Digital Transformation: How To Optimise Accounting Automation for Efficiency
Dext team members Katie Hawking, Global Head of Practice Solutions and Sales Enablement, and Paul Lodder, VP of Accounting and Product Strategy, recently joined Will Farnell, Co-Founder and Director of App Advisory Plus, for a two-part series focused on optimising accounting automation.
In part one, we discussed why digital transformation is critical for all businesses. Next, we’re digging into how to fine-tune your processes, automation and what you deliver for clients. Let's go over how to digitally transform your business accounting for the most efficient and successful results.
The Power of Regular Data Bookkeeping
As an accountant, you’ve got a system that works. But why should your business change its model to daily bookkeeping? The answer is efficiency and updated technology use.
Client queries don’t come through just once a month, they come daily. These queries build up over time, causing some clients to forget what certain transactions are and forcing your accounting team to dig through piles of disorganised documents that are time-consuming to process.
Using technology that’s designed to work in a completely different way requires businesses to fundamentally change their business model. With Dext and Xero in your technology stack, you can use up-to-date bank data and digital automation to do accounting tasks in real time. However, most firms still do bookkeeping on a monthly or quarterly basis which misses the point of accessible data.
When you charge your clients for weekly bookkeeping, why would it be OK to only do it once a month or quarter? You look at your live data daily, so why shouldn’t your users get the same attention?
Your clients trust you to manage their finances with a fine-toothed comb, tracking their finances as if they were your own. Answer queries quickly and proactively care for your clients by having updated information and bank data readily available for them.
Ultimately, the more up-to-date numbers there are and predictive analytics, the more conversations you can have with your clients. And with increased engagement and advisory comes stronger relationships, as well as the potential for life-long partnerships with your customers.
Automating Your Accounting: How Dext Can Help
Automating your accounting enables you to run a tighter ship, allowing your team to deliver top-notch solutions for your clients. By switching from monthly or quarterly processing to daily or weekly instead, you can be a valuable tool for your clients to utilise and learn from. Here’s how Dext enables you to automate bookkeeping and be a vital asset for your partners:
Weekly Bookkeeping
Having a daily structure enables you to effectively and efficiently bookkeep your diverse client list. However, swapping your accounting process doesn’t happen overnight: It requires initial planning and structure. While this takes time, it helps you determine how to refine what you’re doing to deliver the best experiences for clients, giving you a competitive advantage over and above any of your competitors.
Client Touchpoints
How often you check in with your clients impacts your relationship with them. For the strongest partnership, go to your clients once a week to talk with them about their finances and provide recommendations and guidance. If you’re offering weekly bookkeeping services, you should also get to know their team and learn what they need the most help with. This goes further than just delivering reporting; it makes you a consistent part of their economic routine. By increasing your client touchpoints, you can build sticky relationships and concrete your firm as a consistent partner they can have confidence in.
Education and Training
Client education is also an important step in automating and becoming more efficient. Providing training on why you do things a specific way and what benefits they’ll receive as a result of automation can make them more likely to trust you with their accounting. It also helps you and your partners work together. By explaining why you want your clients to follow a certain method, everyone wins.
Data Visibility
Dext shows you the method by which information is uploaded. Teams can use it to drive the right behaviours and spot training opportunities internally and externally for constant improvement. It’s best to meet people where they’re at, and Dext gives you more insight into how your clients receive documents and go through their bookkeeping process.
Workflow Best Practices
It’s important to have standardisation and consistency in work because the second you don’t, clients don’t receive the same level of attention and care. Creating set processes for every service you offer gives you a benchmark for success, ensuring your team members are on the same page and deliver the highest quality bookkeeping.
Dext Precision helps you create trackable and repeatable flows, giving your team a feel for how complete a workflow is. This helps new employees who are unsure where to start on tasks but also helps managers understand where each person is in the process. Task management can keep everyone on track and provide document visibility and accessibility.
When creating your company’s approach to automation and workflows, it’s best to have everyone from all levels of employment in the same room to work together. By getting your team bought in and in agreement with the set processes, you’ll find a solution that works for everyone.
Digitally Transform With Dext
Dext enables teams to flag clients to individuals, manage and complete daily bookkeeping and have transactions in Xero waiting to be reconciled. By integrating our automation solution into your business, you can scale, grow and prepare for the future.
Interested in hearing more from our conversation with Will Farnell and learning what to expect in the future of automation in the accounting landscape? Watch the full webinar for free.
Ready to get started? Modernise your accounting with Dext Prepare today.
