Reviewing working processes and implementing software

Workflow and software with nettTracker

If you are looking at using any form of software, you’ve probably been thinking that some of your current processes could be improved.  In this digital era where new apps are emerging all of the time, it can be incredibly difficult to know what is going to be the best fit for the type of improvements you’re trying to make to any working practice. 

The apps ‘marketplaces’ for Intuit, Xero, and Sage combined, contain thousands of apps, and trying to find something that can really help can be like looking for needle in a haystack.  Sometimes, you think you’ve found what you need, only to discover several hours, days, maybe even weeks or months later, that it isn’t fit for purpose.  So off you go again, spending further time looking, further time testing, finding yourself going around in circles, no further forward, and probably confusing yourself over what it is you actually need.

All of that time looking for apps, and testing apps, can be saved if you reach out to the guys at Apps Advisory, and 4PointZero as they’ve done a lot of the legwork, and they are not biased towards any of the software solutions available.

If you are thinking about implementing any software, first of all consider if you really do need it.  What are the benefits.  Will it save time?  Will it increase productivity and profitability?  Sometimes, for sole practitioners, adapting to use new software can feel like an immediate additional cost when currently using Microsoft Excel or an Accounting Desktop Solution for 90% of all work being done.  After all, you are getting real value from that software, right?  Well, probably not as much as you think.

If you are the owner of an accounting firm, it can be little easier to put a price on employee time than if you are just working for yourself.  Either way, all time has a value whether it’s paying employees, having the ability to do more chargeable work in less time, or simply working less hours and spending more time with your family. 

It’s a good idea to work out exactly how long it takes to do certain tasks, the frequency required, and for accounting firms, are these tasks are being carried out for multiple clients?  You may surprise yourself as to how much time is actually being spent in certain areas.  Maybe even create a template in Excel and ask employees to contribute their thoughts so that you can calculate an average.  Everyone could have a slightly different perspective on the time taken to do different jobs. 

If we take an example of an accounting firm that has 50 clients requiring services that takes an employee 1 hour per month to complete, that’s 600 hours of work.  If we are being prudent and thinking we can cut time by 50% by using software to automate processes, 300 hours per year gives us back an extra day a week.

When was the last time you reviewed all of your current processes?  Whether it’s for general admin, task management, time recording, communications, bookkeeping, reporting, tax preparation and more, there is usually a piece of software that can free up time, making you much more efficient.

You might want to take on more work, or overall, just do less.  Sometimes the latter is actually better for us.