Does anyone have any tips/advice for how to manage budgets and be more efficient... I’m in my first year and I feel like I’m struggling with staying within the allotted budgets for returns...

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It's the hardest on first years. Best advice I can give is to communicate when you feel you're about to blow the budget. I'd be wary if watching too closely because then you run the risk of getting tempted to eat time. Eating time only hurts you and helps the person who assigned something to you.

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Never eat your time. Just communicate with management it is taking you awhile because you are still learning

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Oh also if theres ever a year to take a realization % hit, this is it. Even less reason to eat hours.. everyone is expected to spend more hrs this yr in tax.

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This is an excellent point

Maybe not the best advice, but I would haircut some hours at times if I felt like I was spending more time researching because I wanted to vs. just cranking through the work as fast as possible.

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Yeah but there’s different levels. There are things you have to research and things you can complete without research, but want to. If I read a book because I’m interested in the industry and it would make me more intelligent about the client I’m working on I think we would agree that isn’t billable. There’s a spectrum to those types of activities where I would not charge and know it has helped me in my career.

Do not worry about budget as a first year!!! It’s not your responsibility. Do the work you were assigned. If anything, ask how long tasks should take when they are assigned to you and communicate when you think they will take longer. This is barely the seniors job to worry about, definitely not a first year’s.

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Don't eat your time. Cheating yourself and will lead into personal issues.

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Set realization a bit below expectations. Hit budget and collect a gain. Go over a bit and your covered from explaining a write off

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Some engagements will never have realistic budgets, and you’ll always be over. Over communicate your concerns, and you’ll be fine. Management can always adjust realization rates along the way if you’re going to blow a budget. It’s harder to deal with if there’s a big surprise at the end

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As a senior manager I encourage my staff to post all of their time ! That helps me realize if my fee is to low . Also as a first year you’re expected to take longer . I would rather have a person spend more time on a rtn and get it right then rush thru it. Communication is key .. feel comfortable talking to your manager

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Constant communication with leadership in cases of uncertainty. Rule of thumb is always give yourself a cushion and not budget exactly on the edge

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It’s likely people before you ate their hours and thus the budget is unrealistic.

Wow thank you everyone for all the responses! I work in a specialty tax group and there are a lot of nuances and research required with my group and Tax reform, so I was feeling a bit bummed about how long everything is taking me. I work in a small group with no other Associate in the same office so I can’t tell whether I’m taking too long for simple tasks or whether it’s right given the circumstances (tax reform). To clarify, I do bill all my time, I communicate with my managers regularly and they are very supportive. As a first year - I’m just trying to find the balance between learning, accuracy, and efficiency.

Shoutout to all the people out there who encourage their staff to post their time, actually spend time to explain things, and give detailed responses to questions! You are the best ☺️

Pcs? Salt?

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