TD Bank found that almost half of all company owners (46%) dislike doing bookkeeping.
In spite of their distaste for accounting services, most company owners know it’s crucial to their success. It’s a useful tool for budgeting, cost accounting, revenue tracking, liquidity analysis, and solvency testing, among other things.
The trouble is that your staff members could disagree. Accounting may be seen as a tedious chore by them. They may see the numerical values as arbitrary. All that matters to salespeople is making a sale. The focus of the technical team is strictly on technological matters. All that matters to the help desk is what the customers want. So it continues.
Is there a way to alter public opinion? In what ways can you encourage individuals to take an interest in accounting?
The key is showing your staff how their efforts directly impact the company’s success. What role it plays in boosting the bottom line and how it helps the firm succeed.
If you do that, they will be more invested in the process and more energised to see it through. They will accept responsibility for the outcomes they are attempting to improve upon and realign their efforts with company outcomes.
It seems like a no-brainer. But what immediate measures can you take to pique their interest? Let me give you five examples.
1. Communicate the “Why” Behind Accounting Procedures
Invoicing, expenditure reporting, and billing are probably handled in a certain way at your organisation. Manual or automated tools may be used to keep track of money transfers. As an alternative to the accrual system, you might instead opt to record transactions only when actual currency is exchanged.
You understand the reasoning for your methods and the lack of willingness to cut corners. However, the staff may be confused.
They may see the processes as too cumbersome, prompting them to look for workarounds or place paperwork far down the to-do list in comparison to their “real job.”
By elaborating on the rationale behind the accounting and paperwork, you may help them better understand its relevance to their tasks. To provide just one example: “We’d want to accept online payments since it’s convenient for our consumers and helps us get paid more promptly.”
They are more likely to act on it if they comprehend it. They may even suggest enhancements to the process! Furthermore, if you link that process to a favourable outcome, you’ll have their full participation.
Let’s say you’ve decided that once a month the sales staff has to submit cost reports detailing any trips they’ve taken. Also, before delivering it to the financial manager, they must offer a detailed breakdown in your accounting programme.
Some employees may try to cut corners and ask if they may just provide the grand total rather than an itemised report. Many people won’t bother to do it.
The trick is to get them to see how completing the paperwork on time and accurately benefits the whole company. It’s also important to keep an eye on expenses that might add up over time.
2. Make a Habit of Sharing Visibility and Insights
The success of a leader may be measured by how well they communicate the company’s vision, objectives, and results to their team. Put another way, they should never be left wondering, “How is our business doing?”
In addition, you need to make sure that your staff is aware of how their job relates to the priorities.
Increasing revenue might be one such priority. Accounting services the sales team may be motivated by providing concrete examples of how their sales and efforts to reduce sales-related expenditures (such as those associated with client meetings, meals, and travel) have paid off.
By disseminating such findings, you’re facilitating workers’ ability to make connections. They will have a deeper appreciation for the value of their efforts and how they improve the outcome. The adoption of accounting software that provides access to key financial data in a collaborative environment is another option.
Accounting services or Investing in a technology that displays quick-glance performance dashboards is one method to simplify and speed up the process. For instance, Taxzona has a custom reporting dashboard that summarises financial performance.
Since it’s the same programme you use to track payments and expenditures, the data is always accurate. In addition, you may distribute copies of these reports to the appropriate staff.
3. Set Clear KPIs
In order to evaluate how well a firm is meeting its objectives, it establishes a number of key performance indicators (KPIs).
Linking these key performance indicators to a particular objective and sharing it with your staff will help to guarantee that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same end result.
Accounting services a key performance indicator (KPI) may be a monthly client acquisition rate, with the overarching objective of boosting revenue by X%. Conversely, you may create a key performance indicator to reduce expenditures, which would have everyone in the company search for ways to save money on things like food, entertainment, and office supplies.
Team members should each be held accountable for key performance indicators (KPIs) that contribute to the overall company objectives, and rewarded for especially noteworthy efforts.
4. Onboard Business Accounting Software That Simplifies Accounting
One reason many individuals cringe at the mention of “accounting” is because they associate it with tedious, repetitive work. Imagine having to make a fresh invoice every month for the same customer who is on retainer but whose billing information never changes.
alternatively, keeping track of money coming in and going out and producing reports based on it. Not quite gripping, is it? Fortunately, you may now invest in cloud-based software to automate a variety of these processes.
The billing cycle for customers on retainers may automate. Connecting to your bank account allows for the automated categorization of income and expenditures.
Profitability reports provide an instant snapshot of your company’s health inside the programme. Even for those who aren’t trained accountants, this is explained clearly.
Naturally, not all programmes are the same. There is software that has a lot of hoops you have to go through before you can use it, and you may even need training. The issue is that there is a learning curve associated with training, which might deter some individuals from ever beginning.
Built with idiot-proof simplicity in mind, Taxzona requires zero accounting know-how on the part of the user. What better way to motivate your staff to take an active role in financial management and reporting?
5. Fire Up Your Team With Incentives
This part intended for those who work with a salesman or group. I formerly held the position of business development manager at a corporation. I knew the figures were important since I was in charge of an expanding business, but they never piqued my interest.
Until, that is, a commission system implemented at the firm. My new medium of exchange was numbers. I focused entirely on them. It suited my purposes, after all. After all, the greater my contribution to the company’s bottom line, the greater my share of the profits.
Each department on your team may benefit from the same guidelines, whether they work in sales, finance, customer service, or project management. Employees need to reward for their success if they are to continue performing at a high level. Incentives for meeting key performance indicators (KPIs) might include financial rewards.
Conclusion
If you want to know how your company is doing, you need accounting. You get it, but maybe not everyone else on the team does.
It might be challenging to get your employees interested in and enthusiastic about accounting. But it needn’t be that way if you use effective methods:
- Get them to see the logic behind your bookkeeping practises.
- Frequently update them on progress and provide them with insights so that they can see the connection between their efforts and the outcomes you’re looking for.
- Establish transparent KPIs linked to business outcomes.
- Implement accounting software that streamlines corporate processes.
- Commissions are a great way to tie pay to performance.
