Since 13th January, the electronic filing for business tax returns is officially open, the IRS has announced.
The Modernized eFile system is live. Forms are being accepted. Filing season has begun. On paper, this is routine. Predictable. Expected.
But the reality is that this moment quietly separates the two kinds of firms – one that is ready to scale from those that are about to run on adrenaline for the next four months.
Some firms are like the later and the reason is simple. It is this filing season that exposes the technical and structural gaps. Unlike what many firm owners tend to believe, filing is not a deadline problem; it is a design problem. Although everyone knows about the dates in advance, the filing season sneaks up quietly.
What remains unknown is whether a firm’s operational model can actually withstand the pressure that they already know about.
When electronic filing opens, work doesn’t just begin. It accelerates.
And acceleration magnifies every flaw:
- Overdependence on a few senior reviewers
- Poor distribution of prep vs. review work
- Bottlenecks disguised as “partner oversight.”
- Teams stretched thin long before March
The problem isn’t that firms don’t work hard enough. It’s that most firms are still structured for a world that no longer exists.
Technology moved faster than firm leadership
Electronic filing was meant to simplify compliance. And it did—technically.
But while technology streamlined submission, firms failed to redesign how work flows through people.
The result?
Faster intake.
Faster client expectations.
Faster turnaround demands.
All pushing against the same finite group of experienced professionals.
So filing season becomes a paradox:
- The systems are faster, but firms feel slower.
- The tools are better, but stress is higher.
- The process is digital, but execution is painfully human-dependent.
This is where many leaders get it wrong.
They blame:
- The talent shortage
- The IRS
- Client behavior
- “This year has been unusually heavy”
But the reality is that the filing season pressure is simply revealing a truth firms avoid the rest of the year: Your firm is running on individual heroics, not on design.
The uncomfortable truth no one says out loud
There’s hardly any firm that is short of work; they are stretched to the max capacity levels.
Most junior staff members are underutilized, while the senior members are swamped. And the partners are stuck reviewing work they shouldn’t be touching.
And every January, firms promise themselves: “Next year, we’ll fix this.”
The year of fixing never seems to come. Because the right kind of fixing would require rethinking how teams are built and not just where people sit.
The Finsmart POV
At Finsmart, we believe that the filing season stress is inevitable. But growth can’t happen at the cost of burnout.
And it simply does not make sense to say that “that’s how tax season is”. That kind of leadership can hardly set you up for success.
After working with so many firms, we have observed the same pattern over and over again. Firms don’t fail filing season because they lack the effort. They struggle because their capacity model is outdated.
The firms that can easily sail through the filing season are the ones who have stopped treating offshoring as a backup plan. The firms that have succeeded and navigated through the season seamlessly.
Offshoring is no longer about cost. It’s about control.
They decide—intentionally:
- What work requires onshore judgment
- What work can be prepared, standardized, and reviewed globally
- How to build redundancy so no single person becomes a bottleneck
- How to protect partners’ time for leadership—not survival
When filing opens, these firms don’t scramble. Work flows. Not because people are working longer hours—but because responsibility is distributed correctly.
Filing season exposes leadership maturity
Every filing season asks the same leadership question:
Conclusion
Firms that are still reacting in January are already behind. Firms that planned capacity in July are operating with confidence now.
This isn’t about adopting one more tool. It’s about admitting that:
- Hiring locally alone won’t solve capacity gaps
- Overworking high performers is not a strategy
- Partner-dependent models don’t scale
The real signal behind the IRS announcement:
Yes, electronic filing is open.
Yes, the season is officially underway.
But the bigger signal is this: Filing season is no longer a stress test firms can afford to fail repeatedly.
Firms that want to grow without burning out their people must stop asking,
“How do we survive this season?”
And start asking, “How do we design so this season doesn’t break us?”
That only happens when firms stop viewing global teams as temporary relief and start treating them as strategic capacity infrastructure. Because the firms that will win the next decade aren’t the ones filing fastest.
They’re the ones filing consistently, calmly, and sustainably—year after year.And filing season always tells you which firm you are.
Want to know more about electronic filing for business tax returns? Read: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2026/jan/electronic-filing-for-business-tax-returns-starts-next-week/
Want to know how offshoring can help with your tax preparation? Book a free consultation: https://finsmartaccounting.com/free-tax-consultation/
In this Article
editor
Maanoj Shah is the Co-founder & Director of Growth Strategy & Alliances at Finsmart Accounting, where he pioneered the “Accounting Seat” model—a revolutionary offshore embedded staffing solution purpose-built for Accounting and CPA firms. Widely recognized as an outsourcing and offshoring expert, Maanoj’s insights have been featured in leading accounting publications, and he regularly speaks at premier industry conferences including Scaling New Heights, Bridging the Gap, BKX, and Women Who Count.
A dynamic growth leader with over two decades of experience, Maanoj has incubated, scaled, and exited ventures across Fintech, HR, and Consulting sectors, holding various CXO roles throughout his career. His passion for scaling businesses is matched by his commitment to social impact. He is the Co-founder of Mission ICU, a national healthcare initiative that installs critical care units in underserved areas of India, and was recognized by the World Economic Forum for its last-mile impact.
Outside of work, Maanoj leads an active lifestyle as an avid tennis player and passionate golfer, blending strategy and agility on and off the court.
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The content in this article is for general information and education purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Finsmart Accounting does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the article. You should seek the advice of a competent lawyer or accountant licensed to practise in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular situation.
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