Dreamtime, realtime?

January was again the peak stressful times for accountants thanks to filling out self-assessment tax returns for clients.

The ways in which accountants get through this busy period certainly varies but a recent survey of accountants commissioned by a leading UK-based accounting software company revealed that 37% would regularly be hitting the gym to pound away concerns about their work in the run up to the self-assessment deadline.

Another interesting snippet from the research found that customer service levels across accounting practices during this period may have also been dealt a blow as 21% of accountants admitted that they had been avoiding answering the phone and instead relied on voicemail to screen calls and only respond to the most pressing matters arising.

While being a fun way to see how an industry copes with such high peaks in workload the statistics do highlight a serious issue...