Accountants face long hours in pressurised environments at the best of times, but at the start of each calendar year, things go into overdrive - particularly given the number of people who leave their tax returns until the last minute, 5.7 million of us according to the latest HMRC figures.

While some are lucky enough to have adequate support and resource across their organisation to cope with the spike, most accountants spend the busiest month of the year burning the midnight oil.