About a year ago I read a book by David Allen entitled "Getting Things Done" and it helped me tweak the way I work and increase my productivity. If you have not read it I strongly encourage you to order a copy.

Allen's principle is pretty simple. We all have a to do list somewhere. Some people keep it in their heads. Some people walk around with an endless trail of wadded up notes or paper scrap. Still others have a ubiquitous black book or pda they take everywhere. According to Allen stress free productivity is best accomplished by focusing on the task at hand without wasting any mental energy worrying about your list. For that reason it is imperative to develop a system for maintaining your list that is fool proof. Only then will the annoying little voice in the back of your head stop wondering if you have forgotten something and you will be able to focus and be more productive.

I have not implemented every suggestion Allen makes in his book, but I have used enough of them that my life has become easier. A lot of this stuff is intuitive but some of it is pretty clever. For instance, it is not surprising that working from a list makes you more efficient. However, it is Allen's insistence that lists be comprised of the 'next physical action' that really seems to jump start his system. It is one thing to see 'draft newsletter' on your to-do list. That can appear to be a time consuming and daunting task. Seeing 'write down three newsletter topics' is quite a bit different. The second task is manageable, it is quantified and I can probably do it waiting for an appointment or during a meeting break.

When I first read the book I was pretty encouraged and excited about the difference it could make in my productivity. It seems I was not the only one. A Google search will turn up hundreds of hits for forums and web sites where people share their own methods for implementing Allen's suggestions. Allen's own site has a discussion forum and a tips and tricks section that get updated frequently.

If you are looking to jump start the new year and commit to cleaning out that inbox Allen's book is just the tool to get you there.

This week and next we will start mailing out tax return organizers to our clients. These packages can be a tremendous help in locating and organizing the information we need to prepare your tax return. Unfortunately it also means a lot of work if you have not been keeping up with your financial records during the year. Below are some of the tips we give clients when they ask how we can make next year easier.

1. Invest in personal financial software. For less than $100 you can purchase the Quicken, Microsoft Money or Moneydance. All will help you organize your finances. At year-end you can run a half dozen reports for your CPA detailing everything from interest income to charitable contributions.
2. Make sure your brokerage account tracks stock basis. This is almost a given in the industry today, but every now and then we run into someone whose financial adviser does not track the original purchase price of their stock. When trades occur in the same year this is not much of a problem, but when it comes time to sell that Baby Bell stock you inherited from Aunt June it can be a nightmare.
3. Create a "CPA" folder and use it to compile all the stuff you are unsure of during the year. Most documents needed for your return have "Important Tax Information" stamped across them somewhere, but you also receive less conspicous documents throughout the year. Keeping them all in one place to review with your CPA will give you greater peace of mind during the year.
4. Make copies if you can. CPA's are inundated with paper during tax season. Most of us are trying to do away with it as quickly as possible but keeping up with client originals until they can be returned is still an issue. In some older firms you may even be hit with additional charges to run your documents through the copy machine. Making copies for your CPA allows you to maintain the originals for your own year-end budgeting and reconciliations. Just remember that you still need to provide originals of W-2's and anything else that has federal income tax withholding reported on it since those documents may have to be sent to IRS.
5. Schedule a pre-tax season appointment. This was covered in December's newsletter but it is worth mentioning again. Having a pow-wow with your CPA before things get hectic can cut down on questions and future requests for more information.

The response to Axiom's newsletter has been very positive and our mailing list grows by the day as people tell friends and colleagues about us. Lately we have been receiving calls and emails from recipients asking if we could refer them to the company that provided our content. All were surprised to hear the truth. We do in fact write all of the content personally, and while this is a lot of work it is not an accident. From the outset we wanted Axiom to stand out from its competitors, and what we are finding out is whether it's a newsletter, a web site, the way we deliver services or the relationships we have with clients ...Axiom just doesn't have that many competitors. Following is a list of the reasons we put forth the extra effort to produce something unique.

1. It reflects our philosophy of providing services focused on client's needs. Our clients have individual needs and issues they would like us to address. It would not be very responsive or professional to take a national company's canned newsletter copy and distribute it to our clients with the expectation that it addresses their concerns. That said, there are some great companies out there that offer great products covering current events and recent developments. We just have the opinion that we can address our client's needs better than someone who has never met them.
2. There are enough canned newsletters out there already. A Google search of "CPA newsletters" turned up 787 results. Certainly there is no shortage of offerings for someone who doesn't have the time or energy to write their own, and most firms take this easy and more efficient route for keeping in touch with their clients. But, as covered earlier, Axiom wants to be different from everyone else. Rather than follow the masses we decided to do something original and write our own.
3. It gives us a forum for sharing what we have learned through experiences with other clients. Our clients are constantly coming up with new scenarios and dealing with issues that we think others can learn from. Every one of our articles is based on a client's experience or recent project. A newsletter of our own making gives us the opportunity to disseminate that information so that others can use it.
4. It represents us...so why shouldn't it be ours? Our newsletter and web site have our name and logo at the top. They are, in some respects, the face of our firm to those who read them. Therefore, it only makes sense that we should be intimately involved with the content and design. If we were to let someone else have creative control they wouldn't have the same feel or convey the same message that we can create ourselves.
5. The extra effort is appreciated by our users. We really believe that providing original content says a lot about how we do business, and we think our clients will agree. They know better than anyone why Axiom is truly a standout among its peers, and why putting forward an extra effort is so important to us.
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