How To Scale Your Accounting Firm To Meet Client Demands

Automation is now commonplace in many accounting firms, but despite the time and effort savings automation offers, there are still a relatively high number of labour-intensive tasks that occur within any accounting firm on a daily basis – and it’s these activities that can be the biggest challenge when it comes to scaling your practice.

In this blog, we explore strategies you can implement to ensure you can scale your business as and when required.

Outsource transactional accounting tasks

Historically, graduates have been a reliable source of labour for the more transactional and mundane tasks in an accounting firm. These days though, a graduate’s appetite for learning from the ground up is waning, which means this entry level labour is not as readily available as it once was.

The good news though is you don’t need to be restricted by local talent to fulfill these tasks. Qualified accountants in places like India can save you up to 70% on the cost of employing someone locally.

By outsourcing this work, you remove the need to consider physical office space, equipment and the overheads that come with employing local staff. Not only do you save money, but you can access more or less resource as needed quickly, and you gain more time to spend on servicing new clients or higher value clients.

Ongoing investment in technology

While it’s true that many accounting firms have embraced technology, it’s also true that new and improved technology continues to be brought into the market all the time.

It can be difficult to keep up with rapidly changing technological advancements and the cost to keep investing in them can be prohibitive to many firms.

However, if you’ve engaged a reputable outsourced accounting service, you can leverage off the investments they make in technology.

Real time portals and robotic process automation are some of the more recent advancements that are attractive to outsourcers as it enables them to remain competitive and deliver a premium experience to their clients.

Adding more value for your clients

With resources and technology in place to manage your accounting firms’ basic tasks, you now have the opportunity to give your customers the added value they’re looking for.

Studies report that many SMEs view their accountant as a trusted adviser, more than any other professional service provider. SMEs are often looking for advice on the strategic direction of their business and in their tax affairs, not just an accountant who will tick the compliance boxes.

The more business advisory services you can offer, the more value you’re adding to your clients’ situation and therefore, the more value they will place on your services.

When it comes to growing and scaling your accounting firm, it’s about more than just gaining new clients – it’s about finding new ways to free up your time for your existing clients while also keeping up with those transactional tasks that will always need attention.

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