If you’re like most accountants, your workday still centers around spreadsheets, data entry, and manually moving information from one place to another. In many ways, the accounting of today works the same as it did 20 years ago. And while it has certainly improved in some ways, there has been little to no progress in others. Which raises an important question – why hasn’t accounting software made every number cruncher more productive by now?
Here’s an example: An accountant has an Excel doc where she tracks prepaid expenses. She has to enter new expenses by hand, and she needs to keep careful track of the numbers to reconcile them with the information in the accounting software. It’s a big job that’s both complicated and risky. It’s also exactly the kind of thing – relying on disconnected spreadsheets – that accountants in 2022 shouldn’t be doing anymore. So why is this example (or something similar) still so common?
Accounting software is always the culprit in our experience. When accounting feels unproductive, inefficient, or off-the-mark, it’s tempting to blame people or processes. But even with the best of both in place, accounting cannot fire on all cylinders without the right tech tool supporting it. Technology is the biggest difference between teams that exceed expectations and ones that struggle to get everything finished correctly.
That being said, there are two ways that accounting software can disappoint in terms of productivity:
- Antiquated Systems – Many companies still use the accounting software they started with, or the one they’ve become accustomed to over many years. It may have worked well at one time. However, as the company has grown and evolved, it’s financial management needs have matured beyond what the existing software can offer. Antiquated software will only (and increasingly) make accounting harder since the features it has can’t keep up with all that accountants and decision makers need to accomplish.
- Under-Utilized Systems – When companies upgrade their accounting software to improve on what they already do, they sometimes fail to utilize all that their stronger, smarter software is actually capable of. They do the same (only better) when they could be doing more. Under-utilization happens when there are tools that accountants are not using, or when the accounting team and processes have not been properly updated around the new software. In either instance, the solution is already in place to many accounting and productivity problems – people simply need to embrace it.
Some accounting teams are making the most of everything their powerful accounting software can do. Vastly more, however, suffer from one of the issues above. Today’s financial management tools can do incredible things, from automating huge amounts of work to uncovering important financial insights. But only for the teams that build synergy between themselves and the right accounting software.
How does that happen? With the help of consultants who have done it dozens of times before. Dean Dorton helps clients select and implement better accounting software, then take full advantage of everything their new toolkit can do. Expect more – contact us.
Philip Massey,
Software Services Director
pmassey@ddaftech.com • 919.796.5408