A business’ accounting department is the core of its financial health. Responsible for managing anything from outgoing cash to financial statements, accounting teams have high standards to live up to. Without an appropriate accounting workflow, scaling up becomes nearly impossible and can lead to devastating losses. Managers hardly have it easy—but with the right tools and tips, empowering your accountants to meet departmental goals is intuitive.

Here are our 5 tips to help with your accounting team management:

Tip 1 – Focus on Collaboration

“Alright” isn’t nearly enough to form a synergistic relationship between your accounting team and its neighboring divisions. When thinking about how each division is getting along with one another, you want the answer to be “excellent.” Work to incorporate methods of seamless communication and quick transfer of data.

Cloud-based accounting team management tools can improve efficiency and boost productivity by centralizing each aspect of your operations.

Tip 2 – Prioritize Employee Training

Simply put, an employee should know what they’re doing at all times. Practice conducting quarterly or biannual interviews to determine whether your staff requires additional training for new technologies or ever-changing processes.

Fill gaps in learning by explaining critical features every time you introduce new workflow systems. Whenever possible, invest in cross-training workshops to ensure employees can cover operations lacking in human resources or otherwise.

Tip 3 – Automate Time-Consuming Manual Processes

Accountants work with numbers—a lot of them. As client demands skyrocket, you don’t want your accounting team to scramble for methods of improving productivity while avoiding additional back-office costs.

Leaving manual competitions to accountants as transaction volumes increase exponentially increases the probability of errors. Now that software solutions are making themselves more available to businesses of all sizes, there’s no reason yours shouldn’t get its hands on one.

You can look at our carefully curated and detailed list of the best accounting practice management software to automate your firm’s manual processes.

Automated processes will allow users to manage taxes and calculate profits and losses in just a few clicks. Leave mundane items such as invoices and reports off your to-do list and at the hands of automation.

Tip 4 – Get Involved

The key to business success is communication and comprehension. A disconnect between managers and subordinates will foster an awkward and unproductive environment—one that can easily be reversed by getting involved.

Let members know your expectations up-front, keeping each department in the loop regarding goals and objectives. Encourage feedback and, more importantly, take every insight seriously. Ensure that your staff can express their concerns with little hesitation. Building a reliable and credible operation isn’t just reserved for consumers—it matters just as much to your team.

A few internal benefits from creating cleaner workflows are greater alignment across teams & stakeholders, clearer task ownership & project tracking, and successes become scalable & repeatable. Accounting team management software can achieve these goals for your team.

Tip 5 – Use Technology to Your Advantage

As new technologies peek up from under the digital pool, do your best to keep your firm modern and not to ignore them. After all, these tools exist to maximize business potential. Now that cash management, data analysis, and reporting are easily automated, accountants can take on a more strategic role and spend less time on tasks that can be automated or scheduled with select apps.

Digital workflows and online project management inspire staff to grow and leverage a more flexible work environment. 41% of chief financial officers who aren’t yet with the program dub changing technologies as their most immense pressure—but for a good reason.

Conclusion

Within a firm, every department is value-adding. By keeping up with your team and its tasks, nothing falls through the cracks, which results in a more efficient project workflows, cleaner & clear communication with clients, and a better experience for everyone involved.

Streamline your process today with Financial Cents, a CPA management software that prioritizes your accounting and bookkeeping goals. Get on our free trial and never miss a deadline again.