Email is not a workflow management tool

Being an accountant is not easy! On top of the never ending work there is also the serious issue of negative stereotypes. Mention you're an accountant at a party and watch the awkward silence that follows as the other party struggles to find a follow up question. It's easy to forget that we are essential to the smooth operation of a business - and yes, we do deserve nice shiny things. 

One of those nice shiny things is a proper tool to organise our and manage our workflow - and we are not talking about a tool designed for another profession that we have just making do with! I am talking about proper tools that are designed to consider the cyclical yet also ad-hoc nature of accounting.  

As accountants we must admit to ourselves that emails and instant messages are not an effective way to manage work. Sending emails asking for someone sitting beside you to approve a journal in the system just so you have that audit evidence if needed should not be how any team operates. This is especially true when a nine-email long thread begins with a confusing back and forth of any items that need to be changed. 

We need effective communication, auditable evidence and a foolproof way of passing tasks from preparer to reviewer, and the way this happens need to be exactly tailored to the work that accountants and finance teams perform. The days of using fallible human memory and endless emails to organise workloads and process flow cannot continue. 

We need to stop making do and for once open up the budget for ourselves and get the tools that we actually need to be accountants. Embracing the right tools will save time (which as we know better than most also means money!), reduce friction and most importantly, will make life easier. 

If you would like to know more about how Easy Month End can help you and your team better organise workflow with our software then reach out to the team here at Easy Month End. There is always more work to be done as an accountant, so let Easy Month End take care of your team work flow needs and make your month end easier.