How Accounting Firms Can Benefit From Automation

Running a firm requires a significant amount of due diligence. You have to make sure your staff is working together seamlessly. You need to make sure your clients are taken care of, and then there’s everything in between you need to cover. What if all that was just a little bit easier? 

Accounting professionals have a year-round burden of itemizing, monitoring, and reporting, which automated technology might help alleviate. If you’re interested in learning how automation can help your firm, this blog post is for you. 

What is automation? 

Automation is the use of technology to streamline your firm’s operating procedures into a one-stop system that organizes all your important data and communications. Accounting firm automation is based on machine learning and software that performs many traditional accounting operations formerly handled by humans. About 53% of all accounting firms have started automation, which is expected to increase over the next few years.

Why should my accounting firm consider automation? 

Tax and accounting work relies on consistent accuracy. Automation can help ensure that accuracy so that your staff spends less time fixing errors and ensuring accuracy is maintained when they take advantage of the tools it provides. Automating your firm can help by: 

• Supporting your staff’s ability to handle existing services. Automation is not going to replace jobs from your firm. Its purpose is to give your existing staff more time to spare.  That saved time might provide employees greater freedom in completing their work. Existing machine learning enables your accounting firm's staff to save time by improving day-to-day accounting activities and processes.
• Integrating current company protocols to simplify personnel operations. Automation can assist in streamlining the tax process by enhancing categorization, staying on top of information, swiftly validating expenditures, and employing advanced accounting techniques such as referencing, which uses a live model to track customers' accounts in real time.
• Improving talent retention and growth. Your firm has a diverse hierarchy of roles. But often those at the bottom can find themselves stuck in place and will likely face exhaustion, stress, and burnout. Automation can alleviate this by removing some of the more mundane tasks from their day-to-day life and allowing them to find more avenues to engage with your firm and fill niches. 
• Improving work/life balance. Most accountants are more interested in problem-solving than crunching numbers. Instead of spending hours on monotonous, everyday duties, automation allows CPAs to accomplish more of what they enjoy and excel at. 

What can my accounting firm automate? 

Your firm doesn’t need to be cluttered with files. Automation can help augment the way your firm operates without a considerable investment. Rather than slowing down your operations, firm leaders like you can employ automation software to help with: 

• Collecting client documents: You understand how difficult it may be to hound customers to submit necessary documents to move on with the job. Your accountants are probably spending more time than necessary attempting to acquire what they need from their customers. We've all seen people who wait until the last minute to send their documents or who have a habit of pushing and staying ahead of deadlines at the last minute. Automating that process frees up hours spent crafting emails and tracking answers, removing that burden from your workday.
• Administrative tasks: Your accounting firm requires greater data entry and information flow. This includes routine procedures that provide room for human mistakes. Automation eliminates the possibility of human error harming your company's success.
• Workflow updates: Examples of process updates that no longer require human input include reassigning tasks, alerting staff members, altering workflow statuses, and setting up recurring jobs.

How can Taxfyle help? 

Are you interested in finding more ways to save your firm time and reduce stress? Give your staff more opportunities to focus on clients and complex jobs by outsourcing your excess work to Taxfyle’s network of tax professionals. Give your firm more time through Taxfyle’s flexible staffing solution. 

You don’t need to hire a new team of accountants to improve your firm’s ability to operate during stressful times. Taxfyle has a network of CPAs and EAs ready to plug in and help your firm when it needs a few spare hands. Each of our accountants are located within the United States and verified to ensure you’re getting the best possible Pro for your firm. Communicating and onboarding work is made simple through our easy-to-use platform too. 

Why wait to augment your firm? Outsource today and have a stress-free start to the next tax season.