6 Productivity Tips for Accountants

As an accountant, you are fortunate to be in one of the most in-demand professions in the world. Your services are highly valued and you will have no trouble finding employment in some of the biggest companies in the world.

​ But an accountant’s job is also a high pressure one. You are under constant pressure to save money for your clients and cannot afford to make any mistake with your analysis and calculations of your clients’ tax returns. And you will have so much work to do.
Is there a way to improve your productivity at work and makes things a little easier for you? Any improvement in productivity would do wonders for your company’s bottom line.
The productivity tips given here will help you save time and to focus better on saving money for your clients. Here are the 6 productivity tips for accountants that you should know about. 

 1. Find Emails Quickly and Accurately

Do you spend a lot of time on finding emails? Finding the right email can be quite a challenge. You can make the task easier by using quotation marks such as “accounts payable” to search your emails. This would eliminate all messages that include “accounts receivable” and you will be able to get what you want much faster. Another thing you can do is to type commands, such as to: Seth Bricks or for: Seth Bricks. This will also show emails that are from your client, Seth Bricks. 

2. Organize Your Tasks Systematically

​One of the things you should consider doing is to fit a number of tasks such as doing a general inquiry, finding contact information, making appointments related to work into a single calendar. This can really simplify a lot of things for you. Schedule all tasks in advance, make a list of all the work needed to be done. There are tools that help you manage your workflow better. Use them effectively to stay one step ahead of the things that need to be done. 

3. Save Documents in the PDF format

As an accountant, one of the simplest things you could do to keep your documents secure is to save them in the PDF format. This way you will be able to access your documents whenever you would want them. Any documents saved in PDF would look the same way to you as they would to your clients, so there is no confusion whatsoever. It’s very easy to save documents in MS Office into PDF – just click on the file and choose save as type PDF or XPS. 

4. Use Microsoft Outlook  

Microsoft Outlook is a really effective tool and a must for all accountants. It allows you to track your tasks as well as the tasks assigned to other members of the team. Outlook makes it possible to integrate all tasks into calendar view and keeps track of all appointments. It sorts out messages into folders and forwards or redirects them as needed. Outlook is integrated with SharePoint, this means you will receive notifications of changes, if any, in real time. 

5. Use Productivity Tools such as Evernote and Google Calendar

Make use of tools such as Evernote and Google Calendar to save time, do things faster and with greater efficiency. These tools can be synchronized across multiple platforms and devices and help you stay organized no matter where you are. 

6. Switch to Cloud Accounting

​As an accountant, the best way to save time is to switch to Cloud Accounting services such as QuickBooks Hosting. With QuickBooks Hosting, you can access your accounting files and stay connected to your work no matter where you are. You can collaborate effectively with members of your team and are protected 100% against any data loss.
We hope you found the 6 productivity tips for accountants useful. Use the advice given here to perform your tasks more efficiently, save time and win the appreciation of your clients.