The deadline has passed, the returns are filed, and if your firm is like most, the first week of May looks a lot like exhaling. That exhale is earned. What comes next, though, is where firms tend to diverge, because the 60 days after tax season are among the most strategically valuable on your calendar, and most firms treat them as downtime rather than opportunity.
Your team has room to breathe, your clients are more reachable than they have been in months, and the competitive firms in your market are recovering at the same pace you are. Firms that recognize this window and move deliberately through it come out of summer with a pipeline that carries them through Q3 and Q4. Firms that drift into recovery mode tend to look up in September, wondering why the back half of the year feels thin, not realizing that the gap was created back in May when the calendar was clear, and nothing was done with it.
Tax season surfaces more advisory opportunities than most firms ever act upon. Over the past few months, you gained an inside look at your clients' businesses in ways that most advisors never do. You noticed the cash flow patterns, the missed planning moves, the succession questions nobody has answered, and the structures that no longer fit where the business is headed. In most cases, you made a mental note and moved on to the next return, because there was no time to do otherwise.
May and June are the time to close that loop. Reaching out to your top 20 clients with a straightforward check-in, not to sell them something but simply to ask what decisions they are wrestling with right now, opens advisory conversations that rarely happen on their own. That kind of outreach signals that your relationship extends beyond the annual return and positions you as a strategic partner before your clients start looking elsewhere for the guidance they need.
Specificity matters here. If the return revealed that a client's structure may be creating unnecessary tax drag, name it. If succession or a potential transaction came up in passing during busy season, follow up on it now while the context is fresh. The strongest advisory conversations grow from details you already have, which means you are not starting cold. You are continuing a thread that was left open.
Tax season does not go smoothly for everyone. Across the profession, clients experience missed deadlines, poor communication, last-minute scrambles, and the growing sense that their firm is managing volume rather than managing them. Those clients are sitting with that frustration right now, and they are far more open to a conversation with a different firm than they will be in October when the memory has faded and inertia has set back in.
This is one of the most consistently overlooked growth opportunities in the post-tax season window. If you have relationships with business owners, referral sources, or professionals who work alongside other firms' clients, being visible and accessible in May and June puts you in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. A thoughtful outreach, an invitation to a roundtable, or a well-placed piece of content that speaks to what business owners wish their accountant would do differently can be enough to start a conversation that leads somewhere meaningful.
You do not need to position yourself against any firm directly. Showing up as the kind of firm that communicates proactively, thinks ahead, and treats clients as relationships rather than transactions is a contrast when someone is already frustrated and paying attention.
Every firm has a list of prospects who expressed interest, had an initial conversation, and then disappeared into the January-through-April stretch. They did not say no. They went quiet because the timing was wrong, and there was no bandwidth on either side to keep the momentum going. That changes now, and a direct, unhurried outreach is often all it takes to reopen the door.
Acknowledge the time that has passed, reference what was discussed originally, and offer a low-pressure starting point rather than picking up mid-pitch as though no time has passed. Work through your CRM with intention, prioritizing prospects who fit your ideal client profile, who came close to engaging, or who operate in industries where your firm has built real depth. The timing works in your favor right now, and a thoughtful follow-up will land far better than it would have in February.
Positioning drifts, and the busy season tends to accelerate it. Over time, firms add services, lose focus on a niche, hire into new industries, or quietly stop marketing a specialty that once drove meaningful growth. When there is no bandwidth to be strategic about how the firm presents itself externally, the default is to say nothing and let the website stand on its own for another year.
Post-tax season is the right moment to ask honestly whether your firm still sounds like the firm you are trying to be. Review your firm's website, outreach materials, and the description of the firm partners' use when talking to a prospect. Are the right service lines front and center? Is the messaging specific enough to attract the clients you actually want, or has it drifted toward language that is broad enough to include everyone and resonate with no one? Are there capabilities your firm has developed in the last 12 months that never made it into your external materials? A positioning reset does not require a rebrand or a lengthy process. It requires an honest conversation with the right people and the willingness to make targeted updates before the next round of opportunities passes through.
The firms that enter Q3 and Q4 with momentum are the ones that planted seeds in May and June, and that work does not require a major initiative. It requires consistent, intentional action taken during the windows when you have the capacity to take it. A few focused efforts over the next 60 days can meaningfully shift the trajectory of your year.
Tax season is the sprint that most of the profession trains for and talks about. The rest of the year is where the race is actually won. The firms that grow consistently are the ones that treat the calendar as a strategic asset and understand that the two months after the deadline offer something their competitors will largely let expire: time, access, and receptivity all converging at once.
Your clients are reachable, some of your competitors' clients are reconsidering their options, your prospects are ready to be followed up with, and your team has the capacity to do the work that the busy season never allows. Sixty days is enough time to shift the trajectory of your year, if you choose to use them with intention.
Hollinden helps accounting firms turn strategic windows into growth. If you want a sharper plan for the next 60 days, let's talk.