Today is the day for many accounting professionals……the tax deadline for personal income taxes.  During the final days leading up to the due date, many accountants and tax professionals are working furiously to finish tax returns or file extensions.  Some may realize that  ‘I have a question and I need help NOW.’  Intuit’s tech support is there to help accounting professionals who use Lacerte or ProSeries for tax preparation.  What I found interesting is how Intuit’s leadership team supports the call center employees during the final days of tax season. 

As Rich Walker,  Director – Accountant Communications, Media Relations and Social Media at Intuit explains, “the leadership team for the Accounting Professionals Division goes to all the call centers during the last week of tax season to provide moral support and serve snacks, lunch and dinner. It’s been great to overhear tech support calls and hear just how much our agents know about our programs and about taxes.”

“According to the command center, which monitors all pro calls, most calls today were answered in 2 minutes or less, with the longest wait being 21 minutes” states Rich.  That is pretty impressive given the number of calls and the looming tax deadline.

According to Rich, “Reps know the product and what’s on the snack cart, so they continue their calls, pick their choice, and mouth a silent ‘thank you’ ……I’ll be working the weekend, though, to push sugar, caffeine and carbs.”

Rich and Tracy (and another employee in absentia) serve sub sandwiches for lunch on tax day. We ended up taking a cart up and down the aisles since most of the ProSeries and Lacerte reps were busy on calls. They're really committed to helping the customers, and even more so on the last day of tax season.

Yesterday, Rich said “I just delivered lunch to Intuit’s Fredericksburg, VA call center agents. It came about an hour later than usual, so the ‘natives were getting politely restless.’ Needless to say, they were glad when they saw the cart being pushed down the aisles. Today’s menu was burgers and fries from Five Guys and desserts from Georgetown Cupcakes. Yum!”  I bet many accounting and tax professionals would like that kind of food and support for their office!

Accounting and tax professionals understand the stress, long hours and sleep deprivation of tax season.  But don’t forget that “call center employees have long hours and a lot of stress too.”  They are doing their best to help and support you.  Intuit’s support and encouragement of call center employees helps demonstrate why Intuit is #44 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for.

Rich’s comments today (tax day):  “I’m actually having a great time, listening in on calls, and interacting with the agents. Even in this stressful time of the last day of tax season, I love that I still hear laughter among the agents and how they interact so well with the customers. But I’m exhausted from being here all weekend … and I’m not even taking calls.”

Thanks Rich & everyone for all that you do to help support accounting professionals!

Feel free to share how you and your employees survive the frantic, final days of tax season in the comments.

Updated: Congrats everyone for surviving another tax season!

"After listening in on Intuit's ProSeries and Lacerte call center in Fredericksburg, VA, I am very impressed with the agents' knowledge and their endurance. I'm exhausted from just four days, and they've answered questions all season. They're ready for the champagne and apple cider toast as the deadline hour drew near last night." Rich Walker