The department of finance and accounting has a significant role to play in any company. Having an inefficient finance department is nothing short of a disaster and may result in substantial losses to the enterprise. So, the first thing you should do as a business owner is ensuring that the finance department is functioning smoothly and look for ways to optimize its efficiency. In this guide, we will share some valuable ways to make the accounting department at your company more productive.
Policy Compliance Is the Key
One of the biggest culprits leading to money loss is the lack of discipline in the accounting and finance departments. Therefore, you must have detailed procedures and policies to ascertain that the finance-related tasks are fulfilled accordingly. Implement a timeline and train the staff to process all monetary matters within that timeline. You should also pay attention to the receivables. Train your staff to issue follow-ups to the customers before they get late with the invoices. With proper policies in place, your team will have a yardstick to gauge its performance.
Help Your Team Grow
Instead of replacing an entire finance department in hopes of a more efficient one, it is more productive to upskill the members of your finance team. Having efficient team members in the accounting department is critical to your company’s success and consistent growth. Your finance department must also keep up with the trends in the market. For instance, if there is accounting software that may improve productivity and employee efficiency, your department should be well-aware of it. Offer training and growth opportunities to your team members to help optimize their performance. You may offer training in the form of seminars, one-on-one consultations, or conferences.
Minimize the Manual Processing
These days everything is becoming automatic, and if your accounting department is manually processing most of the things, then it is undermining productivity to a great extent. Your finance department should have an advanced accounting system in place. The team at Accounting Practice Management Software | PracticePro 365 gives you insight into how the best software should automate most of the tasks or all the complex ones. This system should calculate losses, profits, report generation and create invoices, manage tax, and log transaction details without much effort.
Have the Finance Wing Integrated Well
It is an efficient idea to have an integrated shared ERP system that is cloud-based. It should incorporate all the departments of your company along with the accounts and finance department. It is counter-productive to request and wait for data from multiple departments in your company. Also, if your accounting department is trying to function in isolation, their accuracy and precision will be questionable.
Have Your Team Communicate Better
Good communication is the key to the success of any venture. You must communicate the key performance indicators of your accounting and finance departments to its members. You should also explain the newly implemented policies and regulations to help the team onboard and embrace any changes. It is not a good idea to block all the feedback from your team, so listen to what they are saying and honor their opinions and advice.
As a general rule, you should take a log of the productivity of the accounting department every quarter of the year. It is essential to keep your team briefed and onboard before you bring in a significant overhaul. Implementing the above few tips should bring a substantial change in the productivity of your finance wing.