Creating a smoother experience for the year ahead is best executed by designing well thought out plans to ensure your accounting firm is set up for success. Accountants are known for meticulous calculation and accurate forecasting for their clients, and now it’s time to turn those skills into making the next 12 months profitable and strategic for your own firm.
Some of the more obvious solutions would be to reconcile accounts in platforms like Xero every morning, or prioritise workplace organisation, but you may have heard of that before. With creativity and longevity in mind, we’ve compiled a list of some simple, everyday but essential considerations that you can implement now so your 2026 is promising and proactive.
Embracing AI will be an inevitable priority moving forward in the accounting sphere. The key is to find a way for automation to work for you and your clients that is both functional for administration and compliance, while maintaining a personalised approach to your professional partnerships. AI is great for completing everyday tasks that take up time and dilute your capacity to engage in profitable advisory services.
Assess the top three repetitive tasks that are completed everyday and find out how much time this takes out of each day for you or your team. For example; set up AI notes for your morning zoom calls, email composition, and scheduling client meeting requests could assist in freeing up your schedule to put more effort into higher quality services for your clients.
Assess the current technology your firm is using and see if there are more streamlined options with new software, or updates in existing software designed to make your work more efficient. Finding a more integrated pathway can boost efficiency and rid yourself of overloading on apps, software and tech that no longer serves a purpose.
Define your objectives first and foremost. Which technology best serves your goals and those of your clients. List all of your software and find out how they interact or if they don’t and how you can combine technology for better usage. Evaluate the costs associated with using certain software and eliminate underused technology that could exceed your budget. Look to the future and find out what new software would be best used for functionality and value.
A simple and everyday task that proves to be worth its weight in gold is to check in with your clients on a regular basis. Scheduling in a monthly check-up shows your interest in their experience and provides you with a chance to discuss their goals and how you can help. A common phrase from clients is, “I didn’t know you offered that”. Regularly marketing to existing clients means they know what you can help them with and they can then add additional services as and when needed. At the same time, a monthly check-in can provide an opportunity to catch things that aren’t going well so you can fix any issues before it’s too late.
Turn compliance conversations into business advisory opportunities and moments to assess your client’s overall experience. Have a chat with them to seek feedback about your firm’s processes and engage proactively to complete a health-check of their business. By incorporating this meeting into your schedule throughout the year, you will gain valuable insight into your client’s aspirations and where they could use your assistance. The key to securing business advisory work with your client is to get to know them and their business inside and out, inserting your expertise when needed and tangibly showing them how engaging in these services can uplift their professional strategy.
You might price review annually, however a more modern approach is to conduct a quarterly conversation around the offerings you provide to your clients and how you can assess to reflect the quality of your services. Encourage your client to think of this as what you are offering them and how this helps their business, rather than having the focus be on higher pricing. There are many models you can adopt to evaluate the best structure for your firm, but here are some tips from us on how to begin:
If business advisory services are an element you want to add to your resources in 2026, you will need to focus on upskilling your team’s conversational and questioning skills. One of the primary elements when starting the business advisory journey with a client is the ability to hold an engaging conversation and being able to ask the ‘right’ questions to get key information you need in order to advise.
Some simple, everyday tasks you can implement to upskill your team’s conversational capabilities are:
With the goal to make the next year as smooth as possible, implementing these simple tasks can leave you with valuable time that can be used to improve client relationships, action high-profit services like business advisory, upskill your team, and ensure your firm is functioning to the best of its ability in 2026.
