How will accountancy firms manage limited productivity bandwidth and widening technical challenges in 2024?

Derek Blair Partner

• Investing in cloud-based accounting software. Cloud-based software can help accountancy firms to automate tasks, improve collaboration, and access data from anywhere.
• Automating as many tasks as possible. By automating tasks, accountancy firms can free up all of their team members to focus on more value-added work.
• Hiring remote workers with the right skills. Remote workers can help accountancy firms to quickly expand their talent pool and find extra people with the right skills.
• Partnering with technology consultants. Technology consultants can help accountancy firms to implement new technologies and get the most out of their existing systems.
• Upskilling their team members. Upskilling team members can help accountancy firms to address skills gaps and stay ahead of the learning curve.
• Creating a culture of continuous marginal improvement. A culture of continuous marginal improvement can help accountancy firms to remain nimble, agile and relevant.

By following these tips, accountancy firms in the UK can improve their productivity bandwidth and technical capabilities, which will help them to better serve their clients in 2024 and beyond.

In addition to the above, here are some other specific things that accountancy firms can do to address the challenges of strained productivity bandwidth and technical capabilities:

• Become super-selective about new clients. Firms will be refining their client take-on criteria, to only take on new clients who meet the firm’s ideal client profile, not just financially, but in terms of personality and inter-personal chemistry.
• Identify your tribe. By focusing marketing messages on the right sorts of new clients, accountants can target their marketing resources on their ideal audience.
• Set clear priorities. It is important to focus on the most important tasks and avoid distractions.
• Delegate tasks. This can free up time for senior team members to focus on their core responsibilities.
• Use project management tools. These tools can help to keep track of progress and ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.
• Take breaks. It is important to take breaks throughout the day to avoid burnout. And for every team member to take their annual leave.
• Get organized. Having a system for organizing files and documents can help to save time and improve efficiency.
• Clear the clutter. Many firms have legacy paper filing systems that are now just taking up valuable space. Bin what you can and send the rest to secure archiving.
• Smooth out the seasonality. By spreading tasks evenly throughout the year, accountancy firms can avoid productivity pinch-points and maximise their available capacity.
• Stay up-to-date on technology. It is important to keep up with the latest technological developments in order to stay ahead of the curve.

By taking these steps, accountancy firms can mitigate the challenges of limited productivity bandwidth and technical capabilities and improve their overall performance.