For a January peak, start the handover in October and aim to test a small batch by mid-November. Agree three things in writing before the first entry is posted: the review standard, the query workflow, and the day each batch is due. This gives both teams time to adjust the process before January.
Why busy season needs a capacity plan
Peak windows vary by market and by client. In the UK, January Self Assessment deadlines can coincide with work on December year ends. In Australia, tax returns and agent lodgement dates can add to quarterly BAS work. In Malta, plan around the individual-return season and each company's own year end: the 2026 individual filing and payment deadline was 31 July, while company return and payment dates vary by year end and filing route. In India, monthly work can overlap with annual filing cycles. A firm needs a capacity plan for preparation and review before the due dates converge.
Hiring, temporary help and a delivery partner each involve onboarding and review time. Estimate the work before the peak, compare the available hours and decide who will prepare and review each batch. For a January peak, October is an example of a useful planning window, subject to the firm's actual workload.
Step one: count the work in hours, not clients
Clients are a poor unit for capacity planning: one file with clean bank feeds may take far less time than one with missing records. Before you decide how much capacity to bring in, size the peak in preparer hours:
- List every return or set of accounts due in the peak window.
- Tag each with its state at the start of the peak: books current, books behind by a quarter, or books not started.
- Assign an hour estimate to each tag from last year's timesheets. Be honest about the shoeboxes.
- Subtract the hours your team can actually deliver in the window after review time, holidays and the inevitable sickness.
The gap is the number to fill. It may be smaller or larger than expected; use the hours estimate to decide the trial volume rather than guessing from the client count alone.
Step two: decide what to send, and send the boring work first
The instinct is to keep the easy clients in-house and send the hard ones out. For a first engagement, start with repetitive, well-defined work where the review standard is easier to state: bank reconciliations, VAT workings or small-company year-ends from clean records. Consider messier files only after you have measured how the partner handles review points and both sides agree the process is ready.
A practical first batch might be ten to twenty clients of the same type in the same software, or one recurring task such as VAT workings. Fifteen Xero sole traders and twelve small companies with March year ends are illustrative examples. Similar files make it easier to use one coding standard and one review checklist.
Step three: agree the review process before the peak
The review standard
What does a file need to contain for your reviewer to complete a proper review? Write it down: which reconciliations, which lead schedules, how queries are presented, what the cover note says. If your firm already has a working-paper template, use it. Otherwise, agree a template and test it on the first batch.
The query workflow
When a batch produces queries, such as missing invoices or unexplained transfers, decide who contacts the client. One arrangement is for the partner to send queries to the firm, which then contacts the client. If the partner will use a firm-branded inbox, agree the authority, review route and client disclosure with the firm before any message is sent.
The calendar
Batches need dates. For example, agree when the first two batches are due and how long each side has to raise and clear review points. A calendar lets you plan your reviewers' time, and it lets the partner plan theirs. It also gives you a clear measure of whether the engagement is working: did the batch land on the agreed date?
Step four: run the trial in November, not January
For a January peak, a November trial can reveal coding preferences missing from the checklist and show the actual turnaround and review effort on your files. Use what the batch shows to adjust the process while there is still time before the peak.
Track review points per file through the trial. Agree an acceptable level with your reviewer, separate preferences from errors, and check whether the count falls as the checklist improves. If it does not, investigate the standard, handover or partner before widening the work.
Step five: plan the step-down as carefully as the step-up
A delivery partner can change capacity as the workload changes if the engagement terms allow it. Agree the shape now: what the base level looks like after the peak, which tasks stay with the partner, and which return in-house. Put volume changes and notice terms in the written scope so neither team has to guess.
What this looks like in each market
| Market | Peak to plan for | Illustrative handover window | Illustrative trial window |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | December year ends and 31 January Self Assessment; MTD for Income Tax work where applicable | Early October | Mid-November |
| Australia | Return and BAS dates vary by client and agent program | Several months before the relevant peak | Before the peak workload begins |
| Malta | Individual-return season (31 July in 2026); company tax return and payment dates vary by year end and filing route | Plan from each client's MTCA dates | Before the relevant filing peak |
| India | July non-business and August non-audit business ITRs; September tax audit where applicable and AGM; AGM-linked ROC filings; monthly or QRMP GST cycles | Plan by return category | Before the relevant filing peak |
Three decisions to settle before the peak
Size the peak in preparer hours. Write down the review standard before the first batch. Put a trial on the calendar early enough to correct the handover process before the busiest month. These are planning decisions, whether you use a delivery partner or hire in-house.
If using a delivery partner, agree the trial volume, fee basis, review process, volume changes and exit terms in writing.
If you are planning a peak now. Tell us the market, the software and roughly how many files, and we will come back with a scoped trial batch and a calendar. Request a proposal, or read how to run a trial with a delivery partner first.
