Why Tax Software Slows Down in February: 5 Checks Before You Blame the Software

Every year the same message lands in the group chat around the first week of February: “It’s so slow today.” A return that opened in seconds in January now takes half a minute. Staff start to wait, and clients wait on staff. The software vendor gets blamed, and sometimes a hardware purchase is approved on a hunch.

The cause is often somewhere else. Before you spend money or call the vendor, run five quick checks. Each one protects your clients’ turnaround time, because a slowdown that goes undiagnosed during busy season costs the firm hours, and clients feel those hours.

1. Count the people working at the same time

Slowness that appears in February and not in July is usually about load. In January two preparers may have worked in the data folder at once. By mid-February it may be eight, plus a reviewer and someone scanning documents. Write down how many people are open in the software at the busiest hour and compare it with what your setup was built for. If the number has grown, you have found a likely cause without touching anything.

2. Find out where the data actually lives

Is the client data on the preparer’s own machine, in a shared folder on another computer, or on a server? A shared folder reached over Wi-Fi is the classic slow path. Every file open and save travels across the network. Ask your IT person, or look at the data path in the software’s settings. If staff reach the data over Wi-Fi, connect two or three of them with a network cable for a day and see whether they speed up.

3. Look at what the security software is doing

Antivirus and backup programs scan files as they change. During busy season the data files change all day, so the scanning never stops. Many tax software vendors publish guidance on which folders to exclude from real-time scanning. Check your vendor’s current guidance before changing anything, and keep the machine protected. Also look at when backups and updates run. A backup that starts at 2 p.m. will feel like a software problem.

4. Test the network and any remote access

If some staff work from home, ask whether the slowness is limited to them. The speed of a remote connection depends on the office internet upload speed and on the home connection, not on the software. A quick test: have one person in the office and one person at home do the same task, and time both. If only the remote person is slow, the issue is the connection. If both are slow, look at items 1 to 3 and item 5.

5. Check the machine that holds the data

Open the computer that stores the data files and look at three things: free disk space, free memory while staff are working, and the type of drive. A nearly full disk, memory that is almost used up, or an older spinning hard drive can each turn a busy February into a crawl. These are easy to see in the computer’s task manager, and they tell you whether new hardware would really help.

Measure before you spend

Choose one routine task, such as opening a large return and running diagnostics. Time it in January, and time it again the first time someone says “it’s slow.” Keep the numbers. Once you can say “the same task takes four times longer, and it only happens when we have eight people in the files,” you can tell the vendor, your IT person, or a new provider exactly what to fix. Without numbers, everyone is guessing.

What to bring when you call for help

When you do contact the software vendor or your IT provider, bring the facts with you: how many people were working, where the data is stored, what time of day it happens, which task is slow, and how long it takes. A call that starts with those four or five facts usually ends faster, because the support person can rule things out immediately instead of asking you to repeat tests you have already done.

What to tell clients

If a slowdown is going to cost you time, tell clients early and set realistic dates. A short note that you’re expecting a slower week, and when to expect their return, builds trust. Clients are usually far more patient with a clear date than with silence.

The takeaway

Peak-season slowness is common and rarely mysterious. Check the number of users, where the data lives, what runs in the background, the connection, and the machine itself, in that order. Fix what the numbers point to, and you’ll protect both your staff’s time and your clients’ deadlines.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mark Johnson, CPA, is an accounting and technology advisor at Cloud Innovics, which provides secure cloud hosting for QuickBooks and tax software.

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