Tips on Sustaining Your Bookkeeping Business through a Pandemic

The global outbreak of the Coronavirus disease has been challenging for the business world, with most industries being affected. Fortunately, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel as economies including Germany and Spain begin to re-open.

There's no doubt that accounting and bookkeeping firms have been impacted by the ongoing pandemic, but by making some tweaks in their practices, accounting and bookkeeping firms can successfully emerge from these uncertain times.

Opt for a remote working model

A remote working model for your company operations can prove to be beneficial if implemented properly. In fact, depending on the location of your organisation, you might even be mandated by the local and national authorities to enforce a work from home policy.

There are several advantages of remote working —workflow prioritisation becomes more streamlined, employees demonstrate better productivity from the comfort of their homes and the company can save on the costs of maintaining an active office space.

Invest in the latest technology

In the digital age, organisations, irrespective of their domains, can tend to fall behind if they fail to recognise the importance of investing in the latest technology and expertise. With more and more businesses becoming data driven, accounting firms should invest in technology that will encourage analytical efficiency, real-time access to data and futuristic expertise in business risk management and data visualisation.

Put protection plans in place

Robust contingency plans and financial strategies can act as a buffer against possible negative financial events in the near future. Making strategic protection plans is especially important for smaller accounting and bookkeeping firms as they often lack the resources to sustain economic uncertainties.

In addition, gaining experience in the process of protection planning can help your company deal with other types of crisis in the future.

Regularly monitor company performance metrics and standards

In a time of economic uncertainties, many organisations end up disconnecting with their third-party suppliers to cut costs. Hence, it is important for accounting and bookkeeping firms to strive to retain their clients.

Businesses should set competitive KPIs that can be measured and monitored regularly. This is especially important in a remote working model where there can be no scope for physical monitoring.

Keep a close watch on the company budget

A positive cash flow, even during these difficult times, can be a great indication of your firm’s capability to sustain itself through a pandemic. Reducing unnecessary expenditure and adhering to a strict budget can reduce the load on limited company resources and contribute to a positive cash flow.

Another great alternative can be to increase the frequency of budgeting sessions to help the firm adapt instantaneously to sudden economic changes.

Don’t try to retain all clients

While it can be a natural instinct to hold on to every client in your accounting and bookkeeping firm, it might not be the best decision for your company. Your firm needs to have strong parameters to decide the worth of any existing or potential customers. This can enable a disciplined scaling of your client base which can be beneficial for the firm in the long run.

Following these accounting and bookkeeping tips can be beneficial for your business even in the absence of difficult scenarios such as the COVID-19 outbreak. As the world recovers slowly, accounting and bookkeeping firms will be one of the most demanded services in global business.

The current situation presents a great time to invest in your financial career; you can do so by pursuing accounting courses or professional qualifications such as ACCA. The London School of Business and Finance offers online preparatory courses for passing this prestigious accounting qualification.

Click here to gather more details about the ACCA online courses at LSBF.

This blog is written by Sweha Hazari and edited by Emma Chadwick.