Too few firms are mapping out their annual workflow to ensure they have the capacity to meet SMSF client demand, an accounting outsourcing specialist has said.
TOA Global founder Nick Sinclair said measuring the workforce capacity of a firm in advance by mapping out its approach, time and estimated manpower for each SMSF job was essential to a firm’s ability to complete its work effectively, but was a commonly overlooked area by accounting firm owners.
“[Accounting firm owners] are telling us they have done their annual strategy, [but] in most cases it’s only one out of every four owners that I talk to that have actually done a one-page plan or business strategy,” Sinclair said today during Smarter SMSF’s SMSF Virtual Day 2020.
“For those that have made a plan, most of them have not actually mapped out a people or workforce strategy to map the financial targets that are set.
“There’s only a certain amount of hours that every [accountant] has a year, so where are they going to spend those hours? Where is the most meaningful time for them to spend that’s going to give the most value to you as a practice owner, but also the most value to the end output, which is the work to your clients?”
Firms that took the time to map out their annual workflow could avoid the risk of finding themselves understaffed and potentially overworking existing employees in order to achieve the output the firm had committed to, he pointed out.
“A lot of accounting firms will run to the point where they don’t have enough people to do the work, so then they will go and hire, but as we know it can take eight to 12 weeks to hire someone [and] get them on board before they’re actually able to [be] up and running and doing work for you,” he added.
“So you always need to be hiring in advance, building the team that you need in three, six, nine [and] 12 months, not the team that you need now.
“Really understanding capacity will allow you to be able to work that out so you can go and plan when you need to be hiring these people [and be] in front of the game as opposed to behind.”
In June, Australian Wealth Solutions principal and Institute of Public Accountants Victorian president Sam Zervides said financial planners and accountants should position their businesses for the post-COVID-19 advice landscape by focusing on the main areas where clients will need their expertise and preparing staff and systems to meet that demand.
