It may surprise you to find that a large number of accounting and bookkeeping firms have yet to ‘go digital’. Without knowing this, the doubt can start creeping in that you’ve somehow missed the boat on digital transformation. But this simply isn’t true – you just have to know where to start.

You’re probably familiar with the notion that technology improves efficiency, productivity, profitability and, ultimately, your bottom line. The real opportunity lies in the competitive advantage firms willing to adapt have over those that don’t.

Your step-by-step guide to digital transformation

The first step in your approach to building a digital strategy is choosing which technology platforms to rely on. This is often the step that can stump accountants and bookkeepers who either aren’t aware of all the options, or don’t know how to make a direct comparison between them.

Simplicity is key here, as you don’t want to overwhelm your app stack (or your team for that matter). Dext is an essential part of that app stack as it’s one of the industry’s least-kept secrets when it comes to pre-accounting software.

Your next step is to adopt a ‘firm-first’ approach. That means doing what’s best for yourself and not your clients. This may seem counterintuitive as you ultimately want to help and advise your clients appropriately. But you can only do that well if you understand the value that your accounting software is bringing to the table. After all, you are the expert that your clients are leaning on to help execute their essential business operations.

During my recent conversation with Will Farnell, the Co-Founder of App Advisory Plus, I found out what this firm-first approach means in practice. He said, “We have to remember that clients choose to pay us to give them advice; they have made a conscious decision to pay you to tell them what you think they should do.”

He touched on the doubts that can sometimes creep in, saying, “And sometimes we're kind of afraid to do that… If we let clients dictate the way that we operate our business in terms of process and systems and everything else, it makes it much harder for us to maintain control over the profitability of what we do.”

The third step you’ll need to take with digital transformation is to carefully choose the app that’s going to help you the most. You’ll want to prioritise multi-functional apps that can assist you in a number of areas. That might mean digging a little deeper when doing your research to try and unearth some of the lesser-known capabilities within a software – but it’s definitely worthwhile.

Take Dext, for example. Many people know the app as a simple data extraction tool but, in reality, Dext is a complete bookkeeping management system. It can ensure that your real-time flow of data is accurate, and fully integrated with other accounting software that you may already be using. Sometimes one app can tick a lot of boxes in terms of what you need it to do.

Pitfalls to avoid during your digital rollout

Some of the common pitfalls many firms make when choosing their software include: not doing their research, trying to replicate traditional processes rather than changing their approach, and an over-emphasis on compliance as the driver. The other large pitfall that trips up many accounting professionals is forgetting to prioritise quality over quantity. Cost will always play a role in your choice, but selecting niche products just because they’re cheaper can become even more expensive over time.

A crucial step for any digital rollout is standardisation. In other words, try to ensure that the apps you implement, and the subsequent processes, can be replicated and followed over and over again. Consistency – the not-so-secret ingredient to any workflow – is a by-product of standardisation. It allows your team to follow an established set of tasks and subtasks, helping to ensure a smoother overall process. It’s also a game-changer when you bring in new members to the team, as they’re able to easily adjust to a set blueprint.

Workflow management: The Factory Model

The same principle should also be applied to your client workflow. Try to ensure that wherever and however you engage with clients, you do so in a way that can be repeated at scale across your entire client base. It means employees can easily switch between teams, and clients, most of the time, follow the correct process.

My suggestion to any firm beginning this journey is to adopt a model that I like to call ‘The Factory’. The Factory is a widely-accepted approach that businesses and franchises like McDonald’s employ to increase standardisation. Essentially, it’s a system of efficiency whereby each employee is only given a single task to do at any one time. The flow of the work should be finely-tuned and interconnected to keep things running smoothly.

So you might be wondering how this all applies to the accounting practice. By overlaying ‘The Factory’ approach to your firm, you can target particular areas where apps or tools might be needed. By doing this, you can see where the potential gaps or bottlenecks may lie.

Managing change with your team and clients

One of the more final steps you’ll need to take in order to complete a successful digital transformation journey is to communicate these changes to your team. You can do this in a variety of ways: onboarding calls, company newsletters, appointing digital experts or even gamifying the app’s uptake. The people you appoint to hero this change could include Cloud Accounting Experts or Cloud Champions. These specialists can then ease some of the pressure your other team members may feel by introducing a degree of accountability.

The next element of change that you will almost certainly come across is how to onboard your clients. It’s a common misconception that clients will naturally be against any proposed changes. In my experience, it has been the opposite. Clients are quick to adapt and receptive to things shifting if it means life, on the whole, will be easier for them.

The main challenge with clients is around education. First, you only ever have a small window when talking to clients, which means it can be difficult to demonstrate the true value of the app. Second, unlike your own team, there’s an issue of oversight. In a firm, you can find out whether your team is using the app in minutes; for a client, it’s very hard to access that level of visibility.

The solution isn’t a million miles from your internal approach. You can arrange onboarding sessions and regular check-ins to make sure your clients are getting the most out of the software. And, while gamification might be a stretch too far, you can always try to incentivise the use of software where it’s appropriate.

What does success look like?

Finally, you have to ask yourself, ‘What does success actually look like?’ To me, it looks like reliable data that is accurate and up to date, seamless workflows that save time, and higher job satisfaction among staff. And all of this can be attributed to software that reduces the reliance on manual data entry and repetitive tasks that can be easily automated.

The results in your practice should be obvious. You should be able to save time on processes that were previously overwhelming you and your team. Your financial data should also be much more accurate due to the precision that the right app can give you. And by identifying areas of wastage, you can generate even more cost savings to both your own business and your client’s business in turn. Not to mention the enhanced security and assured compliance that tech can provide. All of this builds up to allow you to make better decisions with real-time data and analytics, so that your firm can act fast, while still being informed, every time.

Your journey starts here

Your digital transformation journey doesn’t need to be a long and winding road. You can take a shortcut by implementing the right piece of software. Dext very well could be that piece of software, particularly because it does so much more than just pure data capture. You also get, as part of its product features, data automation, data health and practice productivity.

But, in addition to keeping your app stack lean, you can also help yourself by simply relying on your instincts as an accountant or bookkeeper. That’s because true digital transformation is merely a case of refining existing processes – the key is to make a start. And, if you’re wondering, when to make a start, the reality is it’s never too early to change your practice for the better.