The post-pandemic accountancy firm: How Amiqus can help
Digitising your firm can help reduce bureaucracy and paperwork, allowing more time to develop new business
Since the pandemic hit, we’ve witnessed the biggest financial institutions in the world execute ten-year digital transformation plans in a matter of days. We’ve seen century-old food manufacturers offer direct-to-consumer delivery for the first time in their existence. We’ve seen local bars and restaurants completely transform their business models to adhere to social distancing. And we’ve seen older generations embracing the Zoom boom and video calling their friends and family.
What does this tell us? It tells us that people are much more adaptable than we give them credit for. It tells us that organisational red tape isn’t as thick as we thought. It tells us that implementing meaningful, powerful change is cheaper, easier and quicker than we’ve been led to believe.
COVID-19 has accelerated transformation in accountancy firms too. And as restrictions are easing and traditional firms are starting to return to their offices, they have been forced to review their ways of working in order to stay open for business.
The idea of being 100 percent cloud-based might feel very overwhelming. But digitising your firm doesn’t have to be at the expense of face-to-face conversations with your clients. In fact, successful digital transformation should enhance the things you do well.
The role of the trusted advisor is here to stay
Your clients still want to see you and have great conversations with you. Building and maintaining those relationships is really important. But wouldn’t they rather your interactions were meaningful and not just taking time out of their day to hand over documentation for an AML check? Save your face-to-face time for the things that really matter to your client.
Plus, your clients have adjusted to doing things remotely and digitally. How are you going to differentiate yourself from other firms now that things have changed?
A great first step would be to replace the process-driven parts of what you do with something more secure, efficient and physically distant.
For example, you can turn hours of client and staff onboarding into minutes of online activity using Amiqus.
Reach new regions, markets and business types
By bringing the bulk of your operations online you can expand your services to regions, markets and business types that would otherwise seem unattainable. For example, a small accountancy firm in the Scottish Highlands could work with a SaaS start up in Edinburgh.
This benefits you by diversifying your client base and reducing your financial risk. And it benefits the business in question as your firm will likely be more competitively priced.
Hire the best people
As home working has become more widely accepted, many firms have decided to cut costs by ditching the office permanently. But even if you decide to keep your premises, you can still benefit from accessing a much wider talent pool than usual. Not just those in your immediate area. And using a system like Amiqus would allow you to onboard them remotely.
This article was first published by Amiqus.
ICAS has partnered with Amiqus to provide members with a single point of access to the upfront and ongoing compliance checks required for clients and staff.