Starting and running a small business of any kind is a full-time job. In many ways, building a growth strategy for that business is another full-time job in itself. It’s tough for many accountants to dedicate adequate time to acquiring clients and recruiting employees.

If that describes you, that’s understandable. Accountants are qualified and skilled individuals, committed to providing a high-quality service. If you’re running a small accountancy practice, and you want to devote more time to growing the business, you’ll need to do one of two things. One, you’ll need to process fewer accounts day-to-day. Two, you’ll need to find a way of doing the same amount of work in less time. That latter option obviously sounds preferable, but how can you do it?

Making the basics quicker
There are three principal areas for accountants running a small practice to consider:
• Compliance
• Practice management
• Document management

These are non-negotiables for any practice. In order to grow a small practice, accountants need to find ways of covering each of these areas efficiently. Many accountants are currently using basic spreadsheets and word processors to ensure they keep their clients compliant.

This isn’t a sustainable foundation on which to grow your practice. It leaves relevant client data open to human error. It means that all data must be updated and transferred manually. It ensures that basic tasks, such as document exchange between accountant and client, take longer than they should. Making the transition to purpose-built software ensures that some of the most menial tasks in an accountant’s working day can be slicker – and, in some cases, automated.

Integrations: taking a holistic approach to your software
‍Many small practices are yet to take their first foray into purpose-built accountancy software. Others are experimenting with various software providers in areas like personal tax or VAT submissions. They’ll have considered each solution in terms of cost and efficiency, as with any expense.

If that sounds like your practice, then you’ll have an idea of the accounting solutions on the market – and efficiencies that purpose-built software can provide. Yet when you consider each accounting function individually, and acquire software on a case-by-case basis, you can end up with various solutions from several different providers. That doesn’t equip you to yield the full efficiencies of accounting software.

The key to saving you time during the working day is software integration.

Using software applications that integrate with each other allows data to synchronise seamlessly and securely. This eliminates a lot of manual work transferring client financial data from one piece of software to another. This means that human error is significantly reduced, and time previously spent on menial repetitive tasks can be saved. In turn, this means you can focus on building a growth plan.

Making accounting software affordable
When you’re running a small business of any kind, costs aren’t just an important consideration. They are potentially make-or-break decisions in an economy characterised by high inflation.

Some small accountancy practices may choose to get by with stock software. This helps to reduce operational costs, but consider the cost/benefit analysis too. Does getting by provide the same growth opportunities? Does it equip your practice to optimise productivity and expand your client base?

Adopting purpose-built accountancy software is a statement of confidence in your practice, but it is a significant expense. So how do you find value? Small practices might be best-advised to adopt an incremental approach, and to identify the software integrations that provide greatest efficiency. If you are a practice of two or three employees, you might be content to focus on compliance. As you grow the practice, you may find that purpose-built practice management software becomes highly useful. The next step could be document management, ensuring an efficient flow of information between your employees and your expanding client base.

Identifying the right software combinations and integrations isn’t always easy. Devoting some time to research will help you understand where appropriate software bundles exist. This allows you, and your chosen provider, to cater for your practice’s needs at its particular stage of development.

Work with Wolters Kluwer
‍At Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK, we work with accountancy practices of all sizes to help them optimise their working efficiency and drive growth.

We offer CCH Starter Packs: software bundles designed and priced to help small practices take those first steps towards practice growth. To find out more working about working with Wolters Kluwer, contact us via cchsoftware@wolterskluwer.co.uk