The accounting team is a vital piece of the puzzle for any successful business. Without them, your business won’t be able to accurately track and measure key financial data, leading to inefficient decision-making. Plus, with their help, your business can stay compliant with the latest regulations and financial practices. For your accounting team to be at peak efficiency, there are several effective strategies you can implement. 

Here are some of the top tips for a more productive accounting team.

Provide Supplementary Tools

Accounting is not an easy job to do. Luckily, there are a variety of supplementary tools available to make the job easier. From digital spreadsheets to financial reporting software, these tools streamline workflows as well as reduce errors. 

Investing in educational resources for your team is also beneficial—the more they know about the latest practices in the field, the better equipped and thus productive they’ll be.

Set Clear Expectations

Often, not being entirely clear on what’s expected of them can dissuade members of an accounting team from being productive. Provide your team with both short-term and long-term goals, as well as specific deadlines for when they should be completed. 

This way, they’ll feel included, knowing exactly how their job is expected to impact the bottom line of the business. So, if your goal is for the team to reduce costs by 10 percent in a year, for example, let them know that upfront so they can work to meet the goal. 

Reward High Performance

Your team’s hard work should always be acknowledged and rewarded. Having a system in place that recognizes and rewards high performers is an effective way to foster a productive accounting team. 

This could come in the form of bonuses or other incentives, such as tickets to a local sporting event or gift cards. Alternatively, you could create an employee of the month program to recognize those who go above and beyond. 

Minimize Interruptions

No matter what industry, distractions are inevitable in any workplace. In accounting, interruptions can be particularly detrimental, leading to wasted time and declining productivity.

Whenever possible, minimize distractions in the workplace. You could limit access to busy areas during crunch time, dedicate specific conference rooms for team meetings, or limit non-essential visitors during work hours. 

Allow Flexibility in Working Hours

Accounting can be quite stressful. Allowing flexibility in when team members complete their tasks can help alleviate some stress, resulting in a more productive team. Maybe they prefer to come into the office early to get things done, or maybe they’d rather come in late and work into the evening. 

Giving team members the power to choose when and how they complete their daily tasks will also further increase employee engagement because it demonstrates that you trust them with the responsibility of completing their tasks on their own time. 

Utilizing these tips should help maximize your accounting team’s productivity and build a more successful business. So provide supplementary tools, set clear expectations, reward high performance, minimize distractions, and encourage flexibility.