Why Everything Keeps Landing on Your Desk
How to stop being the default decision maker without lowering standards
There is a specific kind of stress that shows up when your role expands but the expectations do not.
In CPA firms and in-house tax and accounting teams, this often looks like one person becoming the clearinghouse. Decisions route to you. Work cycles back to you. Risk gets parked with you. And when direction from above is unclear, people look to you to translate it.
It is easy to assume the problem is workload.
Often, the real problem is missing role clarity, and a role charter for managers can define decision rights and escalation criteria.
When your boss is not communicating expectations and responsibilities, you are forced to guess. And when you are guessing in a high stakes environment, you naturally try to protect quality by stepping in, over checking, and staying close to every decision.
That is how you become the default decision maker, even if you never wanted that role.
The fix is not working harder. It is creating clarity when it is not provided.
That starts with a role charter.
Why unclear expectations create decision pileups and burnout
When expectations are vague, professionals do one of three things:
They over-function and take on more than they should
They under-function and wait for direction
They oscillate between the two, which creates rework and stress
In accounting environments, over-functioning is the most common. It looks like excellence, but it has a cost.
You take ownership of decisions you should not own. You review more than required. You keep yourself available because you do not know what will matter most.
[Read: Why Middle Managers Become the Bottleneck and how to stop, to learn more about over-functioning.]
Eventually, everything lands on your desk.
Not because you are failing, but because the system never defined the lane.
What a role charter does
A role charter is a short document that clarifies what you own, how decisions get made, and what standards matter most. It is not a job description. It is a working agreement.
It creates three things that most professionals are missing during transitions:
A definition of success that is explicit
Decision boundaries that reduce rework
A shared language to align with your boss and stakeholders
Most importantly, it shifts you from guessing to operating with intent.
How to create a role charter when your boss is not giving clarity
You do not need your boss to write the charter. You can draft it and use it as a tool to get alignment.
Think of it as making the invisible expectations visible.
Here is a simple structure that works well in CPA firms and in-house tax functions.
Section 1: Outcomes I Own
Write three to five outcomes you believe you are responsible for. Outcomes are results, not tasks.
Examples:
Close cycle stability and fewer last minute surprises
Clean, defensible positions on high risk issues
On time delivery with clear assumptions documented
Reduced rework by improving standards and handoffs
This keeps you focused on what matters, not on everything.
Section 2: My Decision Rights
List the decisions you can make without escalation, the decisions you recommend but do not own, and the decisions that must be escalated.
Use three categories:
Decide
Recommend
Escalate
Examples:
Decide: approve routine positions within defined materiality
Recommend: approach for a complex technical position with tradeoffs
Escalate: any issue that changes the risk posture or client commitments
This is where work starts to move again and decisions stop piling up with you.
Section 3: Standards I Will Hold
Define what good looks like in your lane. Keep it specific and measurable where possible.
Examples:
Positions are supported and review ready
Assumptions are documented up front
Deliverables meet quality standards without endless formatting cycles
Risks and tradeoffs are explicit before decisions are made
This reduces ambiguity and protects quality without perfectionism.
Section 4: Communication Cadence
Clarify how you will stay aligned with your boss.
Examples:
Weekly 15 minute check in for priorities and escalations
One page weekly update: what is complete, what is blocked, what needs a decision
Escalations routed with two options and a recommendation
This prevents surprise escalations and reactive leadership.
Section 5: What I Need From You
This is the part most people avoid, but it is where clarity becomes real.
Write the support you need from your boss, in plain language.
Examples:
Confirmation of priorities when deadlines compete
Clear criteria for what must be escalated
Timely decisions when risk or scope changes
Feedback on decision quality, not just speed
You are not being demanding. You are defining the conditions required for success.
How to present this to your boss without sounding difficult
The goal is alignment, not confrontation.
Use a simple opener:
“I want to make sure I am operating at the right level and focusing on the right outcomes. I drafted a one page role charter so we can confirm priorities, decision rights, and escalation criteria. Can we spend 20 minutes aligning on it?”
Then ask three questions:
Which outcomes matter most right now
What decisions do you want me to make versus recommend
What situations should always be escalated
This creates clarity without waiting for perfect communication.
What changes when you have a role charter
When you have a clear charter, your behavior changes.
You stop guessing. You stop rescuing work that is not yours. You escalate with structure. You protect standards by defining them, not by carrying everything.
And because you are clearer, the system becomes clearer.
Decisions move faster. Rework drops. Stress decreases without performance dropping.
If you feel like everything keeps landing on your desk, it does not mean you are failing.
It often means your role expanded faster than expectations were communicated.
A role charter is one of the simplest ways to reclaim clarity, reduce bottlenecks, and lead at the level you were hired or promoted to operate at.
If you want support building a role charter and using it to reset expectations in your team or firm, you can reach me here: https://gregcrossan.com/contact