As an accountant, you might find that the time you should be spending on growing your business and assisting your clients, often gets absorbed by time-consuming tasks such as admin and bookkeeping. We’ve got some tips for accounts on how you can reduce the time you spend on these tasks and focus on what matters most- spending the time you need on your clients and growing your practice.
Create a plan
If you’re want to get more organised and reduce those mundane tasks once and for all, it’s important to take a moment and reflect on your current practice. What’s working and what’s not? It’s worth taking a time out of your time right now to plan and resolve these issues, rather than spending hours in the future constantly playing catch up. For example, you might way to look at your onboarding process and assess if this is working effectively. Are you getting all the information that is needed? It’s important to be sure that you’ve gathered all the necessary information and given your new client a warm welcome to get off on the right foot.
Automate workload
You might often feel like you’re stuck in the rut of constantly chasing clients for information. It doesn’t always have to be that way! Taking basic steps such as automated email reminders can save you all the hassle of remembering who to send what to, and who you still need to chase up. Most repetitive tasks that you find yourself completing can be automated in one way or another, which can save you a lot of time.
You can use cloud accounting packages that integrates invoicing software which makes It easier for you to keep tabs on this area of your business. Automating this aspect will easily help you keep track of who has paid and send reminders to those that haven’t so that you’re not constantly chasing your tail!
If you’re still printing and scanning work, it could be time to change this. Using online systems will not only save you time, but it will also help the environment and save you money on expenses such as paper and other stationary.
Offload mundane tasks
There are often small tasks that need completing that you could pass along to another person- so why don’t you? Co-sourcing is the perfect way to do this, you can find people to easily fit in with your team, part-time or full-time to help with your bookkeeping and payroll needs. Co-sourcing with Totus Finance makes this process even easier- there’s no need to worry about payroll and pension needs for your staff- we take care of all that for you, ensuring that you are compliant with many rules and regulations.
Use a booking system
If you’re having to take time out of your day to check your calendar and book calls with current and new clients, there’s an easier way. You can use systems such as Calendly to easily schedule calls- simply send a link to those who want to make a call, and they can book a time that best suits them. This simple strategy will improve your team efficiency and productivity, as well as taking the stress away of constantly having to check your availability.
Dedicate time to tasks
It’s easy to get overwhelmed throughout the workday when you have so many tasks to do. This can often lead to lack of productivity and wasted time and feeling even more overwhelmed because you finished the day with your goals unachieved. Separate your tasks in what needs to be completed daily, weekly, and monthly and take one day to fill your calendar with all the tasks that you’re going to work on that day (for example, 10am each day is dedicated to checking emails).
Don’t forget to state how long you’ll be spending on each task, so you’re not forever getting distracted and redoing these tasks repeatedly. A recent study has shown that British workers typically spend 2 hours a day checking their inbox, which is a lot of time that could be better spend elsewhere. Chances are, this is because they don’t set a time to go through emails- so they get stuck in the loop of checking, getting distracted and going back to check again. Consider using your reminders, calendar, or Teams. Consider putting your do not disturb setting on when completing these times tasks, so that you’re not distracted.
Batch your tasks
This goes hand in hand with setting dedicated time to your tasks. Save time by being more proactive and getting work done whilst your whole attention is focused on one specific task. You can group tasks together so that it’s easier to decide what you’ll be doing and for how long- emailing, client calls, planning can be batched together, saving time on going back and forth to each task.
Make marketing easy
It’s important to get your name out there for any business, therefore online marketing is vital in a world where just over 83% of the UK population use social media*. As an accountant, you probably don’t want to end up getting consumed by spending all your time on social media, but it’s still vital to have a presence on there. You could consider using a marketing company to take care of your online presence, or if you want to do it alone the easiest way is to batch make content. Take a few hours each month to make some content that is relevant to your audience and save these for later. Post 2/3 times per week for your accounting practice to keep a good presence in the world of social media. This also gives potential clients an opportunity to see a more personalised side to your brand- it’s important to remember that the content that works best is valuable information. Consider making some “how to” videos which will be quick and easy for you to make, as well as valuable for your target audience.
*Statistics from Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/507405/uk-active-social-media-and-mobile-social-media-users/)
