Five seasons, edges rounded off.

The shop

Seven offices spread from Eau Claire to Rice Lake to Ladysmith. Roughly 3,800 individual returns and 260 S-corp returns across the chain in a normal season. Nine full-time preparers, one senior reviewer, the owner-partner covering complex K-1 work and the audit exposure. Senior reviewer was out on maternity leave from Jan 20 through Apr 10.

What the firm owner asked for

"Two preparers at Rice Lake, two at Ladysmith, and a reviewer who can sit at Eau Claire three days a week and cover the outer offices Tue/Thu. Start date Jan 15, end date Apr 20, not a day later on either side."

What we sent

Margaret (reviewer, 22 years regional, five seasons on our bench). Two preparers to Rice Lake: Connie (11 seasons, Drake) and Hal (6 seasons, Drake). Two to Ladysmith: Ingrid (4 seasons, Drake) and Rosario (3 seasons, moved from ProSystem fx the prior year, calibrated clean in December). Margaret's Tue/Thu floater route added Hayward as a half-day once weekly after the firm owner asked mid-February.

How it closed

1,040 count up 6% vs. prior year. Review stack at peak: 14 returns (firm target is 10). Season closed seven work-days ahead of prior year by the firm's own metric. Margaret, Connie, and Hal already booked for the 2026 season. Ingrid moved to a different shop in 2026; her 2025 client folders got handed off cleanly during the wrap-up week.

Seats deployed: 5 · Weeks: 14 · Returning to this shop 2026: 3 of 5

The shop

Headquartered in Menasha with offices from Green Bay down to Fond du Lac. Roughly 6,200 individual returns, 410 1120S, 180 1065. Two partners, eleven full-time preparers, three part-time preparers, two reviewers. Previously relied on two floaters from a Milwaukee staffing firm for four years; those floaters defected to a competitor in October 2023.

What the firm owner asked for

"I need Jan 8 through Apr 20, I need it yesterday, and I need people who have done this at a multi-office shop before. I cannot absorb a learning curve this year."

What we sent

Three preparers at Menasha (the flagship): two on Drake, one on ProSystem fx matching the firm's review workflow. One reviewer splitting Appleton-North and Oshkosh on alternating days. One preparer circulating Mon/Wed/Fri through Green Bay and Kimberly, Tue/Thu at Fond du Lac. Pre-season calibration ran two full days; we caught three material preparer-versus-firm disagreements on Section 199A handling before the first live return.

How it closed

Standing order renewed for 2025. Firm owner asked to hold the same five seats starting Dec 1 for calibration and pre-season shelf-cleanup. We agreed. One of the three Menasha preparers did not return for 2025 (family relocation to Missouri); seat backfilled in October with a preparer Margaret had worked alongside at her pre-2011 firm.

Seats deployed: 5 · Weeks: 15 · Returning to this shop 2025: 4 of 5

The shop

Two-partner firm, offices in Virginia, Grand Rapids, and a seasonal-only office in Hibbing that opens Jan 25 and closes Apr 15 in someone's front parlor. Heavy lumber and mining S-corp book at Grand Rapids; individual-return walk-ins dominate Virginia.

What the firm owner asked for

"One preparer Mondays and Thursdays at Virginia. One at Grand Rapids same schedule. Both at the Hibbing seasonal on the three Saturdays before April 15. I do not want anyone on Fridays — that's when the partners catch up."

What we sent

Gail (retired from a Duluth firm in 2018, five seasons on our bench). Same preparer, same two offices, same schedule four seasons running. She drives herself in a 2016 RAV4 she bought specifically for the February ice on Highway 169; the firm owner reimburses mileage against the state standard rate.

How it closed

Uneventfully, which is the right word for a well-scoped deployment. Firm owner renewed before the wrap-up call. Gail will be back for 2026 unless the RAV4 finally gives up.

Seats deployed: 1 · Weeks: 13 · Consecutive seasons: 4

The shop

Five offices in west-central Wisconsin. Firm acquired by a private-equity-backed roll-up between our 2024 and 2025 seasons. The new ownership wanted the 2024 bench to come back under a master-services-agreement with the roll-up's centralized staffing arm, at their rate card, with preparer performance reviews routed through their HR platform.

What we did

Declined politely in September. The terms moved the contract relationship away from the firm owner (the two original partners, one now an employee of the roll-up), which is the single line we don't cross — we've seen it end badly enough times to make the rule absolute. We referred the roll-up to a national staffing firm that handles that kind of engagement well, and we kept working with the two original partners in their personal capacity on the side.

Outcome

One of the two original partners left the roll-up in June 2025 and opened a two-office shop of his own. He's on the 2026 book.

Seats deployed 2024: 4 · Declined for 2025: yes · Partner now back as a 2026 client: yes

The shop

Four offices from Rochester down to Austin and out to Fairmont. Roughly 300 extended 1040s, 140 extended S-corps, 60 partnerships, and an always-dramatic estate-return backlog. Owner-partner runs the complex K-1 work personally and does not cede it; she wants the bench focused squarely on the 1040 extensions and the cleaner S-corp returns so she can hold her breath through the 1065s and the 1041s.

What we sent

One preparer at Rochester (the owner's office) full-time for seven weeks Sep 2 through Oct 20. One half-time reviewer at Austin three days a week. Zero bodies at Fairmont by explicit firm-owner request — that office closes for extensions by firm policy.

How it closed

All 300 individual extensions filed by Oct 15. The firm owner called on Oct 17 to book the same two seats for the 2026 extension wall and added a half-time preparer at Austin for the main 2026 season starting in January.

Seats deployed: 1.5 · Weeks: 7 · Grew into main-season deployment 2026: yes