When I talk about workflow and the need for a system that helps you define and standardize your services and then organize those services in a way that gives the firm a big picture view, I often hear from Solopreneurs, “It’s just me. Why would I need something like that?”
I know a good workflow system will help a firm of any size become more efficient and profitable, but I’m not a solopreneur. So I reached out to a few of my colleagues who are to help me explain how a Solopreneur can benefit from a workflow system as much and anyone else.
No Missed Deadlines
A need to manage deadlines probably was the first thing everyone mentioned. Unless you have an absolutely foolproof method of organizing your client work, something is going to slip through the cracks– or at least you’re going to spend a lot of time worrying about it.
Jody Linick of Linick Consulting put it perfectly, “I was getting tired of writing down all my to do items on scraps of paper. Thinking about what I had to do the next day, and wondering if tasks were falling through the cracks was keeping me awake at night." Regina Moore of Regina Companies simply said, “As I've gotten busier, I've become increasingly concerned about overlooking tasks that need to get done.”
A good workflow system will allow you to schedule all those recurring client tasks – whether they are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annual tasks, as well as any one-time projects. Once you have them set up, you don’t have to worry about missing a quarterly sales tax filing for a client– you know that the task will show up on your list the day it needs to get done.
Linick can relax because, as she said, “I’m confident that I’m not forgetting to do things on time. This is especially important for me regarding client filing deadlines, including preparation of sales tax returns, payroll data entry, quarterly reports, etc.”
Step-by-Step Checklists
I spend a lot of time talking about the need to document your processes and create step-by-step checklists. While I always mention the benefits of good documentation for delegation and scalability, solopreneurs benefit from documenting their processes too.
Even the very best of us have bad days. After all, who’s going to cover for you if you’re sick? Your checklists will keep you from missing some crucial step.
Having documented processes is even more important when it comes to client work that happens only occasionally. Victoria Cameron of VRC Consulting said, “The longer I’m in business, there’s just more to keep track of. When tasks need to happen quarterly or once a year, a checklist helps me remember how to do it.”
Linick finds that the documentation helps both her and her clients, “I write a 'how to' list of the steps I should take to complete a recurring task. This helps me to remember to complete each step, so I don’t leave something out. Using this feature, I create customized documentation on the particular needs of each client’s books, stored in the cloud, which I use for myself, but which I could share with the client as needed.”
Solopreneurs have a need for documentation that goes beyond the everyday running of their firms. In a service business like accounting, knowledge capital is one of the firm’s most valuable asset. And, as an "army of one" all of the firm’s knowledge capital is in your head – unless you’ve taken the time to create proper documentation.
All the Aero solopreneurs liked having this backup “just in case.” Cameron doesn’t plan to hire a second person, but thinks it’s important to know what happens to her clients if something happens to her. "I do plan to retire someday, and my business has a value because it's not all in my head,” she said.
Linick likes that her documentation is there to “use as a training tool if she ever decides to hire staff or ask a colleague to provide vacation coverage for her.
Centralized Resources
Beyond documentation and scheduling, a good workflow system will give you a way to organize all of the resources needed to complete the work. It’s crucial for the firm’s efficiency that bits of information like usernames and passwords or tax ID numbers are easily available when and where the client work is being done.
Solopreneurs have the same organizational challenge as anyone else keeping track of all those little bits in a secure, but easily available location. Cameron said it’s really important that “all passwords and other bits are all in the same place. A password manager is not quite enough.
For example, she needs to have QuickBooks license numbers for my Desktop clients handy. "I keep links to individual logins, link to basecamp project, SmartVault links, Cloud9 login information (clients always lose it), link to a Google Drive folder for less-secure things... Anything I need is going to be right there when I need it.”
Seeing the Big Picture
Most people assume that a solopreneur automatically sees the big picture since they always know what’s going on. But it turns out that it’s so easy to get lost in the weeds of day to day client work, that the big picture can elude you without a good workflow and practice management system.
With all of your work organized in one system, you can easily see your work by day, by week, by month – allowing you to plan ahead and be proactive about managing your time.
A good workflow system also is going to give you information about work that has been completed. For example, Aero Workflow has built-in time tracking that provides users with objective data about the firm’s performance. Our solopreneurs find this kind of data just as valuable as bigger firms.
Moore said she has been billing mostly on a flat fee. Now she is excited to find out how much time she's spending on those clients and if she'll need to adjust my fees. Cameron loves knowing how much time is spent each day on email and "quick questions."
It’s clear to me that, yes, a solopreneur absolutely can benefit from a workflow system. If you’re a solopreneur I’d love to hear what you think.
Laura Redmond is a financial controller and IT manager turned cloud accounting advocate and app designer. She is a QuickBooks Online power user, Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network. She also is co-author of Intuit’s award-winning QuickBooks Online training and certification programs for accounting professionals, as well as a regular speaker at national accounting technology conferences.
In addition, Laura is founder of Redmond Accounting Inc., a boutique cloud accounting and consulting firm in Silicon Valley that was awarded Intuit's "2015 Top 20 Firm of the Future" and a Top 10 ProAdvisor for "Leading QuickBooks Online Practice." Redmond Accounting's workflow is centered on QuickBooks Online and its eco-system of apps.
Laura co-created the Aero Workflow app used by accounting firms to manage service delivery by staff performing recurring tasks for multiple clients. The Aero Library includes step-by-step instructions and procedures for many of today’s most popular apps in the QBO eco-system.