How can a large accountancy firm grow without growing?

It’s fair to say that if you run a large accountancy firm, your next step isn’t always to acquire another business, add more offices or hire new staff.

In fact, sometimes, to truly grow, you must do the opposite. You need to press pause on such efforts.

Why is this?

Why a large accountancy practice might want to grow their business without adding overhead

There are several reasons to stop adding people and infrastructure to your business, even as you seek to add another chapter to its success story.

For some, this is about maintaining the brand your firm stands for: you might be a good-sized practice that now wants to focus on its current areas of expertise while maintaining an established geographical presence.

Another reason might be factors outside of your control. For example, it’s no secret that the recruitment market isn’t strong at the moment, so you might not want to add staff if the people available are not the right fit. Other methods for growing at a rapid pace, such as merging with another practice or leasing new premises, also have good and bad times in which to act.

But most of the time, it’s important to maximise the potential of the fantastic team and facilities you already have rather than trying to accumulate more. When you do that, those who have invested so much time in the firm’s success might see more financial and professional rewards.

Regardless of which scenario you find yourself in, the question remains the same: how do you grow as a business without increasing your overhead?

Efficiency without cutting corners

If there’s a golden rule to being able to “grow without growing”, it’s this: the new value you add to clients or the extra efficiencies you implement should not overstretch your system or your team.

Doing so can mean costly mistakes, burnouts and resignations – all of which run counter to what you’re trying to achieve.

The best thing to do is be methodical. There’s no magic wand, but here are some suggestions based on my industry experience:

Look at your software systems

Ensure you have a unified system where every piece of software works together to support your teams. You won’t get the best value out of software if it feels like a patchwork of solutions; the experience will be jarring as you go from one application to another, and because solutions often overlap in this situation, it will be hard to establish a consistent, firm-wide workflow.

Check how data moves through your firm

An efficient data flow means an efficient accountancy firm. Unfortunately, much time and money is wasted on information being lost or manually duplicated. As an exercise, track a client that uses most – if not all – of your firm’s expertise. Is their data passed from one piece of software to another, or are there dead ends? Do you have to intervene manually?

Check automation

The software system needs to automatically trigger jobs, so there’s no double-checking processes. For instance, does a client accepting a proposal create a set of tasks for your team?

Practice management

Can you get a bird's eye view of all the work your teams are doing? Can this system update automatically?

Consider the cloud versus desktop

If your software has been built from the ground up for the cloud (also known as “cloud native” software), then updates happen seamlessly. If you have desktop systems, check how you manage updates. Ensure they don’t occur during work hours, as that can significantly slow your business.

Importantly, double-check that your vendor still maintains your software and that it hasn’t been discontinued. A lack of updates means a mounting security issue.

Infrastructure

See how much time and money is spent on maintaining hardware and office space.

Consider whether it’s better to consolidate into one office space when leases are up. If staff are asking for hybrid working, this might allow you to design a hotdesk system that serves more people with less space.

As your servers age, calculate the cost and consider whether cloud software or a virtual desktop environment is feasible.

Retention measures for staff

One way to save money is by not having to replace staff. Replacing staff costs tens of thousands of pounds per individual. Instead, think about:

• Flexible working for a better work-life balance
• Providing opportunities for staff to take on more prestigious clients and work
• Delivering better training if you feel there’s room for improvement
• Promoting, rather than replacing
• Outsourcing the most tedious bulk work

If none of this seems suitable for your firm, consider surveying people anonymously – electronically or using a suggestions box.

Take staff away from repetitive tasks

We’ve mentioned outsourcing as a way to handle tedious tasks. Still, even if your team doesn’t mind tackling areas like tax or bookkeeping, this might not be the best use of their time. Outsourcing allows them to focus on premium-priced tasks like advisory work.

Outsourcing can also enable you to retain clients

Don’t turn down dull work if it keeps you in view of your clients. You might not be able to get a huge amount of value from payroll, but it keeps you “front of mind” with your clients. Likewise, you might not have specialist audit staff, but a good outsourcing solution means you have yet another answer to a client’s problem.

Revise your marketing strategies

If you’re not looking to move into new territory for a time or add new staff, take inventory of the marketing campaigns you regularly run and the events you attend. Some might be based on old habits rather than an up-to-date strategy. Check: what led you to embark on these exercises in the first place? If you are needlessly sponsoring initiatives, advertising in the wrong place, or sending staff to conventions because historically you were trying to recruit, countless thousands could be saved by trimming these initiatives. Instead, spend the money on finding clients and enriching your pipeline of inbound work.

How IRIS can help

We have talked a lot about what supports your staff. So, what solutions do we have that might help you?

Visit our hub to learn more about how 45 years of IRIS working with top accountancy firms might make all the difference to your practice.