Running a successful accounting firm requires an equal amount of focus on the finances and customer service. Still, how does one manage to do so without sacrificing their workflow? How do you improve the quality of your work while still increasing your workload? Which metrics are there to help you figure out if you’re on the right track? Finding answers to these questions is not an easy task.
The best way to approach this issue is to learn more about the nature of this field, roleplay an average client of your accounting firm, and try to examine things from all possible angles. With all of this in mind and without further ado, here are a couple of ways to improve your accounting firm’s workflow.
Measure Everything
The first thing you need to focus on is figuring out how well you’re currently doing. This way, you can actually measure the improvement in question. However, figuring out which metrics to focus on is not an easy task. For instance, customer satisfaction is a crucial metric but “improving customer satisfaction” requires you to focus on other (more specific) tasks instead.
So, some of the points you need to address are:
- The time it takes to complete the process from start to finish.
- The time it takes to complete specific steps.
- The cost of completing a process.
- The accuracy of your results.
Getting answers to some of these questions will always present itself in the form of actionable information. What you’re looking at are ways to complete the process faster, with higher accuracy, and lower total cost. This alone will mark a drastic turn in your workflow.
Also, the biggest mistake that a lot of managers are making is a failure to measure continuously. Sure, you can establish these metrics and even ensure that you are moving in the right direction. Will this carry on indefinitely? It’s highly unlikely that this will be the case. Repeated measurements either confirm a trend or indicate a need for a change.
Technological Upgrade Accounting
One of the things you want to consider early on is whether you’re using adequate technology for the job. You see, in the digital era, all the accounting is performed via cloud-based platforms. Therefore, your broadband, your hardware, and your software licenses need to be up to date. If there’s a hiccup in any of these fields, you’re likely in for a bit of a problem.
On the other hand, this is one of the simplest ways to improve your workflow. You see, the main reason why the majority of enterprises choose to get managed accounting services is so that they can bypass this particular problem.
You see, when outsourcing, you’re delegating the crucial task of staying up to date with all the latest industry standards and practices to someone else. This is a huge thing for a number of reasons, the first one being the fact that the agency that you’re outsourcing needs to tend to their own tools.
Still, if this is your responsibility, checking for all the upgrades, improvements, and trends that you can introduce might be one of the first steps in the right direction.
Talk to Clients
Previously, we’ve mentioned the issue of client satisfaction. Well, talking to clients is one of the best ways to get some feedback. However, you need to know which questions are worth asking and which complaints are worth consideration. Sometimes, input from someone without previous experience/knowledge of the industry can get you off the track.
There are several fields in which you should inquire.
- First, you need to ask specific questions about the quality of work. For instance, how likely is my accounting team to present me with an alternative solution? How likely are they to make a mistake? Are they late, or do they respect deadlines?
- Second, you should ask about communication. For instance, how long does it take them (on average) to respond to client queries? Is the team keeping clients informed and updated on a regular basis?
- The third group of questions should be related to the specific services. Are your accounting needs met? Do they offer plans to help with risk management? Are there wealth creation plans on offer?
Remember, even if the answers are not satisfactory, this doesn’t necessarily reflect the service that you’re providing. However, it does show how the service that you’re providing is perceived by the client. It also indicates whether it’s time to introduce some changes.
Set a Proper Team Structure
Every team needs to have a proper structure, as well as a chain of command. You see, it’s not uncommon for an accounting team to hire one accountant and several bookkeepers. This way, things are clean and simple. While understanding the difference between a bookkeeper and accountant (or a financial statement and a financial report) isn’t mandatory for one to take advantage of these services, the truth is that it does help.
Just keep in mind that a leader isn’t just someone who’s better at their accounting tasks than others. The thing is that accounting processes require quite a bit of responsibility, so you need someone who can stand behind the guarantee of accuracy. Also, you need someone with great communication skills in charge, seeing as how they’re responsible for speaking for the whole team.
Also, the job of an accountant is far more analytical and creative than that of a bookkeeper. You see, the job of a bookkeeper is to track transactions and make financial statements. It’s up to a bookkeeper to interpret these statements and turn them into reports that the management can actually understand. Today, with the existence of virtual bookkeeping, the bulk of this can take place in real-time.
Greater Emphasis on Advisory Role
The main difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper lies in the advisory role of an accountant. It’s not like with some other outsourced services where you want them to work in silence and never hear from them. There’s a reason why an active discourse between the company and an accounting team determines the financial health and stability of the company in question.
You see, your accounting team needs to be consulted when it comes to investments, pricing changes, operational costs updates (due to changed market prices and inflation), etc. The help of real-life reporting and the fact that all the accounting services are now cloud-based makes this task a lot easier.
Now, while communication is important here, it’s also crucial for an accountant to warn the client of potential risks. This disclaimer is crucial for the management of the client’s expectations, as well as a safety net in case things go wrong (which often happens). It’s vital for an accountant to avoid being reckless.
In Conclusion
In the end, it all comes down to looking at your enterprise as an equal part service and a financial institution. While you do need to employ experts and provide them with all the right tools, the quality of service that you provide won’t necessarily reflect on the client’s satisfaction. Therefore, you also need to establish better lines of communication, measure and report everything, as well as observe things from the other party’s perspective. This way, you stand much better odds.