Tax Prep — Season Throughput (Theory of Constraints)

Industry front door for theory-of-constraints. Adds domain triggers, example, packs only. Parent Process unchanged.

Activate when: returns are piling up before a deadline; reviewer/preparer is the bottleneck; "we can't get through them all," "clients waiting on missing docs," planning staffing for Jan–Apr. Do NOT activate when: off-season, low volume; the issue is a single stuck return (use debugging, not capacity theory).

Why this variant

The parent theory-of-constraints finds the one step that caps total output and subordinates everything to it. In a tax practice the constraint is almost never "preparation" — it's usually the reviewer or client missing-documents. Optimizing anything else is wasted motion during season.

Domain inputs → parent's Process

Pipeline stages: intake → doc-complete → prep → review → e-file.

1. Measure WIP at each stage; the stage with the growing queue = constraint.
2. Exploit: protect reviewer time (no admin), pre-triage returns so review is fast.
3. Subordinate: preparers pace to reviewer capacity, not their own.
4. Elevate: add reviewer capacity / async review / raise complexity threshold for partner review.