The 7-day office prep checklist before tax season opens

Every January you swear you'll be ready by the 27th. Every year, something slips. Here's the seven-day countdown we use internally — copy it, adapt it, beat it.

Day -7 — Audit your active leads

Run Leads Directory → Status: Pending and export. Anyone older than 60 days who hasn't responded? Archive. Stale leads inflate your conversion math and bury hot ones.

Day -6 — Refresh integrations

Twilio token rotation, EFIN renewal upload, payment processor key check. Anything that authenticates against an external service: verify before the first client walks in.

Day -5 — Update intake forms

EITC band shifted. Dependent care credit needs an attestation line. If your intake hasn't been touched since last year, it's missing fields you'll need.

Day -4 — Onboard new staff

If you're bringing on seasonal preparers, get their accounts created with the right tier now. Day-of provisioning eats an hour you don't have.

Day -3 — Test e-file end-to-end

Submit a dummy 1040 through your software → TaxWallet → bank. Watch every ack. If something's broken in the chain, today is when you discover it, not the 28th.

Day -2 — Schedule the launch SMS blast

Last year's clients want to know you're open. Campaigns → New → SMS, segment by "returning + verified mobile", schedule for 8am Day 1.

Day -1 — Coffee and final sweep

One last audit-log review (anything weird?), one last comment-queue check, one last "are all the printers loaded?" walk-through.