Many accounting professionals are still tied up in manual, time-consuming tasks.
Are you?
Though 92% of accountants agree they spend too much time on admin, only half automate recurring tasks critical to managing a successful practice.
The Practice of Now, the latest research from Sage, surveyed 1,000 accountants and bookkeepers to understand their challenges and plans for navigating the future.
It identified one overwhelmingly common obstacle: manual tasks.
Improving manual workflows and processes creates the opportunity for firms to go from good to great.
Automation isn’t just a tool—it’s the gateway to a more strategic, client-focused approach.
This article highlights the 6 key areas to automate and get those precious hours back.
Get your free copy of the “Practice of Now” 2024-2025 global trends report here
Here’s what we’ll cover
1. Bank reconciliations
Doing bank reconciliations manually is time-consuming and prone to discrepancies, yet only 45% of accountants and bookkeepers surveyed say they automate the task.
Automation simplifies this process by matching transactions in real time and flagging inconsistencies, ensuring up-to-date financial records without hours of manual effort.
By automating reconciliations, you can focus on resolving issues quickly and providing accurate insights and forecasts to your clients.
2. Payroll processes
Only 50% of accountants automate payroll processes today, according to the Practice of Now, leaving room for better efficiency.
Payroll is a repetitive yet time-sensitive task where even small mistakes can be costly.
Automation simplifies payroll by reducing calculation errors and making compliance easier to manage.
You can also save significant time during each payroll cycle through automation.
This lets you shift your focus from the trenches of processing payroll to offering strategic advice, such as optimizing benefits or managing tax planning.
Automating payroll improves your firm’s efficiency in this area and enhances the value you bring to your clients.
3. Financial reporting and analysis
Half of the accountants and bookkeepers surveyed benefit from automated financial reporting and analysis; the rest still rely on manual processes.
Reporting is essential for guiding your clients’ decisions.
But gathering the necessary data can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
Automating these tasks streamlines the entire process.
You can generate reports in real time, which equips you with the most accurate data to deliver faster, more impactful insights.
Move beyond compiling numbers and collating data to focus more on providing strategic, proactive advice to help your clients make better business decisions.
This shift saves you time and strengthens your accountant-client relationship.
4. Data entry
Less than half of the accountants surveyed have automated data entry.
That means the majority are still stuck with one of the most tedious tasks in the profession.
Errors are highly likely when manually entering data, especially in high volume.
Long hours of frustration are pretty much guaranteed.
Automating data entry virtually eliminates those accuracy issues. Some automation tools can handle tasks such as:
- Processing invoices
- Capturing receipts
- Syncing financial data from multiple sources.
The real benefit to you is the time saved.
Instead of entering data, you can focus on uncovering insights and providing valuable recommendations to your clients, elevating your role as a trusted advisor.
5. Engagement letters
Engagement letters are critical for compliance and professionalism, yet only 42% of accountants currently use automation to get them done.
Drafting these documents manually is repetitive and an easy time trap.
Through automation, you can create standardized, customizable templates that meet compliance requirements specific to the individual needs of your clients.
This can speed up your client onboarding process and ensure a consistent experience, saving time while enhancing professionalism.
6. Proposals and pricing
Just 41% of accountants surveyed automate proposals and pricing, despite their importance in securing new business.
Manually preparing proposals can delay client responses and waste valuable time.
You can streamline this process by using automation to generate tailored, professional documents quickly.
With automated pricing tools, your firm can create competitive, accurate proposals that leave a strong impression and help win more clients.
Get your free copy of the “Practice of Now” 2024-2025 global trends report here
The ripple effects of automation
The benefits of automation extend beyond time savings and have a holistic impact on your work and practice.
As the Practice of Now report shows, automation can:
- Improve your well-being: with 86% of accountants feeling burnt out, automation offers a chance to reduce workloads and create a better work-life balance.
- Foster your firm’s growth: you can dedicate more time to onboarding new clients and expanding your services, helping to grow your practice.
- Boost your client relationships: with more time to focus on clients’ challenges and goals, accountants can provide deeper, more personalized support.
Automation gives you the tools to evolve your firm into an innovative, client-centred business.
It enables your accountants to shift from being reactive problem solvers to becoming proactive advisors, driving both client and practice success.
Set solid foundations for automation
You can only benefit from automation, though, if you have the right tools to help.
The research found that just 55% of accountants have the technology to do their roles.
An automation skills gap is likely holding accountants back, too.
Only 4 in 10 feel it’s very easy to focus on their personal and professional development, today.
However, skills development and tech adoption are both vital to opening the door to a more automated accountancy practice.
If you haven’t already, now’s your chance to invest in both to put yourself in a great position to take advantage of all the benefits of automation.
Final thoughts: Transform your practice now
Automation is more than a trend—it’s the growth accelerator for accounting.
By integrating automation into your workflow, you can:
- Achieve better efficiency
- Improve accuracy
- Focus on the strategic, human aspects of your role that you and your clients value most.
As the report highlights, 89% of accountants believe automating processes would free up time to focus on meaningful work.
By automating mundane tasks, you can pivot towards what really matters: building relationships, providing strategic advice, and helping your clients thrive in an increasingly complex business landscape.
Start automating now and unlock the potential of your accounting practice.
There are even more tips in this article on where to start.
Practice of now: Global trends update 2024-2025
The Practice of Now is a global insights study into the accounting and bookkeeping profession.
In 2024, we interviewed 1,000 accountants and bookkeepers across 6 markets to understand what they’re feeling, the challenges they’re facing, and how they’re planning to thrive in the immediate future.
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