Is Your Accounting Office Giving Your Business What It Needs?

When we onboard a new client, we usually start with a good deal of discovery. We look back at historicals. We get a sense for how they have (or haven’t) structured their accounting office. We dig into who’s been doing what and why.

More often than not, here’s what we find…

We discover that the business has an internal or external accounting resource that has largely been doing the same thing over and over. For years. They’re processing paper, ensuring basic accuracy, and getting paid. Rinse and repeat.

While that may sound fine, it isn’t. Not for a modern, growing business.

A company’s accounting office needs to deliver so much more. And it has the ability too! Finances are literally the lifeblood of an organization! An accounting office has the ability to uncover insights and trends. It can inform decisions and steer business strategy.

Here’s a shortlist of what businesses should be getting out of their accounting office:

Unbridled Efficiency

Still printing checks? Mailing invoices? Entering data manually? If your accounting office is comfortable in antiquated ways, it’s not contributing all that it can to your business. In fact, it may be having a negative impact on things like cash flow and taxes.

Profitability Analysis

Is profitability maintaining? Growing? At a minimum, your accounting office should be able to tell you if the business is fiscally healthy… or not.

Spending Analysis

How are expenses tracking? Month over month? Year over year comparisons? By reporting on expenses, the accounting office can inform future business decisions.

Certainty

With modern accounting, invoicing, payment and expense management tools at their disposal, there really are no excuses for inaccurate accounting data. Modern accounting offices should be integrating and automating as much as possible.

Real-Time View

A modern accounting operation should be able to pull a real-time view of your organization’s financial position that fuels informed decision making.

Insights

Analyses and reporting are a big step in the right direction, but when your accounting office is able to bring actionable data-driven observations to your attention, that’s when you’re taking things to the next level.

Bottom Line

If you’re getting more than the basics out of your accounting outfit, you’re in good shape. If not, we’re here to help.