Your accounting team is struggling to meet deadlines. How can you help them work more efficiently?

I will encourage the team to set realistic goals, establish clear workflows, and automate repetitive tasks where possible. Regularly review processes for optimization, and ensure that team members have access to the necessary resources and support. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions can also help identify and address any challenges promptly.

A careful study of the environment should be undertaken. Does the team have adequate skills? Are deadlines concentrated to a specific period in the month? Is the team adequately resourced? Perform a work study to determine if the allocation of work volume is appropriate. If these are in line, specific coaching areas to identify weaknesses could be implemented and team members helped and coached to meet business objectives.

To support my finance team to achieve their deadline We must review workload and support them to assess if they need any external support in terms of resource, training or any other skill required. Will support them to access the work balancing in view of delegation to all the team member. Address to team and motivate them and announce some rewards and appreciation to achieving the targets timeline.

In my experience, lack of appropriate tools will always be an inhibitor to the team’s performance. Finance is always the area that may not ask for investment in tools as they understand the cost of the tool versus the tangible benefit. It’s easy to overlook the improvements in efficiency as well as the richness of information that could be extracted from better tools.

To enhance the efficiency of your struggling accounting team, prioritize tasks, streamline processes through automation, and set realistic deadlines. Provide adequate resources and encourage open communication to address challenges promptly. Implement time management techniques and offer training for skill enhancement. Delegate tasks based on individual strengths, utilize project management tools for organization, and recognize achievements regularly. Lastly, conduct periodic reviews to adjust strategies and maintain a positive and productive work environment.

Eating the frog ?? every morning! To put it simply, eating the frog is identifying your most difficult task of the day and completing it before you do any other work. People usually start with easy tasks and postpone difficult ones. That leads to delays in completing significant tasks and also at the same time the accumulation of problems burdening the psychological state of the workers and creating them worries and doubts about whether they can succeed. While solving a difficult problem one after another gives you the satisfaction of achievement and acts as a self-motivation factor. ??

As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. So lack of planning and poor management can lead to issues.Allocating resource is required keeping three things in mind - client changes, resource availability and project team. Assign the tasks to right people. Work experience and past performance is a good indicator of current abilities. Work distribution should be done properly to meet deadlines. Prioritization with respect to deadline is also important.

Many teams, like accounting, have requests from many different parts of the organization (system). Each request may be a top priority for the requesting party (sub-system). If they optimize for the sub-system, it will likely sub-optimize the system. Each team needs to be fully aware of the system priorities, realizing that sub-systems may be sub-optimized. Put another way: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Provide clear direction and acknowledgement that due to finite resources and time constraints, infinite output is not expected.

I agree to suggestions posted just adding that the tasks of accounting team are well defined and more or less routines. The best thing is to have time plans in place with right person for different rolls further some tasks are subject to fulfilment of certain tasks. If we have well defined workflows n sophisticated systems like ERPs we can manage workload, stress and under pressure working!!

80-20 rule is the key to success when it comes to work prioritization. I have tried myself and practising from last so many years. As a result, I have always met critical deadlines and have happy stakeholders.

It's very important to evaluate?the?team's?ability?to?communicate?and?work?together. Is?everyone?in?the?team?communicating?effectively?and?working?efficiently?to?achieve?internal?deadlines? Do you see members highlighting the roadblocks and supporting each other in their deliverables? It?will?be?challenging?to?accomplish?the?end?goal?if?the?internal?team?is?not?aligned.

Review work program & facilitate as to necessity/quality/timing Establish team has appropriate capability to deliver.No passengers. Support with proven updated systems including software. Continuous improvement in all.

The initial step involves identifying which team member possesses the necessary skills to advance the project and reassigning tasks accordingly, if necessary. Although this may lead to disagreements, it's crucial to remind the team that if one person succeeds, it's a victory for all.

In my experience, at times those informal water cooler or coffee break conversations tend to be more important than any planned formal meeting. This is the essence of open communication which naturally leads to collaboration and team work. Furthermore, using the most frictionless method to communicate often leads to more frequent and effective and open dialogue which are sometimes missed if one only resorts to emails/meetings only. Having said that, as finance leaders we have to understand the importance and necessity of providing clarity regarding expectation setting when it comes to tasks and quality required from the team; there should be no room for confusion.

We would all be better off by learning what other departments do, how our jobs affect theirs, and how we can all work together to streamline processes. Sometimes it’s as easy as talking to the other departments and asking how your job affects them and how you can better serve them.

Treinar e apoiar sua equipe contábil é vital para mantê-los atualizados e eficientes. Oferecer recursos como cursos online, webinars, podcasts e livros sobre temas relevantes, como padr?es de contabilidade e software, é uma excelente forma de promover o desenvolvimento contínuo. Incentivar a participa??o em redes profissionais e fóruns também é uma ótima maneira de aprender com especialistas e colegas da área. Além disso, sess?es de coaching, mentoria e feedback s?o fundamentais para aprimorar o desempenho da equipe e enfrentar desafios, garantindo uma for?a de trabalho mais competente e preparada.

Training should be extended to non financial management team. They must understand the basis of financial statement and the process to elabotate them. They are the biggest inputers with month end data send to accounting team.

Skilled staff still need training and support. Oftentimes companies that invest in staff professional development, help increase staff creativity and productivity

In my experience embedding a coaching culture within the team is just as important to maintaining ongoing training and support. Encouraging regular peer feedback sessions helps to develop high performance. For example a monthly team session analysing a call/project that did not go well within the the team, allows for others to suggest how they would approach alongside highlighting challenges/blockers that can then be handled within the session. This helps develop critical thinking should similar situations arrive again in the future.

The business world moves faster ??and existing skills are easily outgrown??. The need for continuous training is imperative and must be done in every possible way and in parallel. ? Long-term programs for the main pillars?? ? Educational updates to stay informed about the changes ?? ? Technical seminars to incorporate the new technological tools ?? ? Trainings in the work-life for better guidance ?? ? And finally some conference where they will have the opportunity to network with other professionals of the industry , to exchange ideas and to broaden the way of thinking ??

Recognition programs are beneficial provided they do not cause competition in teams that is ultimately detrimental to team success. Every reward should rather focus on departmental success as opposed to individual success. That way individual competition is narrowed down. Healthy competition is encouraged but its amongst the most difficult areas to manage.

Give the example ?? no one will follow you if you don't show them that you can do what you ask?. Show them that the goal is realistic and help the team where needed. Also be clear, honest and fair. A team that is going to achieve difficult schedules must build trust and know that their efforts will be rewarded but also that everyone will participate by offering help when needed. On this trip there is no room for doubts. Also used the whole project as a motivation factor, showed them how they would grow through it and helped them see the bigger picture and how each project contributes to the overall operation of the company. A team that knows from the beginning what the reward is, it is easier to continue to perform and have a purpose

Rewarding the team with the right incentives is the most important factor of success! Creating visibility for all the team and providing them opportunities to get exposure on big projects is of paramount importance!

Many a time, management experts and leaders talk about the ‘carrot and stick’ approach. Yet, it is rarely implemented. If the accounting team fails to meet deadlines, they are punished either through queries, suspensions etc. What happens when they meet deadlines? What reward are they given? None. They are simply said to be doing their jobs. Hence, the stick end of the approach is implemented while the carrot end is totally ignored. As management professionals and leaders of organizations, we must do better. If accounting teams are rewarded for a job done well and for meeting deadlines, they will be motivated to do more. Same applies to teams in other departments.

Motivate your accounting team by setting clear goals, offering regular recognition, and providing incentives like bonuses or flexible work options. Acknowledging their efforts fosters a positive work environment and boosts morale.

Metrics here are key in my opinion, and more importantly Key Performance Indicators (a type of metric). What is key for your process? What truly matters and adds value? If the measure has these characteristics it will have a high impact in behavior and priorities of the team as long as people are held accountable for the numbers. Taking a look at the numbers, comparing to smart targets will provide the right insights and buttons to further improve the operation by understanding and utilizing the correlation with what happens in the day to day and the performance obtained.

A revis?o e melhoria contínua dos processos é fundamental para melhorar a eficiência e eficácia, pois é neste momento que conseguimos identificar gargalos, desperdícios, falhas de execu??o e, a partir daí, efetuar melhorias que tornem o processo mais fluido.

Evaluations are vital especially with 2 way communication, where strengths and areas of improvement, can be discussed between the evaluator and team member. The key component is to let the team know you are a support to their upliftment at all times, over any metric.

Every task must have Key Performance Indicator (KPI), and clear Direction from Management for the target and goals to achieve

Incentives and Recognition: Implement an incentive program to reward individuals or the team for meeting deadlines and achieving goals. Recognize and appreciate the efforts of team members to boost morale. Flexible Work Arrangements: Consider flexible work arrangements, such as remote work or flexible hours, if feasible. This can enhance work-life balance and contribute to increased job satisfaction. By implementing these strategies, you can create a more efficient and productive accounting team that is better equipped to meet deadlines successfully.

The struggle to meet deadlines often leads to tactical solutions/workarounds and then it is all forgotten. There are plenty of great hero examples that will get the team through the deadlines. For me, more valuable work is to avoid this from happening. As such, whilst all the steps from assessing the workload to prioritising items will be undertaken, I would rather look at processes. Invariably, our processes slow us down and take the form of “this is how we do it”. Just like any machine, periodic servicing of these processes, modernisation, leveraging applications, automations is key. I would perform a health check to make a decision. Having said that, at times the struggle is due to a mishap; NB- you learn and avoid that going forward.

If my accounting team is consistently missing deadlines, it's helpful to work back from the end goal. What is the desired month end close timeline? From there, create a task list with due dates and share with the department to ensure everyone is onboard and sees the deadlines as reasonable. While motivating with rewards is helpful at times, if month-end close is taking too long it may be time to add more team members. As a high-growth startup, we've added eight team members throughout the last few years and it has allowed for workloads across the team to remain manageable.

I agree with all the other initiatives but in 2024 I believe we must look at the process and identify opportunities for efficiencies, especially looking at next gen AI tools that can relieve the burden from our colleagues and boost their productivity without compromising quality.

Adopt a process analysis methodology to identify bottlenecks, redundant tasks, and opportunities for improvement in the current accounting workflow. This involves mapping existing processes, identifying time-consuming tasks, and analyzing them. Then, move towards implementing automation through Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA can automate repetitive tasks such as data entry, bank reconciliations, and report generation. This not only saves time but also minimizes human errors and allows the team to focus on more complex analyses and strategic tasks. Automation facilitates a focus on higher-value tasks. Additionally, encourage a culture of continuous improvement, prompting the team to proactively identify and address inefficiencies.

Review the processes and evaluate if all the steps are required actions. Stop or enhance some of the steps that have “always been done that way”. Evaluate the processes to determine the ones that are the most time consuming and see if it can be automated which could save time and effort.