Six ways to make your accounting firm run smarter
As an accounting firm, you have many processes to keep under control, such as time recording, budget monitoring, project monitoring and capacity planning. There is often room for optimization in all these processes. Eddy Plasier, director at Fortes Milestones, provides six practical tips to get started right away.
1. Strive for faster invoicing
How smoothly your processes run is often the first thing you notice when it comes to invoicing. By optimizing processes, you can get invoices out the door faster. For example, aim for a turnaround time of a day and a half instead of four days. Aubert Geus, accountant at Simonse & Geus, has found that this is achievable and has a direct effect on cash flow and customer satisfaction.
2. Budget the hours
Budget overruns are detrimental: they depress your earning power, cause employee stress and lead to friction with customers. Managing budgets tightly prevents overruns and yields gains in time, money and image. In practice, this can only be done effectively with the right software.
3. Enter hours faster and easier
Time tracking offers many benefits, but it also costs employees time. As a result, it is sometimes delayed or inaccurately tracked. By automating hour entry, you increase both speed and accuracy.
4. Provide better project monitoring
A smart project management tool provides insight into planning, budgets, hours written and remaining work. This allows you to spot problems with schedules and budgets before they occur. This increases your grip on projects and creates peace of mind with your colleagues and clients.
5. Optimize your capacity planning
By providing insight into the capacity of all employees and linking it to a schedule, you can immediately see who is available. With this insight, you can quickly shift gears by assigning work or moving assignments around. This way, you make optimal use of your capacity.
6. Create polished invoices
An invoice is not only a bill, but also your office’s business card. Make sure it is clear, readable and in line with your corporate identity. With software like Fortes Milestones, you can design customized invoices while taking advantage of all the improvements from the previous steps.
Want to know more?
Optimize your office step by step based on the above focus areas, or make an improvement at once with software that supports you in all processes. Fortes Milestones is designed to make your office more efficient, manageable and profitable. Feel free to contact us, we would be happy to help you get started.
See these 6 steps in 5 minutes in practice?