4 ways to solve capacity pain points

Capacity pain points are a silent crisis affecting accounting firms in a slow and steady manner, prompting action when it’s often too late. They can present themselves through longer hours, the inability to take on new clients, lack of motivation for expanding services, or missed deadlines and delays. Staff can feel the brunt of this too. A team that’s running on empty can lead to burnout, mistakes, and a higher rate of staff turnover. 

Jump to:

• Pain point 1: Workflow inefficiencies are causing chaos
• Paint point 2: Your in-house team is overwhelmed and overworked
• Pain point 3: Client boundaries are left unchecked
• Pain point 4: You pricing hasn’t been reviewed for a while

The issue with capacity pain points is that they have a habit of recurring. When you’re already stretched thin, capacity can become limited as you’re already working within that tight cycle. Strategic, sustainable and lucrative services often get pushed further down the line, leaving your firm working solely in compliance. If you are open to recognising these pain points that are causing capacity bottlenecks, this problem is entirely solvable. Here are some common capacity pain points many Australian accountants face and how to solve them:

Pain point 1: Workflow inefficiencies are causing chaos

Lack of process standardisation, clunky client communication, fragmented digital file documentation, managing paper vs. digital documents are all workflow inefficiencies that are common and are slowing your firm down. Complete an audit of your workflow from start to finish to identify moments where tasks slow down, or are left waiting for review. 

Then identify the leading cause that creates these stagnant systems. Inefficiency due to time constraints, overflow of work, or mismanaged priorisation are what to look out for. Once identified, work with your team on how to manage those effectively. Discuss how to delegate so time is managed properly across the team. Map out the work in order of priority. Communicate and collaborate to ensure the team is able to handle overflow according to their own capacity.

Paint point 2: Your in-house team is overwhelmed and overworked

From juniors to senior staff, if your team is consistently working beyond their capacity but under their skillset, the rate of a firm’s growth naturally slows down. Opportunities for financial strategy meetings, business advisory services, and business development will often fall by the wayside because the team is too busy getting things done and don’t have time to see those opportunities. 

Many Australian firms are looking to expand their in-house team’s capacity by working with a trusted outsourcing partner. There are options that can be scaled to the needs of the individual firm when creating space within your team’s schedule so you can expand their offerings and provide much needed relief. The goal is to gain more time back for your team so that each team member is working to their strengths and are able to execute their work to the best of their ability.

Paint point 3: Client boundaries are left unchecked

It’s natural to want to provide the best possible experience for your clients, but this can lead to ad-hoc tasks that pile up, out-of-scope work being completed for free or communication outside of working hours. The best ways to keep client boundaries in check are:

• Explain your standard response times and working hours in writing at the start of the client relationship to refer back to when boundaries are pushed
• Take a structured approach to client communication. Have clear channels to communicate and prioritise regular check-ins to pre-empt concerns or chances to upsell.
• Review high-contact clients and assess if their level of need is exceeding your firm’s expectations. Gently re-align through establishing boundaries and working with them to define urgent matters. If their level of need is beyond what your firm currently offers, you can choose to gently and professionally exit the relationship or refer to your sphere to direct your client to the right resources
• Use client portals for all documentation and explain that documents sent via text message or email are not accepted due to privacy and security protocols 
• Inform clients of any extra charges when tasks are outside of their scope and be firm when managing ad-hoc requests.

Pain point 4: Your pricing hasn’t been reviewed for a while

When a firm is already experiencing capacity issues, things like your pricing can fall by the wayside as you struggle to complete the workload and manage your clients. When your pricing hasn’t been updated to reflect the current value, the opportunity to gain more revenue is left stagnant. This is especially true if you’ve recently included new offerings like business advisory services. 

Begin by researching what the market is charging and know what your service offering is worth. Audit your team's growth, any new partnerships like outsourced companies, factor in the services you've added, and set your prices according to the value that you offer your clients.Clients don't need a justification; they need a number and the value behind it. Those who push back on fair fees are often telling you something useful about the fit. Clear pricing, clear boundaries, and consistently good work speak for themselves.