Every entrepreneur, and in particular those providing professional services, wants to get reasonably paid for good work. Accounting services, for example, provide essential services for any type of company. In fact, I have personal experience in this area and would like to discuss how good process management guaranteeing maximum quality of service can elevate an average accounting firm to a great money-making venture.

I especially consider accounting services to be relatively stable during periods of economic fluctuations. Accounting is critical, and executives or chairmen of the board won’t underestimate this vital business function. While there is also generally low client turnover between accounting firms, any progressive accounting company offering advanced services at reasonable prices may snag another company’s clients from time to time. If you do not want this to happen, take action now! In particular, streamlining operations of your company could allow for lower price points and more attractive rates for clients.

For several years (more than 10 years ago), I worked in a combined role as an IT specialist and an accountant in a reputable multinational company, providing managerial, legal, administrative, and accounting services. Today, my role is reversed. I am a client of an accounting company to which we outsource bookkeeping. I know the ins and outs of accounting and information technology functions very well, and I can easily tell the difference between average, good, and bad accounting firms.

What Do I Expect From Accounting Firms?

Expected actions

In accounting, it is vital to meet our statutory duties properly and on time. I expect that my accountant will always notify me on time about approaching deadlines and motivate me for the timely delivery of all documents. After all, I pay my accountant to do that! I also expect that my accountant is in compliance with applicable accounting rules, e.g., applicable Accounting Acts.

Added value

I expect that my accountant will provide some added value, including a monthly status report with all balances provided, an assessment of possible problems, and any additional costs/fees not budgeted for.

Leadership

I want my accountant to motivate me in refining my standards of service, i.e., to supplement the results of consolidation across national organizational units. I also expect to partner with my accountant to prepare a simple financial analysis, set budgets for the next period, etc. Our company does not have a full-time financial manager, and I expect my accountant to partially fulfill this role.

Am I being impractical with my expectations? I don’t think so. While a great service should be well paid, it should also provide top-notch, value-added services. Anything else is a waste of money. Do I want to pay for the rewriting of invoices issued? Do I want a senior accountant spending hours dealing with nominal outstanding arrears? Do I want to pay a senior accountant for functions that can be done by a junior accountant? Anything that does not add value is just a waste of money.
But what is the most expensive item in an accounting firm? The labor force. Every accounting firm that wants to be successful should, therefore, significantly streamline the work of its people. If not, the business will not be very profitable.

Within my former accounting firm, which included a few senior accountants in an otherwise large team, we awarded top jobs based on a track record of excellent client management. My former company’s enormous success was an especially well-mastered process. In particular, those processes ensured that a high level of quality services were provided. In turn, our clients were willing to pay a higher fee. But that was then. What about now?

What Has Changed?

In an economic boom, client firms ran at full speed. Clients were willing to pay a lot of money for high-quality service even though most of the work was implemented by juniors whose work was sold at a senior price. However, in today’s business climate, these clients can’t afford such a luxury. Still, they want a high level of service. But how is this possible?

What Can You Do?

If I omit the possibility of expansion through the acquisition of new clients, the only way to reverse existing (or worse, decreasing) turnover and to increase the quality of services is through continual work rationalization that leads to increased productivity.

Perfectly mastered processes in the first place

In improving services that are dependent on human labor, you cannot expand by disseminating the number of hours spent with clients. This would lead to hiring new people (which greatly increases the cost of services provided), or to expanding existing workload (which is not sustainable long term).

Streamlining of processes allows for the elimination of entering duplicate data and, in many cases, the complete automation of routine tasks. This allows your accounting experts to eliminate routine administrative work and focus on and engage in value-added services for the client.

How to do it

Streamlining processes does take some time. Tangible results might not be seen “next week,” but over the long term the results will be dramatic. It is indeed necessary to streamline processes every day. Step by step. It is necessary to work systematically on all business functions and processes. Make at least one small improvement every day, which quickly adds up to many improvements over time. Overall, you will need to implement an exceptional system that sustains the company and also allows for streamlined projects and task management.

If you do not want to be alone on this journey, let us help! We offer a complete system that will immediately boost your operational effectiveness. Just arrange a tentative meeting with us, and we will discuss your needs and what type of strategic solution your business will benefit from.