Workflow for Accountants: A Comprehensive Guide

At The Access Group, we know that using the right accounting practice management software can lift your accounting processes. We supply accounting firm workflow management software to help accountants streamline tasks, track projects, and meet deadlines.

In our definitive accounting workflow guide, we look at workflows for accountants and examine how they save time for your accounting business. This deep dive might provide innovative ideas to help you manage your accounting workflows more effectively.

What is a workflow for accounting firms?

A workflow refers to the steps and processes involved in carrying out and completing tasks.

Workflow is often used interchangeably with the term process.

An accounting process is "the method used to perform a sequence of activities." On the other hand, an accounting workflow is "a tool used to facilitate that method."

Workflows for accountants outline the following for each task in your firm:

The sequence of activities
The decision points, and
The employee is responsible.

Accounting workflows map out steps in a clear structure for everyone in your accounting firm to follow, either in an accounting workflow chart or checklist, ensuring that what you need to do is easy to visualise and can be executed efficiently and accurately.

What is an accounting workflow best practice?

To build an effective workflow for accountants, your firm will need to answer the following questions:

What is the job that needs to be done?
Who is responsible?
How much time will each task take?

When you have structured the answers to these questions within an accounting workflow chart or process, you will have a workflow for your accounting firm.

What is accounting workflow software?

One of the best tools at an accountant's disposal to create accounting workflows is accounting practice management software, including workflow management software.

The best workflow management software for accountants will provide you with a centralised location to improve task completion, create project timelines, delegate responsibilities, and monitor progress.

Accounting firm workflow management software enables the creation of a workflow for accountants easily, ensuring everyone in your team is on the same page.

To learn more about accounting practice management software and why it is essential to your practice, read our article for more guidance: Why do you need accounting practice management software?

What are examples of accounting workflows?

Your workflow's specific steps and accounting processes can vary depending on the firm's size and the specific accounting tasks involved.

You should look at how you can customise the workflow solutions to align with the unique requirements of your accounting business.

Here is a compiled list of important workflow examples that every firm needs:

Practice management workflows

Practice management workflows streamline the management in your accounting firm's back office or day-to-day operation.

By standardising your administrative and operational tasks, you will embed better organisation within your practice from the ground up.

Service delivery workflows

To offer consistently high-quality accounting services, your firm must have well-defined accounting workflows.

Service delivery workflows for accountants include bookkeeping workflows, audit workflows and tax preparation and management workflows. Each of these will outline how you will complete deliverables within the accounting cycle from start to finish.

Client onboarding workflows

The onboarding process for new clients in your accounting business is of the utmost importance. The first few interactions you will have with your new clients will determine how confident they are with the quality of your accounting services.

The client onboarding process for new clients should include the following:

Collecting all necessary client information, such as their contact details and financial information,
Identifying any potential issues,
Recording these details to your accounting client management software.

Task management workflows

Ensuring you have accounting workflows that ensure you are holding team members accountable daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.

In task management workflows every member of your team works from the same playbook, increasing visibility and helping maintain clear communication between team members.

Lead generation workflows

Creating a lead generation workflow in your accounting firm means you will better understand potential clients and why they want to use your services. This workflow for accountants will also show leads how ideal your accounting services are for solving their problems.

What are the benefits of workflows in accounting?

Implementing key workflows for accountants offers numerous benefits for firms:

Increased efficiency: Workflows for accountants provide a structured framework, ensuring you execute each step systematic and organised. With workflows for accountants, firms can streamline their work, reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, and complete assignments more efficiently. Learn how to use your day more efficiently with time-saving tips for busy accountants.
Improved accuracy: Standardising your accountant workflows reduces the likelihood of mistakes and inconsistencies in accounting processes. Clear guidelines and accounting workflow templates ensure that your firm is performing tasks with consistency. Automating specific tasks through workflow systems reduces the risk of human error.
Boosting productivity: By eliminating unnecessary manual work and streamlining processes, workflows are ways to enable accountants to focus on value-added activities. Automated workflow tasks, such as data entry or report generation, give accountants the time to concentrate on business advisory services, strategic planning, and providing valuable insights to clients.
Reduced risk: Workflows for accountants' help embed a culture of consistency in accounting practices. By following predefined procedures and guidelines, accountants are taking necessary steps to comply with regulations and industry standards, reducing the risk of compliance violations, penalties, and reputational damage.
Faster scalability and growth: Implementing workflows for accountants helps firms to scale and grow. Standardised processes facilitate onboarding new team members, reducing training time. A well-defined workflow in accounting also provides a foundation for process improvement and optimisation.
Effective task management: Workflows enable better task management and resource allocation. With a more precise expectation of task dependencies and timelines, workflows for accountants help prioritise work effectively, allocate resources efficiently, and meet client deadlines without compromising quality.

How to manage a workflow in your accounting firm

Here are ways your firm can get the most out of accounting workflow management:

Prioritisation and planning

Efficient accounting workflow management starts with prioritising tasks for your firm.

Accountants should start by identifying critical deadlines and deliverables and then create a comprehensive plan outlining the sequence and timeframe for each task.

Utilising workflow management software can help manage and track the progress of your workflow for accountants, ensuring that none of your tasks fall through the cracks.

Standardise your accounting processes

Develop standardised accounting processes to handle recurring workflows for accountants. Accounting processes include bookkeeping, tax preparation, and financial reporting.

Establishing clear guidelines and accounting workflow templates will help maintain consistency in the accounting cycle and minimises the chances of errors.

Standardising an accounting workflow process also simplifies training for new accounting team members, reducing onboarding time.

Review accounting processes regularly

Implementing review and quality control processes will help you identify and rectify any errors in your workflows for accountants.

Developing guidelines for review and quality control processes reduce the risk of error and ensures your accounting firm operates thoroughly and consistently.

Providing constructive feedback during the process will further improve your workflow for accountants and the overall quality of work.

Communicate effectively

Effective communication is vital for accounting workflows to run smoothly. Accountants should establish clear communication channels within the team and with accounting firm clients.

Encouraging regular meetings with your team and client check-ins can address any burning questions around accounting workflows, provide updates, and clarify expectations. Embedding clear communication helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Learn why communication skills are crucial for accountants by reading our blog: communications skills in accounting practices.

Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

The accounting industry is constantly evolving, with new regulations and emerging technologies in accounting rapidly redefining how accountants operate.

Encouraging continuous professional development in your firm ensures your employees stay current on everything happening within the accounting industry.

Finding new ways to enhance knowledge and skills helps accountants adapt to an ever-changing landscape and create a current accounting workflow accordingly.

Invest in the right workflow tools

Cloud-based accounting practice management software and accounting automation tools have revolutionised workflows in accounting.

CPA Australia's report on digital transformation shows that the accounting industry is evolving rapidly, which will continue over the next few years, with emerging technologies in accounting, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence in accounting looking to further shake up accounting firm workflows in the future.

A report by ACCA found that, of the accountants surveyed, 89% said that digital skills were necessary for their industry, and 63% indicated that they considered that they had the right level of digital skills for their roles. Digital accountants help make their modern accounting practice more flexible, intelligent, and secure.

Accounting firms that use workflow management software are arming themselves with the right technology and tools to perform their tasks on the go. The time to embrace the digital workplace is now.

Automated workflows for accountants

Repetitive, time-intensive tasks have hampered the accounting industry for decades. Whether talking about accounts payable workflow, invoicing, or data entry, accounting professionals have traditionally spent most of their days working on non-creative accounting processes.

According to findings from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we will see this change in the next decade. Of the C-suite executives and professional accountants who participated in the survey, more than half (55%) "expect the development of intelligent automated accounting systems to have the greatest impact over the next three to 10 years."

Automated workflow software allows accountants to focus their skills on client-facing and income-generating ventures.

Here, we explore the benefits of automated accounting workflow software:

1. Greater accountability and transparency

Accountants are often tasked with juggling many jobs across a range of clients. This increases their day-to-day tasks' complexity while contributing to more errors.

With an accounting workflow automation solution, work can be assigned and monitored in real-time, providing greater transparency for employees and their managers. It also improves accountability, with job progress being monitored immediately and the ability for team leaders to identify high-quality performers.

It will also reveal any bottlenecks staff in your team structure may be experiencing. With complete oversight over past, current, and upcoming work, accounting firm managers can use real-time information to streamline tasks, assign different staff to specific projects and free up team members to focus on more time-sensitive jobs.

2. Better relationships with clients

Clients demand more from their accounting professionals, and practices must diversify their offerings to survive in an increasingly competitive accounting industry. Firm owners must grasp every opportunity to enhance their client communications.

Workflow automation through client management software for accounting practices provides precisely that by acting as the one true source of knowledge where all information on a particular client lives permanently. You will have oversight of all past interactions with clients and their responses. This means accounting firms can deploy custom marketing strategies to retain their current clients and reach out to warm leads while reducing the risk of overwhelming them with too many messages.

3. Collaboration is better

Modern accounting firms must create a collaborative environment where knowledge and insights can be shared freely for the benefit of the entire organisation. A comprehensive workflow automation solution means every team member will work within the same ecosystem and is exposed to the same information.

So long as adequate training is provided, accountants can use the system to share documents, spreadsheets, and other work materials to complete their tasks faster. This means a better bottom line for the practice and a more unified, happier, and productive team.

4. Faster, more accurate data retrieval

Any practice looking to thrive in the modern accounting world must cast off the shackles of paper-based systems and cluttered physical storage rooms. Such outdated practices can delay jobs, create confusion among accountants and even lead to the loss of sensitive financial data.

Instead, an automated workflow solution acts as the practice's single data source. Team members can retrieve specific files within seconds and share documents with co-workers and clients as needed.

Data storage is also a breeze, with simple functions for naming, categorising, storing and archiving information. Automated accounting workflow management speeds up the time it takes to complete a job while eliminating bottlenecks and making your sensitive client data much more secure.

To read more about keeping your data secure, visit our guide on cybersecurity for accounting firms.

5. Fewer errors

Old-school accounting processes are mired in errors. That increases stress levels for the team while causing them to spend more time on accounting projects as they double and triple-check their accuracy, but it puts your firm at greater risk of losing accounting clients.

Automated workflow management software for accountants drastically reduces the risk of human error. Information is only entered once and can be pulled into an accounting workflow template anytime. Any mistakes that slip through the cracks only need to be adjusted with a single keystroke rather than requiring all the information to be re-entered into the system.

That means your accounting data warehouse is more accurate and more accessible to retrieve than any physical information store.

In summary

With the help of proper workflow management software for accountants, accounting workflows can help grow your firm, manage your workload effectively, and guarantee that every accounting firm client gets the best service possible.

Applying workflows for accountants helps accounting firms effectively delegate tasks, saving time and increasing their productivity.

Accounting firms that use workflow software for accountants can expand their client base without sacrificing quality or missing deadlines. With a clear guide for all team members to follow, these firms consistently maintain high-quality results.

We are happy to help accounting firms of all shapes and sizes to implement workflow management software best suited to their needs.

So, book a demo or contact us today to see what will work best for your accounting firm.