The reputation of your accounting firm depends on your internal management. Because yes, it is also this management that allows you to propose clear offers, to communicate the right information and to acquire customers. To carry out your commitment in the best conditions, even if you are multi-site or multi-company, you must propose an agile organization!
Why is the internal management of your accounting firm so important?
To make your accounting firm stand out
As a certified public accountant, you can position yourself in either a local or national market. The key? To have a wide enough catalog of services, with a team of experts allowing you to capture the maximum value. The more engagements you have with your clients, the stronger your arguments will be, and the more relevant your advice will be. But this also requires good internal information and number management!
To optimize your employees' time entry
Every day or every week, the exercise of entering time is far from being a pleasure... Handling data all day long, on numerous engagements, and then having to remember them and re-enter the information by hand requires effort and time. And then, facing a blank sheet where everything must be filled in is not the best user experience ever!
Ideally, you should be able to start with an assignment and indicate, with a few clicks, that the assignment has been completed - in a little less or a little more time. If your assignments cannot be scheduled, a list of your favorite tasks to report can make life easier!
In any case, time entry is the basis of your invoicing and the profitability of your engagements: there is no question of leaving this crucial step in the background!
To properly manage the lending of labor between establishments
A client has signed an engagement letter? You must then attach it to an establishment A... while the tax expert may be attached to establishment B of the firm. And your internal management should not have an impact on the engagement: the main thing is to deliver the service to the client!
If you lend each other manpower, however, the partners will want to know the CA per establishment and the inter-BU flows. In other words, who is producing what and where? Through a simple time entry, the identification of the associate's home institution and the establishment of the destination engagement will automate these flows. You can, in real time, value them according to an internal transfer cost.
Of course, if you have two establishments, this can be done manually... but it will be far too complex and time consuming if you have 5 establishments and 3 companies!
This is one of the advantages of an internal management software. It can show you where your initial budget is on different engagements, the amount reached for billable work, and put it in perspective with the invoiced fees. This is the best way to manage your engagements, and to better control your estimates with a more precise follow-up of the activities!
Internal management software, an asset for your business development
Better management of opportunities
A good internal management of your accounting firm can also facilitate the processing of incoming flows, prospects and clients. It thus contributes to your commercial development!
Does your strategy consist in developing a business sector, pushing offers and being in a hunting process? To do this, you must have reliable data and ask yourself the right questions.
For example: which clients are you carrying out an auditing engagement for and which will come to an end, to whom you could propose an accounting engagement?
These opportunities need to be tracked and addressed, and a tool can help.
An easier sales approach
Adapted tools can help you structure your sales approach. That's what internal management software is for! They are a real daily help:
- to provide information on the deadlines of upcoming engagements that are coming to an end;
- to define campaigns presenting new services;
- to set up reminders.
Even if sales are increasing, everything can be controlled and monitored with an efficient tool!
Of course, your added value is your job as a certified accountant and the specialized engagements you can perform. But in order to concentrate on this expertise, you must be able to put internal management aside! Forget Excel, Word and all these tools: a single internal management software can professionalize the follow-up of your engagements, and help you boost your commercial portfolio!
Picture credit : Designed by Freepik – Pch.vector