---
title: "A 12-person CPA firm's first tax season with a dedicated pod"
description: "A 12-person CPA firm's first tax season with a dedicated pod. What we did, the numbers before and after, and what changed."
url: https://ledgerbpo.com/case-studies/cpa-firm-tax-season-pod/
updated: 2026-09-11
publisher: LedgerBPO (SS Support Network LLC)
language: en-US
---

# A 12-person CPA firm's first tax season with a dedicated pod

Case study · Accounting firm

12-person firm, first season with a dedicated pod

This CPA firm outsourcing case study covers a first tax season with a dedicated pod. A 12-person CPA firm in the western US had grown its business-client list faster than its preparer bench. Each season the partners hired temporary staff, trained them in February and lost them in May. For the following season the firm engaged LedgerBPO for tax preparation support and a dedicated pod: named preparers, a backup and a team lead, working inside the firm's own tax and practice-management software.

The pod handled bookkeeping clean-up and first-draft preparation, and the firm's reviewers and signing partners kept every review and every signature. It was the firm's first season with an offshore pod, so the engagement was built around IRS §7216 consent, a written workflow and a weekly status report the partners could rely on.

Updated September 2026

## Before and after

Before

**Firm headcount**
: 12

After

**Firm headcount**
: 12, plus a dedicated LedgerBPO pod

## What we did

1. 01
### Consent, access and setup
Before any return information left the US, the firm sent IRS §7216 consent forms, using templates we supplied, to each client whose work would be supported offshore. We then received named accounts with MFA in the firm's tax software, practice-management system and document portal. Work stayed inside those systems: managed devices, no local downloads, access logs on every login, and an NDA per client file where the firm required it.
2. 02
### Pre-season clean-up
In December and January the pod reconciled the books of the firm's business clients so returns started from clean trial balances rather than bank statements. Each file received a standard workpaper index: reconciliations, fixed-asset schedule, loan schedule, payroll tie-out and open questions. The firm's reviewers agreed the index up front, which cut the back-and-forth once the season began.
3. 03
### A daily work queue
The firm assigned returns to the pod through its practice-management system. Each return moved through the same stages: documents in, workpapers prepared, first draft entered, self-review, team-lead review, then handed to the firm's reviewer. The pod worked hours that overlapped the firm's day, so review notes raised in the afternoon were cleared by the next morning. Nothing was filed or signed by LedgerBPO; the firm reviewed and signed every return.
4. 04
### Document chasing under the firm's brand
The pod tracked every open document request and sent reminders by email and phone in the firm's name, using scripts the partners approved. Client responses were logged against the return so the reviewer could see at a glance what was still outstanding and who had last been contacted. Sensitive documents were only ever received through the firm's own portal.
5. 05
### Weekly reporting and a post-season review
Every Monday the partners received a status report: returns received, in preparation, in review, awaiting documents and signed. Review notes were logged by type so recurring issues could be trained out mid-season. After the filing deadline, the team lead and the partners held a retrospective and agreed the workflow changes for the following season, including which client files would move to year-round bookkeeping support.

## KPIs

| KPI | Before | After |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Firm headcount | 12 | 12, plus a dedicated pod |

## Services used

- [Workpapers and drafts ready for review in 48–72 hours](https://ledgerbpo.com/for-accounting-firms/tax-preparation-support/)
- [Scale up for busy season, scale back after](https://ledgerbpo.com/for-accounting-firms/tax-season-capacity/)
- [Your accountant, in your software, under your brand](https://ledgerbpo.com/for-accounting-firms/dedicated-accountants/)

Next step

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---

Source: https://ledgerbpo.com/case-studies/cpa-firm-tax-season-pod/ · Contact: https://ledgerbpo.com/contact/ · Full site map for agents: https://ledgerbpo.com/llms.txt