Make time for strategy, not just the books

In tough economic times, small businesses turn to their accountants. 

While we have seen an encouraging drop in inflation recently, the UK economy is still full of plenty of problems for SMEs, with higher interest rates making capital harder to come by and employees naturally demanding higher pay to keep up with the cost of living. 

Just a third of SMEs (34%) in the Close Brothers Asset Finance’s Business Sentiment Index think they will expand over the next 12 months - while 55% think they will stand still, and 10% believe they will contract.

These troubling times have seen small businesses turn to their accountants and payroll firms for help.

We recently completed a survey of 313 accountants and other professional service firms which asked how client demands had changed over the last year.

The most popular answer was “clients wanted greater discounts/price flexibility” which 29% of respondents selected. But close behind it was, “clients require increased advisory support to respond to economic hardship” with 28% selecting that. Another quarter of respondents (25%) said their clients required increased advisory activities to future-proof their business.

It’s unsurprising that these SMEs are turning to their accountants for strategic help. Unlike a huge company that can afford to get a big four consultant in to fix their issues, the accountants, bookkeepers and payroll teams that help these SMEs do the basics well are often the main source of outside advice an SME can access.

Luckily these professionals are often the best-placed people to offer that strategic advice.

As an accountant or bookkeeper, it is absolutely essential that you make time to have these strategic chats with your clients.

If your service is extremely no-frills - even if it is very well run - there is always a chance that your client will find someone who can do that service cheaper, or attempt to build that capacity in-house. We all know SME accounts and pay runs are not “simple” commodity services, but some clients unfortunately may see things that way. In our survey a fifth of professional service firms had actually lost business in the last year to clients who were coping with “economic hardship”. 

Add strategic advice into your package and you become invaluable. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours every week but your outside/inside perspective can be extremely valuable for SMEs - you know their books, but are outside enough to make clear-sighted calls that might be harder for someone enmeshed in the business.

Finding the time for this will always be a challenge. Even a quarterly strategy session, spread across many clients, can soon eat up a lot of your diary.

But you will have a lot more time for it if your software is doing its job well. Well-built cloud software will always be up to date with the latest legislation, meaning you are not manually going through anything to make sure pay runs are compliant, or wasting hours waiting for updates. 

Similarly, automation can obliterate a lot of repetitive and time-consuming tasks. If you find yourself doing any work you think you could train a smart 14-year-old to do, consider whether you should instead get a computer to do it for you. This doesn’t mean automating yourself out of a job or just handing hugely important things like payroll over to a computer you never check - but there is probably some aspect of your job that could be made far efficient with automation. Have a look at the current crop of software on offer and make sure whatever you have is giving you time back, not taking it away. The shift to a new product can be painful in the short-term, but it is worth it in the long run.

It’s unsurprising that these SMEs are turning to their accountants for strategic help. Unlike a huge company that can afford to get a big four consultant in to fix their issues, the accountants and bookkeepers and payroll teams that help these SMEs do the basics well are often the main source of outside advice an SME can access.

Luckily these professionals are often the best-placed people to offer that strategic advice.

As an accountant or bookkeeper, it is absolutely essential that you make time to have these strategic chats with your clients.

If your service is extremely no-frills - even if it is very well run - there is always a chance that your client will find someone who can do that service cheaper, or attempt to build that capacity in-house. We all know SME accounts and pay runs are not “simple” commodity services, but some clients unfortunately may see things that way. In our survey a fifth of professional service firms had actually lost business in the last year to clients who were coping with “economic hardship”. 

Add strategic advice into your package and you become invaluable. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours every week but your outside/inside perspective can be extremely valuable for SMEs - you know their books, but are outside enough to make clear-sighted calls that might be harder for someone enmeshed in the business.

Finding the time for this will always be a challenge. Even a quarterly strategy session, spread across many clients, can soon eat up a lot of your diary.

But you will have a lot more time for it if your software is doing its job well. Well-built cloud software will always be up to date with the latest legislation, meaning you are not manually going through anything to make sure pay runs are compliant, or wasting hours waiting for updates. 

Similarly, automation can obliterate a lot of repetitive and time-consuming tasks. If you find yourself doing any work you think you could train a smart 14-year-old to do, consider whether you should instead get a computer to do it for you. This doesn’t mean automating yourself out of a job or just handing hugely important things like payroll over to a computer you never check - but there is probably some aspect of your job that could be made far efficient with automation. Have a look at the current crop of software on offer and make sure whatever you have is giving you time back, not taking it away. The shift to a new product can be painful in the short-term, but it is worth it in the long run.