When You Go on Leave, Your Practice Doesn’t, Even in December
This article will count 0.25 units (15 minutes) of unverifiable CPD. Remember to log these units under your membership profile.
It’s been a long year.
You’ve carried clients through audits, objections, payroll crises, compliance surprises and the usual last-minute urgent WhatsApps. By the time December comes around, you’re running on fumes, counting down the days until you can finally switch off, breathe, and recover from twelve months of being everyone’s financial firefighter.
But here’s the part most practitioners don’t talk about out loud:
Even when you are tired, your obligations aren’t.
The festive season may be a break for you, but it’s not a break for deadlines, POPIA responsibilities, or the expectations your clients have grown used to.
South African accountants and tax practitioners live in a world where a single missed step can undo a year of hard work and unfortunately, December is when that risk spikes.
Why the Festive Season Is a Minefield for Practitioners
The end of the year creates a perfect storm:
Clients close early and forget to send information
SARS continues issuing letters, deadlines and demands
Colleagues are away or working reduced hours
Government offices run skeleton staff
And everyone expects you to “just check quickly”
You may be hoping for rest, but the environment around you becomes less predictable (and more dangerous) for your practice.
That’s exactly why the ethical rules don’t change just because you’re taking leave.
Professional obligations don’t go on holiday, even if you desperately need to.
The Ethical Rule That Still Applies, Rest or No Rest
South African law and every major professional code say the same thing:
You’re entitled to leave, but you’re not entitled to abandon your clients.
Your duty of competence, diligence and communication continues during your absence.
Your clients shouldn’t feel your leave as a disruption, just a transition.
This doesn’t mean you must be glued to your phone on holiday.
It means you must plan so well that you don’t have to be.
A More Sustainable Way to Handle December Leave
1. Start with a year-end reality check
Before you even think about leaving, take stock:
What’s active? What’s at risk? What deadlines sit dangerously close to your holiday period?
This isn’t paranoia, it’s protection. December exposes weak systems.
2. Communicate early, clearly, and with more detail than usual
Clients are scattered during December. Many miss emails, forget conversations, or assume that “everything can wait until next year.”
Your job is to remove assumptions.
Tell them:
when you’re away
who is covering you
how quickly they can expect responses
what emergencies look like
and what cannot wait until January
Clear expectation-setting is your best December defence.
3. Choose the right covering practitioner
Not just someone “available,” but someone competent enough to handle your clients’ quirks, deadlines, and expectations.
December isn’t the time to take chances with under-briefed colleagues.
4. Prepare a detailed handover, not a last-minute scramble
Your covering practitioner needs:
matter summaries
key dates
sensitive background
client preferences
pending actions
escalation rules
Think of it as packing a suitcase: everything essential must go in.
5. Lock down your confidentiality and POPIA duties
December is known for careless handovers.
Files are left on desks, emails are rushed, passwords are shared informally.
If anything goes wrong, it’s your compliance risk, not the holiday’s.
6. Set emergency protocols that protect your rest
Emergencies during December are real, but they need boundaries.
Define what counts as urgent.
Define who makes the call.
Define when (and only when) you may be reached.
This protects your leave and your practice.
7. Plan your return as carefully as your departure
When you’re back:
reconnect with clients
review all actions taken
tie up loose ends
confirm that nothing slipped through the cracks
A clean re-entry reinforces professionalism and trust.
What’s Really at Stake
Most practitioners underestimate the risk of December leave until it’s too late.
A missed SARS deadline, a poorly handled matter, or a confused client can undo a relationship you’ve built over years.
And for CBAPs (especially those working hard for credibility) reputation is currency.
Your systems during leave say more about your professionalism than your systems when you’re at your desk.
Leave Done Right Is Still Leave
Taking time off is not the problem.
Ignoring the planning that makes leave safe is.
With the right structure:
your clients remain supported
your practice remains compliant
your reputation stays intact
and you actually get the rest you’ve earned after a long, demanding year
Because you deserve a festive season that restores you, not one that haunts you.
Want to take festive-season leave without risking your practice? Join CIBA.
We’ll give you the tools, templates, scripts, and support you need to keep your practice compliant and your clients protected, even when you’re taking the break you’ve earned.
Join CIBA and we’ll show you how to safeguard your practice while you safeguard your rest.
