How to Fix CPA IT Problems Before Next Tax Season

Tax season puts every weakness in your IT systems under a microscope.

If you fought through downtime or system slow downs you know exactly how even the smallest hiccups make your already overloaded accountants even more stressed and overwhelmed.

The worst part? You don’t have time to troubleshoot or fix anything when your schedule is already at max capacity. When things go wrong, you just have to push through.

Now that things have settled, this is your chance to take control.

You can keep struggling through when problems pop up, or you can make the most of this window—one that most firms miss.

In order to do so, you’ll need to take a closer look at what failed, document your weak spots, and focus your efforts in the right places.

So, in this blog we’ll help you do just that by detailing the steps you can take to build an IT foundation that works for your firm—and not against it—when tax season hits again.

Here’s what we’ll walk through:

• How to collect and assess the IT issues your firm experienced

• What patterns we typically uncover when accounting firms do this work

• What to address now so you’re not stuck scrambling next season

Let’s get into it.

Step 1: Document the Issues While They’re Fresh

You can’t fix problems if you don’t know what they are.

Before you start thinking about upgrades or replacements, you need a clear record of what actually went wrong. And the best time to gather that information is right now, while the experience is still fresh.

Ask your team to share everything they ran into during tax season. Don’t just focus on the big crashes. The daily friction points like lag, slow logins, remote desktop delays, and freezing apps often point to the real sources of stress.

Capture the details:

• What happened?

• When did it happen?

• How long did it last?

• Who was affected?

Make it easy for employees to speak up. A lot of issues go unreported during busy season because everyone is just trying to get through the day. But those overlooked problems are usually the ones that return next year.

Step 2: Look Past the Symptoms

Once you’ve collected the problems, we’ll need to dig through to start uncovering the real root problems. You can do this by looking for any patterns or clues that point to something deeper.

Start connecting the dots. Ask yourself:

• Are the same types of issues coming up repeatedly?

• Do problems seem tied to a specific location, device, or time of day?

• Are certain users or teams running into more problems than others?

If one person had repeated crashes, it might be aging hardware. If several staff members struggled with freezing apps during remote work, it might point to limited resources or connection issues. If files were lost or overwritten, it could be a process gap or a training issue.

You don’t need to know how to fix it yet. That comes later.

Right now, the goal is to move from isolated complaints to recognizable patterns. These patterns are the early signs of breakdowns in your infrastructure, tools, or workflows, and they’re often what drive the worst IT problems when the pressure is highest.

Step 3: Run a Critical Systems Overview

Once you’ve identified the patterns, it’s time to step back and look at the full picture. We call this process a Critical Systems Overview—and it’s one of the most important steps your firm can take to reduce downtime and prevent recurring IT problems.

A Critical Systems Overview means listing out and reviewing all the core components of your IT environment:

• Hardware (laptops, workstations, servers, firewalls, network equipment)

• Software (accounting software, payroll systems, client relationship management tools, productivity apps)

• Cloud services (email, file storage, backup tools, cloud computing platforms, project management platforms)

• Security tools (antivirus, MFA, access controls, network security and data protection settings)

• Key locations and remote access points

For each component, ask:

• Is this still supporting our needs?

• Is it current and stable, or running on patches and workarounds?

• How critical is it to our tax season workflow?

• If it fails, how long can we afford to be without it?

This isn’t just an inventory. It’s about understanding how much risk is built into the systems you rely on most.

If your core software is running on aging hardware, if your firewall has no backup, or if your cloud tools are overloaded during peak hours, those are red flags. You don’t want to discover those problems again when you’re already underwater in March.

What We See Most Often with Accounting Firms—and How You Can Fix It

Once firms complete a Critical Systems Overview, patterns start to emerge.
No two environments are exactly the same, but the issues behind slowdowns and outages are often familiar.

Here are the three most common problems we see and how to start addressing them now.

Outdated Infrastructure and Hardware

Old equipment might still power on, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready for tax season. Systems that are not up-to-date or underperforming drag down not just speed, but overall operational efficiency across the firm.

Accounting software is resource-heavy. It needs reliable processing power, memory, and network speed to run cleanly under pressure.

Many firms are still working on laptops and servers that should have been replaced two or three years ago. The result is slow performance, frequent crashes, and systems that can’t handle peak demand.

What to do:

Audit your hardware specs. Look for machines that are consistently slow or crashing. Check system requirements for the software you use everyday and compare them to what your staff is using.
If there’s a gap, start planning replacements or upgrades now.

User Behavior and Workflow Habits

Not every IT problem is technical.

We see user-related issues just as often. Staff opening dozens of tabs, running multiple apps in remote sessions, or clicking all over the place when their browser lags can all contribute to overloading your systems during crunch time.

We also see firms losing time to inefficient workflows, especially around repetitive tasks like data entry that haven’t been improved with artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

These habits and missed opportunities create friction and downtime. They also increase the risk of security breaches when people are overwhelmed and moving fast.

What to do:

Look for patterns in user behavior during your post-season review. Were the same employees running into problems repeatedly? Were people working outside of recommended tools or processes?

Let your employees share their frustrations and keep an honest and open conversation going so you can identify bad habits and opportunities for more streamlined operations.

Use that feedback and data to figure out where short training sessions, process updates, or automation technologies could reduce friction and improve your processes for better system stability.

Remember, even small process changes can boost efficiency when your systems are under pressure.

No Backup Plan for Critical Systems

One outage can take down your entire business if there’s no plan in place. Too many firms rely on a single system, with no backups ready to take over if something goes down. And one outage can take down your entire business if there’s no plan in place.

This not only exposes you to operational risks, but gaps in backups and recovery planning can also raise serious compliance issues, especially when client data is involved.

What to do:

Start by identifying which systems are most critical to your workflow. How long can you function if they’re down? What backups are in place, and when were they last tested? If the answer is unclear or the backups don’t exist, that’s your next priority.

Gain Your Competitive Advantage: Fix Problems Now, Not During Your Busiest Season

Tax season reveals where your systems can’t keep up.

If you dealt with a significant amount of downtime and preventable stress this year, you’ve got a window right now to fix the problems while there’s still time to think clearly and act strategically.

Fixing these issues now is one of the most cost-effective moves you can make. You’ll gain the benefits of stronger systems, faster workflows, and better protection when it matters most. And in a sea of technologically outdated accounting firms, being more streamlined and agile gives your firm a real competitive advantage.

You can do a lot of this internally. But when it comes to making real changes—especially across your information technology infrastructure—it helps to work with someone who knows the accounting industry and can offer advisory services with relevant expertise.

What you need are IT solutions tailored to how accounting firms actually work. If you’re looking for someone to help you assess where the problems lie and apply real expertise from past experience working with accounting firms and CPAs, contact Krister Dunn at kristerd@reliabletechnology.co today. Our Managed IT services can help you get ahead of the next busy season.