# Busy Season Checklist for Accountants: Before, During and After > A practical busy season checklist for accountants and bookkeepers: what to set up in advance, how to run the chasing, and what to do once the deadline passes. Source: https://www.getmindie.app/blog/accountant-busy-season-checklist (published 2026-10-29) Every year you promise yourself this busy season will be calmer. Then the first week of chasing documents arrives, and you're back to answering emails at 11pm from memory. Most of what makes busy season hard is decided before it starts. Here's a checklist in three parts: the weeks before, the season itself, and the week after. ## Before the season: four to six weeks out ### Send the document list early The single biggest delay in busy season is waiting for clients. Send each client a clear list of what you need, well before you need it. - **Make it specific to the client.** "Bank statements for both business accounts, Jan to Dec" beats "all bank statements". - **Give a date, not a vague window.** "By 31 January" gets better results than "as soon as you can". - **Say what happens if it's late.** A polite line about later documents moving to the back of the queue or needing an extension is fair, and clients appreciate knowing. If you use a portal, check every client can still log in before the season starts. Password resets in the middle of March waste hours. ### Confirm engagement letters and fees Make sure every client has a current engagement letter and knows the fee for this year. Fee conversations are far easier in quiet months. ### Plan your capacity List every return or job you expect, with a rough estimate of hours. Compare it with the hours you actually have. If the numbers don't fit, decide now which work gets an extension, which clients you'll ask to come in early, and whether you need help. ### Set your internal cut-offs Pick a date after which late documents mean the client goes on extension rather than squeezing in. Tell clients the date in advance. Having it written down makes it much easier to stick to when someone calls in a panic. ### Clear your own life admin This is the step accountants skip. Before the season starts: - Pay or set up anything due in the next three months. - Book any dentist, doctor or car service appointments for before or after the season. - Renew anything that expires during it. - Tell family and friends which weeks you'll be hard to reach. Ten minutes of this in advance saves you an evening of stress in the middle of March. ## During the season ### A daily triage Start each day with a short triage, ideally before opening email: 1. What's due this week? 2. What's blocked waiting for a client? 3. Which chasers need to go out today? 4. What's the one job I must finish today? Writing this down takes five minutes and stops the inbox setting your priorities. ### A chasing rhythm that doesn't depend on memory For each missing item, set a follow-up date the moment you notice it's missing. A simple pattern: - **First chase:** a friendly reminder listing exactly what's missing. - **Second chase, five working days later:** a shorter note with the cut-off date. - **Third chase, three days before the cut-off:** a phone call, or a clear message that the return will go on extension without it. The [reminder message writer](/tools/reminder-message-writer) can help with polite wording if you're writing dozens of these. ### Protect a few hours a day Interruptions are what stretch busy season into the evening. Block two or three hours a day with no calls or email, and use them for the work that needs concentration. [Time blocking for busy people](/blog/time-blocking-for-busy-people) has a simple way to set this up. ### Track extensions in one place Keep one list of every client on extension, the new due date, and what you're still waiting for. Extensions are easy to forget once the main deadline has passed, and they come round faster than you expect. ### Look after yourself, on purpose It sounds soft, but it's practical. Set fixed times to stop for lunch, to get up from the desk, and to finish for the day. Tiredness causes errors, and errors take longer to fix than the breaks you skipped. ## After the season ### The debrief Within a week of the deadline, while it's fresh, write down: - Which clients were late, and by how much? - Which jobs took far longer than estimated? - What would you do differently next year? - Which clients do you want to move to an earlier timetable, or let go? Then set a reminder for a few weeks before next season to read it. ### Extensions and follow-up work Go back to the extensions list and set reminders for each new due date, with a buffer. ### Your own CPD or CPE hours Busy season eats into training time. Check how many hours you still need for the year and plan them now, before the next busy period starts. The [continuing education reminder](/reminders/continuing-education) page has a simple way to track the total. ### Rest Book a day or two off, and put it in the calendar before work fills the gap. ## Doing it with Mindie Mindie is a reminder service in WhatsApp. A lot of clients already send documents and photos of receipts there, so the chaser can be set in the next chat over. Several reminders in one message become separate reminders: - "Remind me Monday at 11am to chase Tom for his mortgage statement, Wednesday at 11am to chase Ella for her payroll summary, and Friday at 11am to chase Ben for the vehicle log" - "Remind me before the Harper Bakery extension is due on 15 October" That second one gives you an early heads-up and a reminder on the day. For your own season prep, set a yearly reminder once: - "Every year on 1 December at 9am remind me to send client document lists and check portal logins" Keep your extensions list in the same chat: - "Add Harper Bakery, due 15 Oct, waiting on stock count to my extensions list" Ask "show my extensions list" whenever you need it. You can turn on the optional morning briefing for a quick look at the day's reminders, and a weekly review to see the week ahead. Connect Google Calendar or Outlook to ask "what's on tomorrow?" without opening another app. Mindie only messages you. It doesn't message clients or connect to accounting software, and it isn't a practice management system. See [Mindie for accountants](/for/accountants) for more. ## Reminders worth setting - [Tax documents reminder](/reminders/tax-documents): A heads-up to gather paperwork, for clients or for your own return. - [Sales tax return reminder](/reminders/sales-tax-return): A nudge before each sales tax or VAT return is due. - [Quarterly estimated tax reminder](/reminders/quarterly-estimated-tax): A reminder before each quarterly payment date. - [Continuing education reminder](/reminders/continuing-education): Steady reminders to finish CPD or CPE hours after the season. ## FAQ ### When is busy season for accountants? In the US, tax busy season usually runs from January to mid-April, with a second peak around the extension deadline in the autumn. In other countries it follows local filing deadlines, so the busy months vary. ### How do accountants survive busy season? Most of it is preparation: sending document lists early, setting internal cut-offs, planning capacity, and clearing personal admin beforehand. During the season, a daily triage and fixed focus time keep the work moving. ### How do I get clients to send their documents on time? Send a specific list per client with a firm date, chase on a fixed rhythm, and tell clients in advance what happens if they miss the cut-off. Consistency over a few seasons trains most clients to send earlier.