Flexibility in Business Operations

Efficiency. Organization. Productivity. 

These things lead to a successful business; however, many people don’t realize that there’s more to this formula than these three concepts. Many small business owners are missing one of the most important concepts – Flexibility. 

People often dismiss the idea of flexibility because they assume it leads to chaos and disorganization. In reality, being flexible allows you to become more efficient and increases your client’s satisfaction. 

Flexibility as an Accountant

Many accountants default to only offering tax prep services, but have you considered how much easier it would be for your existing clients if you provided more than that?

Your clients come to you for your expertise and skills as an accountant. Skills that you’ve spent years learning and refining. Skills that your clients don’t have. If they need help with one set of financial needs, they likely need help with another set of needs. They could go to another accountant to help them with different needs, but doesn’t that sound exhausting? No one wants to send similar documents to various firms or manage how much they owe each firm. Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to have all of their financial needs handled by one person for one fixed cost? Outside of tax preparation, consider adding additional services such as:

• Payroll
• Wealth Management
• Valuation Services
• Forensic Accounting

Adding on new services can be done in small phases, and it doesn’t necessarily be something you have to advertise to the world. Maybe you don’t want to offer Payroll services to your entire client base, but you would be okay doing so for your tax prep client of 20+ years.

Before you begin offering new services, start outlining new processes for managing these services. The procedures you have set for your firm define your daily operations, and being flexible in your offerings doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be process-oriented. 

Building a best-of-breed tech stack will allow you to focus on providing your clients with additional services while simultaneously prioritizing security and efficiency for your firm. By adding SmartVault to your tech stack you’ll be able to securely share and receive all of your client’s most sensitive documents with our client portal solution, allowing you to become as flexible as possible when it comes to your services and communication methods. 

Learn more about how SmartVault can help your firm become flexible here.