Accounting firm: keeping the phones covered during tax season

For a financial year that coincides with the calendar year, the business tax return (déclaration de résultats) must be filed on the second working day after 1 May, whether the business is subject to corporation tax or to income tax under the actual-profit regime (régime réel). For 2025 profits, impots.gouv.fr set this date at 4 May 2026, with an additional 15 calendar days for returns filed electronically. The same site points out that all business tax returns must be filed electronically. When the financial year does not end on 31 December, form 2065 is due within three months of the year-end.

Online filing of the 2025 income tax return opened on 9 April 2026. The deadline was 19 May 2026 for paper returns, and online it was 21 May for départements 01 to 19 and non-residents, 28 May for départements 20 to 54 and 4 June for départements 55 to 974 and 976. Businesses under the micro regime (micro-BIC, micro-BNC, micro-BA) have no business tax return to file electronically: they report their turnover on form 2042-C-PRO, to be filed at the end of May or early June according to impots.gouv.fr.

During these weeks, the nature of calls changes. Business clients ask how their annual accounts are progressing, which documents are missing, when to sign the accounts or when to come in to the firm. Individual clients, if the firm prepares their income tax return, ask about their deadline or whether they have sent a supporting document. On top of that come prospects who realise late that they need help.

These calls arrive just when staff have little time to pick up. The risk is twofold: clients who cannot reach anyone, and staff interrupted in the middle of reviewing a file.

Message taking is the first task to delegate: name, company, precise subject, level of urgency, when to call back. A complete message lets the staff member call back once, with the file open.

Appointment booking comes next: signing the accounts, handing over documents, a prospect’s first meeting, in slots the firm has opened in its calendar. Finally comes general, public information: the firm’s opening hours, the list of documents to provide drawn up by the firm, official deadlines published by the tax authorities.

Transfer completes the set-up: when a client asks to speak to someone, the call can be forwarded to a number designated for the period, for example that of an assistant who centralises urgent requests and distributes call-backs among staff.

Personalised tax advice cannot be delegated to a reception service: choosing an option, dealing with a particular situation, the amount to enter in a box, the consequences of filing late. These answers depend on the file and commit the firm.

Client file information also calls for caution. No reception service, of whatever kind, should disclose the status of a file or a figure to a caller whose identity it cannot verify. The right response is to take the message and have the client called back by their usual contact.

A few preparations ease the period: a seasonal greeting message reminding callers of the deadlines, a list of frequently asked questions with answers approved by a partner, appointment slots reserved for signings, a daily call-back slot for each staff member. Going through the messages received every day helps spot the files that are stuck.

Alyas answers the phone 24/7 using the information you provide, takes messages, can book appointments once connected to Google Calendar or Cal.com, transfers the call to a chosen number if the caller asks, and places a transcript and a summary of each call in your customer area. Recordings, transcripts and summaries are hosted in the European Union. The ten-day free trial, with no bank card required, lets you test it before next season.