Removing the middlemen from your accounting firm’s processes
For years, businesses have worked together in a siloed fashion. If you provide a service, other businesses will pay for it and outsource work to you — and there is normally a middleman to facilitate this process.
In today’s fast-paced business landscape, streamlining these old processes and eliminating unnecessary intermediaries has become crucial for accounting firms to stay competitive.
So how do you cut out the middleman as an accounting firm? What does this look like? And why is it important in 2023? Let’s find out.
What’s a middleman?
Found throughout the business landscape, middlemen normally act as a bridge between supplier and buyer.
This could be through stock, services or even information. Typically they take a cut of the deal and are seen as responsible for maintaining the quality of the interaction — ie saving the client time in negotiations by handling that for their client.
In accounting, it’s slightly different. The middleman tends to be more of a role rather than a separate person — a traditional ‘middleman’ function of an accountant is gathering information from clients and sources and communicating back to the rest of the firm. Cutting out this part of the role, for many accounting firms, could free up time for these employees to spend on other areas of their work.
Why aren’t they necessary anymore?
The middleman’s main source of power is information. Throughout time, this information has been hard to come by, making it much more valuable to a business owner with little time to spend trying to get the best deal.
But with advancements in technology — the internet and, more recently, cloud computing and AI — the middleman’s information has become less and less valuable, as everyone has access to the data pools.
With automation and technology driving things forward, many accounting firms and business owners alike are asking: “Do I need to be spending money on this when I can go direct to source myself?”
These technological advancements have paved the way for accounting firms to remove middlemen from their processes and achieve greater efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness.
Use systems to replace the middleman
By utilising modern technology, systems like AIRPA give you the power to control your own infrastructure. Your data will be managed in one place, with your accounting apps, CRM and file storage systems connected seamlessly.
And by leveraging AI and machine learning algorithms to automate repetitive tasks like data entry, reconciliation, and financial analysis, you’ll save money that you would otherwise have been spending on a third party.
These technologies not only reduce errors, but they’ll also free up your time to focus on higher-value activities such as strategic consulting and client advisory services.
Make the relationships better
Despite the middleman often having a direct role in maintaining a relationship, removing them from the equation actually improves the connection.
Not only can you build a relationship directly with your suppliers, but you won’t have to worry about things getting lost in communication, something which happens all too regularly when dealing with intermediaries.
By using a suite like AIRPA — one which acts as a connecting hub — you’ll see the importance of integrating different software applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM), project management, and time-tracking tools, to create a seamless workflow and eliminate data silos.
Final thoughts
All across the business world, the role of the middleman is diminishing. The accounting sector is no different.
By embracing digital transformation and removing the middlemen from your processes, you’ll stay competitive in today’s ever-changing business environment.
And by leveraging automation, cloud-based solutions, and integrated software applications, accounting firms can revolutionise their operations and deliver exceptional value to their clients while driving growth and profitability.
AIRPA is the perfect solution for firms looking to embrace this change — it’s designed to streamline and optimise, giving you the flexibility to look after your clients however you want to.
Talk to us about your accounting firm.