3 Ways an Accounting Firm Can Reduce Write-Offs
1. Save time on data input with automation
Implementing Dext to automate data submission and entry allows you to go beyond the time consuming manual bookkeeping process and provide more value for your clients, freeing time to focus on client relationships, instead of just getting the right information.
“Now we’re enabling the client to get real-time management information,” explains Mike Melling of TaxAssist, a user of Dext. “We go from looking backwards at year-end to being a proactive advisor and helping them understand their business. Using Dext and QuickBooks is integral to that.”
Importantly, satisfied clients are also more likely to stay with the firm. Not only because eliminating data entry and submission gives you more time to interact with clients, but also because those clients know what their accountant can offer them.
Building on his success, Mike is looking to increase the use of automation to focus on his practice. “I see a massive profit enhancement opportunity here. At a minimum we ought to be able to increase our productivity by 60% - 80%”, says Mike. “Dext is helping us upsell services, it’s helping us retain clients and we can make a better margin on all the services we offer. That’s because with Dext, we have time to do what we need to do.”
2. Better categorising and data sorting with Fetch
Accountants and bookkeepers can spend hours chasing clients for purchase invoices - time that Invoice Fetch by Dext Prepare can save.
Missing paperwork for accountants and bookkeepers means that the purchase ledger in the accounting system is not up to date or accurate, worse yet, reconciliations cannot be completed on time. This results in a delay with completing tasks and additional time being incurred but not recoverable. Fetch will save bookkeepers and accountants hours due to not having to chase clients for missing paperwork.
You can send a request to clients to connect to a supplier - once the connection is set up, you will have these documents automatically pulled in from the supplier for your client.
The purchases cycle can be streamlined further by using other Dext features like purchase order matching, auto categorisation, supplier rules and auto publishing ensuring maximum efficiency and a "no-hands" approach to accountancy with Dext doing all the hard work for you.
3. Turn written off time into chargeable time with great insights
According to Aaron Sutton of Garbutt & Eliott, some accountants worry that if you become much more efficient with the work you normally do for your clients, they might ask for a reduction in your fees - but the efficiency actually allows you to provide extra support that’s more valuable to them, and to you.
Still, it can be a big challenge for traditional accountants to offer the advisory services that our clients need. How you start this conversation with clients is important: even if you’ve used a tool like Precision to spot an area for improvement, we don't go to them with a problem, we try to show them what could happen if they improved.
You build a relationship with clients by keeping them up to date with what's going on in their business, because they easily get lost in the numbers. Eventually, you’ll be able to help make your client’s business more successful, and a successful business makes a successful accountant.
Talk to your clients to make sure they understand the value of the data, and the plan you’ve made to improve their data quality, bookkeeping processes, or performance - and how you’ll show you’ve succeeded later.
