The Major Ways That Tech Tools Unlock Value for an Accounting Firm

The best way to impress clients, investors, and anyone else that might have an opinion about your accounting firm is to update your firm’s technology tools. These days when an investor is considering making a private investment in an accounting firm, they will want to see some of the latest and greatest technology tools that firms use. That alone should put the fire in your belly to upgrade to the latest technologies. Indeed, there are a myriad of reasons why upgrading your accounting firm’s tech tools is the right choice to make.

Create Better Workflows

Have you ever run into a problem of a failure of communication between people within the same accounting firm? This can happen easily when a firm is utilizing technologies of the past. Often, people keep certain information and data separate from those within the firm who need to see it. Thomson Reuters explains how upgraded technology can help solve this problem:

When data is siloed in separate applications and disconnected systems, it hurts productivity and profitability. However, in order to effectively build streamlined systems, an accounting firm’s tech staff must be able to support integrations quickly and effectively. You can achieve this through such tools as APIs. 

Instead of leaving everyone to their own devices and simply hoping it all turns out okay, you should focus on improving your technology for better results.

Offer More Profitable Services

It may be the case that you are unable to offer the full potential of services that you could offer to the public. Outdated technology might be holding you back, and it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately. One of the types of services that every accounting firm should offer is an advisory service. Unfortunately, some do not do this because the limitations of their technologies hold them back. When you update those technologies, managing clients and providing them with a buffet of profitable services is easier.

Accounting firms can charge more for advisory services because they approach clients one-on-one. The additional investment of time and energy on specific clients like this means the charges for those services also increase. Thus, an accounting firm must make updating its technology tools a priority.

Provide More Remote Work Flexibility

It is a reality that you will simply need to accept: Many workers will request flexibility to work remotely. Some workers might even work completely remotely the entire time. Many became accustomed to doing this. They don’t want to leave this change behind.

Technology makes it possible for employees to work from home. At the same time, it allows employers to offer remote work positions to those who might want to work from home instead of in the office. That can make an accounting firm a little more appealing to potential hires.

Better Hiring Practices

We are in the middle of a labor shortage across the board. A big part of the problem is that many people are reaching retirement age. But, they are not necessarily being replaced by younger workers as quickly as they would otherwise. Therefore, it is necessary to become extra competitive when searching for employees. It is necessary to consider the following:

• The share of the population that is working age is expected to drop dramatically in the coming years. This is down to 61.3% in 2030 from approximately 64.5% in 2020.
• Wages are rising rapidly for many types of employees, and they have learned to ask for even more.
• Many accounting firms compete for an increasingly small pool of potential employees.

These factors all contribute to the need to be as competitive as possible when looking at hiring new employees. The latest and greatest technologies can make the hiring process easier. This is by correctly identifying potential candidates to fulfill roles at the accounting firm. Those same tools can also screen out people who will likely not provide real value to the accounting firm.

Increase Employee Engagement

Millions of people suddenly learned what platforms such as Slack and Zoom were in the early months of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a dramatic shift in the way that people work. It was no longer safe to be in close quarters with each other. Those office workers must adapt to new technologies to complete their job from home.

These tools, and many like them, are still making an impact on how employees interact with one another. An accounting firm that wants to boost employee engagement ought to consider upgrading its technologies to make this possible. Employees across the board can communicate better with one another. This is when these employee communication programs provide them with the resources available.

Another upside of this is that it becomes easier to avoid the problem of siloed information (mentioned above). If one employee requests information from another, it is easy to move those files and information wherever it needs to go via the platform.

Improved Client Satisfaction

Feeling important is a basic human need. t is something desired by virtually every client that comes through the doors of an accounting firm. They need to feel like they are the only client that the firm deals with. This is clearly not actually going to be the case, but a client needs to feel that this is the case. New technologies can assist with this because they can store all of the details about individual clients. That information is then tapped when necessary to speak with various clients or send them information. In other words, you can store all of the client’s details within some of the latest customer relationship management (CRM) software.

Pulling up this kind of information and looking at how to use it as effectively as possible is a massive upside to using new technologies. Accounting firms should feel personalized to each client. The technology tools that exist for these firms can make that process much easier to do.

For more information about how the latest tech tools can unlock value in an accounting firm, please contact us for the latest.