How technology can help turn your busy accounting season into an easy season

Like many industries today the technology climate has transformed the way businesses operate daily. Over the past decade, we have seen specifically how technology has impacted the accounting industry and required modernization of old school practices. As globalization and digital technologies continue to advance it is time to start thinking about what challenges accountants and bookkeepers are facing and how you can use technology to help turn your next tax season into an easy season.

Whether you are a sole practitioner or managing a dozen employees, running an efficient practice is the most important function of your business. Sage recently surveyed over 1,500 accounting professionals in our network to discover what the biggest challenges they are facing today in their practices. Survey respondents said time management, keeping up with technology, managing workflow and maintaining a healthy work-life balance were the top four obstacles they cited as affecting their efficiency.

Keeping up with technology may be one of the biggest learning curves for accountants but by investing in the right tools and solutions, you will see an instant improvement in workflow and time management in your practice. Levering technology will help you become more efficient with your internal and external operations. You’ll be able to manage your workflow more efficiently and reduce operational costs.

With the emergence of cloud technology over the past few years, more accounting firms are making the switch to cloud-based software solutions. Just think how much time you will save by eliminating manual data entry from your daily tasks and switching to a simplified automated data entry system. Leveraging cloud-based technology will also allow you to live a more balanced lifestyle because you can work from your laptop or smartphone while on the go.

56% of accountants we surveyed believe working from tablets and smartphones will improve their customer communications. Being able to pull reporting and process payments from wherever and whenever will not only increase your customer communications but also allow you to optimize data and reports for your business.

As the accounting landscape continues to change daily, we have discovered that implementing new technology will help turn your next tax season into an easy season. With automated workflows and on the go access to client files, your business operations will run more efficiently and you will have time to enjoy life outside of the office.