How to Create a Modern, Efficient Accounting Firm

The goals of a successful firm are to increase productivity, ensure your team understands what’s expected of them, make processes like onboarding consistent, meet clients’ needs, and avoid bottlenecks. How can accounting firms achieve these and other goals, such as increasing profitability and stimulating further digital transformation? The answer might surprise you: You need to focus on efficiency.

Continue reading to learn how to achieve these goals using a document management system (DMS).

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What is an efficient, modern accounting firm?
Why should accounting firms review their workflows?
How can you create a more efficient accounting practice?
How does a DMS help firm accomplish efficiency goals?

1. What is an efficient, modern accounting firm?

A modern, efficient accounting firm balances technology with client collaboration: You need to use technology to help make you a better customer service provider. At its core, accountancy is about clients.

Here are a few more specific examples of what this might mean. Leaders of these practices are willing to hire remote employees, have either already automated lower-level tasks with software or are in the process of doing so, and have focused their attention on providing higher-level services that increase customer satisfaction and add value.

The bottom line: The leaders of efficient, modern accounting firms understand that everything – an efficient workflow, employee and customer satisfaction, and technology – works in tandem to create positive client and employee experiences, streamlined workflows, and increased profitability.

Featured Guide: The Accountant's Ultimate Guide to Creating a Modern, Efficient Firm

See what leaders of efficient CPA firms prioritize, best practices to evaluate and streamline your workflow, and a step-by-step guide to creating an efficient firm.

Download the Guide

3 Common Issues Making Firms Inefficient

Here’s a brief overview of three things that are getting in the way of CPAs increasing the efficiency of their firms:

1. Jumping to outsourcing work before implementing helpful technology:

While hiring temporary staff is helpful, it doesn’t magically streamline your workflow and make things easier. Technology, though, can help you quickly accomplish those things and improve how your staff works.

2. Failing to find ways to improve client experience:

Many firm leaders are having difficulty evolving to meet the needs of the modern client, partially because they’re just unaware of what their clients want. Another reason? Accountants are notoriously slow to adopt new technology, even when that technology is something clients expect them to have.

3. Chaotic workflow organization and poor leadership:

The work involved in keeping the practice afloat can be so overwhelming many leaders don’t feel like they have a minute to themselves. As a result, projects get siloed, dysfunctional workflow systems simply drag on, problems remain unaddressed, turnover is high, and progress can’t be made.

You Need a Document Management System for Your Accounting Firm

Remember: The goals of an efficient workflow are to increase productivity, ensure your team understands what’s expected of them, make processes like onboarding consistent, meet clients’ needs consistently, and to avoid bottlenecks. One of your priorities should be having the right document management system (DMS) implemented at your firm. Without one, it’ll be tremendously difficult to accomplish these goals.

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How can you become a more efficient firm? Your accounting tech stack should include a document management system and client portal.

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2.) Why should accounting firms review their workflows?

Now, you might be thinking: “Yeah, all of this makes sense, but everything at my firm is working pretty well. And, I’m really busy. Why do I need to add revisiting my workflow process to my to-do list?”

Reviewing your workflow gives you a clearer picture of your firm and lets you see if you’re doing things that support your business goals or take away from them. You will probably find that you have a lot of redundant tasks that are wasting your and your team’s time – not to mention making the client experience painful.

If you want to perform better, increase efficiency, improve client relationships, and maintain higher profits, you must take the time to ensure your workflow is helping you get there.

5 Benefits of Making Your Accounting Firm More Efficient

Still unsure if now is the time? Here are five major benefits efficient accounting and finance practices experience:

1. Save time and money

By improving your workflows, you’ll cut down on time and money spent on repetitive, mundane tasks like locating files, determining project status, and working to scan, print, and file paperwork.

2. Increased profitability

The more time and money you save, the more money you’ll see in your bottom line. This increase in revenue can be used for profit-generating activities like expanding your service offerings.

3. Improved client service and satisfaction

Modern clients are looking for accounting firms that are digitized, well organized, and make things as easy on them as possible. With the right technology, you can create efficient processes that are easy to follow and make things like client collaboration more streamlined.

4. Healthy work-life balance and employee experience

Workflows that require repetitive, manual directly impact how your staff feel and think about work. By increasing your firm’s efficiency, you can improve your own work-life balance and that of your employees. Automating tasks will leave you and your staff extra time to spend with family, take vacations without feeling guilty, and feel less stress.

5. Consistency

When you and your staff come in each day, they know exactly how the firm runs, what their priorities are, and what you expect of them. This also helps when a new employee or client is onboarded: They’ll be able to hit the ground running.

Featured Success Story

Firm sees significant growth and better work-life balance with a new document management system. “I was afraid I was going to miss my children’s (baseball) games due to my work. That never happened during this tax season. I was front and center not only for each game, but also every practice.”

Read the Story

3 Tips to Review Your Practice’s Current Processes

The following are three simple yet effective suggestions to review your workflows.

1. Ask clients and staff for feedback

“Listening to staff is probably the biggest contributor to implementing the best processes in our practice,” Amanda Mondt, Team Lead in Process & Program at Clergy Advantage, shared on a SmartVault webinar. Amanda’s firm encourages staff to write down their thoughts and suggestions about their processes and the tech they use. They then meet to go over each comment. “This gives our staff the confidence that they’re being heard.”

2. Understand security and compliance

You must consider the security and compliance requirements of your business. This means looking at the software and hardware you use, as well as evaluating your current operations. Review the flow of information you receive about and from your clients. Accounting and finance firms also have strict compliance requirements. Make sure you understand these mandates and have a plan to follow the requirements.

3. Evaluate current workflows and tech

Before you start thinking about a new way to work, you should take inventory of your existing document workflows first. This will help you get a clear picture of your current processes and provide a jumping-off point for you to evaluate where you need to be and the next steps you should take. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

What devices and equipment do you use to store and manage documents today?
What are some daily tasks your team accomplishes?
What are the roadblocks they typically hit?
Are your documents and files easily accessible anywhere, anytime?
Are you able to securely share files with coworkers, clients, and any other potential users?

3. How can you create a more efficient accounting practice?

Now that you’ve reviewed your current processes, it’s time to improve them and increase efficiency. Remember: One of your priorities should be implementing the right document management system (DMS) at your firm. Without one, it’ll be tremendously difficult to become an efficient, modern firm.

Step 1: Analyze and organize your workflow process

Creating an optimal workflow process requires effective leadership and clear directions from the top management that the rest of the team can easily understand and follow. When communicating with your team, make sure you set clear expectations, assign tasks to specific individuals or groups, and, if necessary, provide training to improve employee performance.

Here are another few ways to streamline your workflow:

1. Remove What’s Not Needed

Take inventory of the tech tools you use today and then consider which ones, if any, can be eliminated. Ask yourself questions like: Do you have several apps that do the same task? Can you adjust your workflow so that you only need to use one?

2. Create Automated, Repeatable Workflows

Consider how you’d like to automate tasks and how your tech stack will support it. For example, instead of using emails to exchange documents, you should use a DMS with secure file-sharing capabilities and a private client portal. This keeps your data more secure and removes the manual steps of writing emails, attaching documents, and sending them. It’s also easier for the clients to access and save documents directly in the client portal without assistance.

3. Make Data and Documents Accessible

A cloud-based document management system allows authorized users to access the portal and important information securely and from anywhere in the world – all they need is an internet connection. In other words, it enables an efficient workflow and a positive, high-quality client experience – both of which are crucial to your firm’s productivity and profitability. Additionally, since it can be accessed remotely, a cloud-based DMS will allow you to hire the staff members you feel are the best fit for your firm, regardless of their location.

Step 2: Improve client onboarding and collaboration

Accounting is no longer just about “customer service.” Instead, it’s about “client collaboration.” Here are a few main benefits of the latter:

Including your clients in decision-making, listening to them with empathy, and asking for their feedback are some of the best ways to ensure they refer you to friends, family, and coworkers. In other words, it’s an extremely effective way for you to expand your business.
Clients who feel valued and receive honest answers from their CPAs have a higher opinion of and increased loyalty than they do to accountants who come across as uncaring and dishonest.

Make clients’ lives easier by switching the old “send me your paperwork” method to a simple online portal. Many include organizers that will help your clients prepare and feel confident nothing is missing, and sending and esigning papers electronically is far more efficient for everyone.

Step 3: Choose the Right Technology

One of your priorities to become a more efficient firm should be choosing the right document management system that enables you to create and maintain an efficient workflow and a positive, high-quality client experience – both of which are crucial to your firm’s productivity and profitability, says Executive Vice President of K2 Enterprises and Accounting Today Top 100 Most Influential alum Randy Johnston. This is a component accountants and tax prep professionals often forget about.

As a result, many firms are still struggling with trying to gather the necessary tax documents, track them, and deliver great results. But now, the choices are much more streamlined. He and other experts agree that having a smooth workflow and creating a positive experience for clients and team members alike comes down to having a great document storage and management software program.

3 Key Qualities of a Great Document Storage Solution

So, what exactly should you look for as you search the options? The following are indispensable, according to pros like Randy Johnston and Dawn Brolin of Powerful Accounting:

1. Bank-Level Security

Protecting your clients’ data from cyber-attacks is crucial to maintaining your reputation, retaining your customers, and avoiding costly downtime due to breaches. “We need to ensure that we are handling all of our client data in a way that meets all regulations while giving ourselves and our clients peace of mind,” advises Robin Johnson, owner of TaxAssist Accountants Norwich North. When you’re thinking about which DMS to use, make sure each product you’re vetting meets the highest standards.

2. Automated & Multi-Purpose

Your goal should always be to do more with less. So, look for a document management system that combines crucial things like a single portal for clients to communicate with you and submit their documents with a strong e-signature feature. A great document management solution is a highly effective way to streamline your process, facilitate communication, and make your clients’ experiences positive.

3. Integration

Purchasing a program but entering and re-entering data each time you switch between software programs is inefficient. Talk to the vendor before you buy and ask them whether their product will seamlessly integrate with the tax prep, accounting, and administrative programs you use each busy season. The best programs will align well with popular, frequently used options like Intuit QuickBooks, Lacerte, Karbon, and others.

Featured Guide: The Accountant’s Ultimate Guide to Cybersecurity

Clever cyber thieves have cost Americans millions of dollars, and while some traps might be easier to spot than others, it’s best to stay on your guard – anyone, even the most vigilant person, can be fooled. Regardless of your firm size or who your clients are, this comprehensive guide will teach you about cybersecurity and actions you can implement to proactively protect your data.

Download the Guide

The Right DMS Can Help Expand Your Service Offerings

As you’re combing through the choices, think as your clients who own small businesses do. They select software based on their goals. So, what are yours? Your list may look something like avoiding wasting time, reducing stress, and keeping hours reasonable rather than working 70- to 100-hour weeks and burning out. Make your list, and then ensure your DMS supports it. Use this checklist to get started.

You also need to consider the vendor. Start by looking at comparison/review sites. You should also do an online search and ask your network of peers what they use or recommend. You’ll want a vendor who will set you up for success and offers things like a Customer Success Manager, onboarding and migration services, training, and personalized system reviews.

4. How does a DMS help firms accomplish efficiency goals?

Now that you have thought through your workflow and picked a DMS, it’s time to configure it to support your needs.

Configure the DMS

You’ll want a vendor who will collaborate with you to identify and understand your goals. This will help them customize the implementation plan to your business outcomes. They should ensure you have the proper workflow, connected applications, and confidence to roll out the DMS across your organization and to your clients. Lastly, your vendor should have strong project management experience, so they can keep the implementation on schedule and budget.

Get Staff and Clients Onboard and Trained

Your team and clients must be on board with the new processes. As some people have a more difficult time with change than others, it’s important to think through how to best communicate with each group. In general, you should start by explaining why you’re transitioning to a new and improved workflow. What specific problems will this solve for your staff and clients? Once people see the benefits of the new process, they’ll be more likely to support it.

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Create and Maintain an Efficient, Modern Firm with SmartVault

SmartVault is the easiest and most secure way to optimize how you, your staff, and your clients gather, store, share, and eSign documents in the cloud. Streamline how you work, collaborate with clients more easily, and reduce costs — through one integrated document management and client portal solution.

Save time and money by streamlining workflows.

Standardize and digitize how you collect, manage, and share documents with software that’s built for your unique security, compliance, and workflow needs. SmartVault empowers you to work smarter with unlimited storage and guest users, so it scales as your business grows. Plus our security measures and access controls protect your data with the highest standards.

Future-proof your practice by going paperless.

SmartVault lets you and your clients upload, access, delete, and share files from any web-enabled device. With a click of a mouse, you can send clients—whether it’s one, twenty, or a thousand—an email requesting exactly what you need and receive a notification when they complete that request. With SmartVault’s autofiler, you don’t have to worry about chasing emails or manually saving documents to the right place. SmartVault takes care of that for you.

Increase customer satisfaction and collaboration.

A custom-branded, online portal gives your clients a secure, easy, and professional way to collaborate with you from wherever they’re located. It’s easy to invite clients to the portal, and they can access the portal directly from your website. Customizable folder templates automatically put the right folders in each client portal, making onboarding a breeze.

Reduce manual tasks with powerful integrations.

Integrate with the leading accounting and tax applications you already use and trust like Lacerte, ProSeries, QuickBooks, and more. SmartVault has a desktop app too, so you can access everything through your browser or Windows File Viewer.

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