Project management is no easy task.
When you’re met with multiple projects all at once, you’re most likely left with missed deliverables and deadlines.
Fortunately, out of the need for efficiency in accounting project management arose project management frameworks and methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, and Six Sigma.
Given your current project budget and the readily available resource management tools for your firm, you need to optimize your project management plans for accounting tasks like audits, tax, billing, and the like.
Let us show you how accounting practice owners can benefit from effective project management strategies below.
How Firm Owners Benefit from Accounting Project Management
You might be wondering how project management can improve an accounting firm’s daily operations. In that case, we’re here to tell you that accounting project management can help firm owners in more ways than you can think of. Below are some salient advantages of accounting project management.
1. It tracks project progress accurately
Doing accounting project management right means monitoring progress with precise metrics. Project accounting software is mainly for tracking progress accurately, but it also helps to have a hands-on project manager on board — ideally, one that’s adept when it comes to progress metrics. As the project progresses, your project management software may experience the occasional hiccup. In cases like this, it pays to know which stage the project is in, or what the status of your project is currently.
2. It sets the project budget
Your project’s budget needs constant monitoring as well. Going under or over your project’s budget may not give you your desired outcome, which is why good project management is useful for setting, tracking, and making sure that your project’s budget goes to the planned or assigned categories.
Good project managers are meticulous and hands-on when it comes to project budget allotment. They make sure that the right people do the right things — for instance, they ensure that their researchers base on existing company data and market trends to help firm owners like you make strategic and sound decisions on where the bulk of your project’s budget goes.
3. It prevents scope creep
No team member wants to go beyond the scope of their project task. If your project team is complaining about scope creep, project management software can help with organizing and delegating their appropriate project tasks to your departments. On top of this, a set project plan also helps with avoiding scope creep because each project task needed is listed down. This tells us that everything that goes beyond those listed project tasks should either be (a) excluded or (b) compensated for, given that all parties involved agree.
Scope creep is one of the reasons that accountants are burned out, so it’s important for project managers to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Related Reading: Why Accountants are Quitting (and How to Stop Them)
4. It helps with structuring future projects
Especially for accounting firms, your current approach to project management paves the way for how your future projects will be executed. Testing out the most effective project management style right now is essential for efficiency, productivity, output quality, and client relationships. But even better is how easily your team can tweak your current project management structure in the future to accommodate upcoming trends in client needs and in the accounting industry in general.
5. It improves customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is another aspect you should pay attention to. While it helps that your CRM specialist is proactive and your CRM accounting software is up to date, project managers play an active part in attracting, maintaining, and keeping clients coming back. Some tasks they carry out include checking what’s on the CRM specialist’s to-do tab or consulting with experts on which CRM accounting software suits the company the best, especially in terms of software features and firm scale.
Related Reading: The 10 Best Accounting CRM Software for Your Firm
Elements of Successful Accounting Project Management
Successful project management for accounting firms entails several tried and tested factors. Below are some elements of project management for accountants that set your business up for success.
1. Accurate Tracking of Project Progress
Effective project management means monitoring progress precisely and accurately. As discussed above, every stage of the project should be tracked with the set deadlines in mind. There must be transparency on which stage a task is in: if it’s in pipeline, in progress, up for review or revisions, or launched (or if a task will continue at all).
2. A Set Project Budget
Well-planned budgeting is the backbone of effective project management. From company financial transactions to financial statements to the cost estimate for project accounting work, excellent accounting project management covers these and beyond.
Note that your project’s budget should be based on the areas that give your firm the most benefits — which means that these areas are the ones that need the most funding. Good project management requires an intense focus on what these areas are, delegates the corresponding tasks to the assigned project team, tracks the project costs consistently, and ensures sticking to the project’s budget plan.
3. A Skilled and Experienced Project Manager
Project management goes nowhere without a leader. In short, selecting outstanding project managers is crucial to the success of accounting firms. On top of tracking progress and setting project costs, your project manager must possess the ability to oversee various departments that are involved in the project and ensure the quality of communication and collaboration among them.
4. Resource Planning for Cost Efficiency
The right resource allocation is necessary for any project. Especially when it comes to project management for accounting firms, the cost efficiency of the process should be prioritized. This tells us that resource planning and resource management must be maximized and aligned with both the budget and the goals of the project team.
Overall, a good project accounting plan conserves limited resources for internal projects and optimizes existing accounting tools for the entire project.
5. The Right KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
Good project managers know about the specific KPIs or key performance indicators that the project team needs to hit so that they can make better-informed decisions on company-related matters. Some pertinent KPIs for project management for accountants include cycle time, resource capacity, and on-time completion percentage, which are all necessary for a complete project.
6. Up to Date Project Management Software
Most (if not all) accounting firms need project management software that’s technologically advanced — complete with an easy-to-navigate user interface, relevant features, and compatibility and mergeability with other accounting software. Some of the most used software when it comes to project management for accountants include Karbon, Jetpack Workflow, and Lightyear Docs.
Accountant Project Management: Is There a Tried-and-Tested Formula for a Project's Success?
Project management entails patience, dedication, efficiency, and a wealth of knowledge in multiple fields, especially in accounting. While project management is part and parcel of any company’s operations, there are only a few select people who can do the job well. When you’re accompanied by the right project management tool, outstanding project management skills, and an efficient project accounting system, the level and quality of accounting project management is boosted, improved, and optimized.
So, is there a formula for a successful project? There are many factors that contribute to the best possible outcome for your project, but given the constant changes in the accounting industry, firm owners should be open to alternative methods, formulas, and systems to accommodate the evolution of the accounting landscape — from project accounting methods, to project management tools, and especially your firm’s business model, project managers can only help accounting firms thrive and flourish if these firms welcome change in the first place.
The Issue at Hand: A Widespread Talent Shortage
If you were to ask accounting practice owners about one of the biggest problems plaguing the industry, most of them would tell you that it’s the current talent crisis. This tells us that no matter how good each team member of your roster is at accounting project management, it won’t suffice when you lack the very people that your firm needs.
This is why accounting giants have turned to alternative business models like offshoring not just to keep their firms in the black but even make them stand out among their competitors and boost their longevity in the fast-changing world of accounting. On top of the talent shortage, you’re also faced with concerns about capacity crunches and increasing operational costs among accounting practices.
In short, you need a staffing solutions provider to connect you with professionals beyond your territory — offshore talent teams that give your firm exactly what it needs.
Should You Offshore Your Accounting Project Management Tasks?
While there is some degree of skepticism surrounding offshoring, there are also many misconceptions that should be cleared up. Accounting practice owners are faced with the need to keep up with the times and make it their personal mission to address the global talent crisis in the field of accounting.
With offshoring, you place your project management tasks onto the plates of elite accounting professionals across the globe. This allows you to focus on other aspects of your business and lets you grow your firm exponentially. Offshoring frees you from making time-consuming project objectives, worrying about project planning, setting the project timeline with no extra pairs of hands, and overseeing multiple projects that will burn you out eventually.
Another advantage aside from top-notch project management? Tapping expert global partners frees up space in accounting firms, gives you significantly slashed costs, and boosts everyday efficiency while still maintaining quality services and output, with each team member dedicated to ensuring the completion of your day-to-day tasks, tracking project finances, and employing the right project management tools for your accounting projects.
Elite Offshore Accounting Project Management Expertise with TOA Global
How many hours do you spend on project billing? Do you still manually manage costs for each project phase? Can you still accurately track time to reach certain project milestones, or even handle your overall project management process? If these are areas in project management you struggle with, then it’s time to welcome offshoring.
Join us as we revolutionize the accounting industry. Maximize project profitability and offshore your accounting processes with TOA Global. Talk to us today.
