and get it all on the proper forms and explain it to the client. 

And work with the IRS. 

All under time pressure.

What can clients do to help?

Answer phone calls and emails promptly

Keep all of your documents together and in good order

Do not try to take deductions your pro says are not deductible

Do not follow tax advice from Tik-Tok or Instagram

Keep appointments

Pay estimates taxes when scheduled

Try to avoid surprises  (if you have major transaction/s during the year which alter your tax profile let the pro know early - buy a business, sell a business, start a business, sell a large amount of investments, sell your house, marriage, baby,  get divorced, death in family, etc.) 

Be patient

 by Tom Ealey, CPA

(c) Plain English Publishing 2026