Email Management: How Tax Firms Can Prevent Being Overwhelmed by CPA Client Emails

Solopreneurs and small tax firms are overwhelmed by the massive amount of daily emails they constantly receive. The sheer number of emails makes it challenging to react quickly, which can result in important email correspondence being missed. In this post, we show small firms how to manage their email to avoid feeling overwhelmed while also making sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Common Reasons for Email Mismanagement

There are a variety of reasons that tax firms find it difficult to manage their emails. From over-managing too many clients to being asked the same questions over and over again, there are simpler ways to manage emails and declutter your workday. Some of the following reasons are the result of email mismanagement: 

• Recurring questions from existing clients. Many tax firms’ email inboxes are flooded with the same recurring questions that take up unnecessary time to answer repeatedly. A simple hack to fix this issue is to create an FAQ page that addresses the most common questions your tax firm receives. If you prefer not to have an FAQ page, then consider creating an online help center by using websites such as getguru.com or www.helpdocs.io, which can ensure that your clients always have answers to their questions without impeding on your precious work time. 
• Recurring questions from new clients. If you notice that a lot of your new clients tend to ask the same questions, then it’s highly likely that your onboarding process may need to be tweaked to answer those questions. Take note of what questions your new clients are asking and make sure to address them during onboarding so that you can minimize your involvement. With Taxdome, you can automate the entire client onboarding process so that you can run your business with little to no involvement. 
• Too many emails. Email management may seem daunting if your inbox is flooded with too much email correspondence. However, ignoring these emails can result in dissatisfied clients and a bad reputation for your business. If your company is receiving too many emails, then you may be managing too many clients on your own. Calculate how much time you spend answering emails and how that time is affecting your bottom line. If you’re spending too much time answering emails, then it may be in your best interest to hire an assistant who can handle the simple tasks—like managing email and answering phones—that are taking up too much of your time. 

Watch Brittnie Eiden, owner of Eiden Tax & Accounting on streamlining client communication vs sorting through spam emails:

7 Ways to not be Overwhelmed by Email Management 

It is easy to fall victim to email mismanagement. Here are seven ways to avoid becoming overwhelmed: 

Tip 1: Use TaxDome’s Email Sync. This email management software declutters your inbox by streamlining communications between your clients and your staff. TaxDome’s Email Sync is a shared team-based inbox that retains emails from clients, autosaves attached files, and keeps your communications in their account. With this email management software, your tax firm will be able to quickly turn emails into tasks or skip them entirely using our smart notification center. 

Tip 2: Set aside a block of time to manage emails. One of the best ways to tackle an overflowing inbox is to set aside a block of time during the workday that you dedicate to answering emails. Doing this allows you to stay on top of your email communications without feeling like it’s interrupting your workflow. 

Tip 3: Create templated responses. If you know that you tend to send the same emails over and over again, consider creating templates that you can send with the click of a button. Google has an option called canned responses that allows you to create templated responses to send to your clients. 

Tip 4: Hire an assistant. As mentioned earlier, a great way to avoid being overwhelmed by email management is to hire an assistant who can do the work for you. Assistants are wonderful resources who can tackle the busy parts of the workday that take up too much of your time. Consider investing in someone who can take some of the workload off of your shoulders so that you can be more proactive during your workday.

Tip 5: Clean up your inbox. Take some time to go through your inbox and unsubscribe/block email senders that you don’t want to hear from. The last thing you want to be bombarded with is spam emails or unnecessary correspondence, so make sure to spend some time blocking the senders who shouldn’t be contacting you. 

Tip 6: Filter your emails. Create labels or folders for your emails so it’s easier to find what you’re looking for. Create separate folders for external or internal correspondence. You can also filter your emails by what is immediate and what you can take some time to respond to. Doing this allows you to declutter your inbox, and the organization enables some peace of mind. 

Tip 7: Delete the email app from your phone. Like most business leaders, you probably receive hundreds of emails every day, meaning your phone is receiving notifications too often. This can heighten your stress and contribute to making you feel overwhelmed. One of the best ways to combat this is to delete the app from your phone and make sure that you allot time during the day when you solely spend time answering emails. 

Invest in Email Management Software

Client communication is a must for your business’s success. Your firm must be able to separate junk emails from important emails. At TaxDome, we help you manage emails with our all-in-one platform that allows you to communicate easily with clients without feeling overwhelmed. Contact us today for a free demo of our email management software.