- Vidit Agarwal
- December 06, 2021
No matter how productive your team is, every accounting firm can only have a certain number of customers. It takes a lot of time and effort to service clients properly, and there are only 24 hours in a day.
If you're reading this article, you're an accountant who spends much time on admin tasks instead of focusing on your client's work. Repetitive tasks can take time away from higher-value work for your practice.
To answer this question and to increase the accountancy firm’s productivity, following steps can be undertaken:
Automated Accounting
It is the process which could switch the manual work of the accountant to automation with the help of computerised accounting software. So, why not in this digitised world, help from the software should be taken? It may help in the boost for the business and productivity. Small accounting firms should often use and take the help of technology to stand apart and to get the work done before due time. Time saved, higher productivity, data accuracy, fast data retrieval, secure file storage, cloud access, real-time integrations and professional development are some of the benefits of automated accounting. In old times when there were pile of files and a lot of manual power was used to work then where is the loss in decreasing the workforce and increasing productivity.
How to grow your accounting firm also depends on your social media engagement. So, Social Media engagement is another tool or the way which can’t be neglected in any way to increase productivity of small accounting firms. Now the question in your head may be “How it may effect?” so in this modern time of internet where every small business or firm is on social media to increase their reach & business opportunities, then why not the small accounting firms. Social media presence builds a trust between the clients and the firms. Normally whenever we want to engage with any entity or group we definitely check its presence and engagement on social media. We check how the company is behaving and responding to the clients.
Social media is the transparency between the firm and clients. Clients see the reviews of the company and its engagement on social media, they gain the trust and thus decides to connect with the company. Hence, in case of small accounting firms, social media plays a vital role in increasing the productivity. More the engagement on social media, more the traffic on its portal and more clients will contact for business, hence social media is the key factor to increase productivity for small accounting firms.
What is productivity in the first place?
Yes, excess meetings can affect the efficiency but not in the affirmative graph. It leads to the decrease in productivity, and this fact is proven as a suitable percentage of people in UK think that excess meetings or briefings generate pressure on the employees and they tend to lose hope in doing their work. And as the result, the small accounting firms are not able to increase productivity. It should always be noted that the meetings should be done in a controlled manner so that the accountants can get freedom to do the work.
It is never denied that meetings play an important role in boosting the energy and productivity of an accounting firm, but they should be in a controlled manner. As small accounting firms are already small in their business so their motto should only to focus on to increase productivity. How to grow your accounting firm, depends upon the culture and the environment of the firm.
Accountability and Responsibility
Whenever an industry or a firm grows the major part falls on how responsible the firm or the people working there are. Same, in case of small accounting firms, everybody should be accountable and responsible for their roles. For example, if there is a glitch in the account sheet of a junior employee, who is responsible and bound to correct that mistake? The employee who did it or his senior manager? The employee who did it should be responsible as well as his manager who is guiding him because their duty is to ensure that employee work is error free and according to firm's standards. These small, basic duties and responsibilities lead to generate higher business and help to increase productivity.
Right Knowledge of Market is the most important and non-avoidable factor for the small accounting firms to increase productivity. If the right customers or clients are not targeted, it may lead to the collapse of the firm. Yes, it could be harsh but it is right for anyone who is with the question of How to grow your accounting firm? Market Research and analysis should be perfect according to the market needs. It may help in getting the right information about the market like what the client wants and what to deliver from the firm. Client always wants an environment which is suitable and which matches his deadlines of getting their work done.
Right choice of people for the job is the domain in which not everyone is an expert. So, you should have experienced and firm decision makers who can choose the right person for the right job. It helps small accounting firms to increase productivity.
Nurture your clients is one of those practice to make friendly behaviour with them and which helps to work free of pressure directly leading to increased productivity. Your clients should always be delivered their work within timelines. Small Accounting firms should focus on to maintain a healthy relationship with the clients as well as within their workplace too.
To ensure the growth of the small accounting firms by increasing their productivity should be marked high in the priority list of any firm. All the above mentioned points along with other personal tactics should be implied to generate higher business and to increase productivity. Everyone in the firm should be aware of the factors to increase productivity before joining the firm. A fluent workflow allows an accounting firm to increase productivity by a great margin.
