The Truth About Timesheets: Debunking Common Misconceptions

Accountancy practice management software has come a long way. Today, features like automated billing and reconciliations are easily integrated into the day-to-day practice workflow of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK customers.

Our employees work side by side with our customers to create and manage these solutions – driven by a deep understanding of their needs and addressing the rapid changes in their environment.

However, it’s often hard to look beyond improving performance in day-to-day operations. Amid Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions, accountancy practices and their clients are dealing with an unpredictable economic landscape. Future business planning can appear daunting.

However, technology can support accountancy practices (and their clients) in making informed business decisions, and planning for the future. In the first part of our Accountancy Practice Management for Future-Fit Growth series, we’ll explore how they can use technology to define and easily track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Doing so gives practices closer control of performance tracking, and deeper insights that will inform strategic growth plans.

Saving Time

For several decades, business technology platforms have enabled practices to track performance metrics that they have customised. This highlights areas that qualify for improvement and underpins strategic planning.

Contemporary technology, such as CCH KPI Monitoring, makes setting up KPIs faster and easier for accountancy practices than ever before. This is vital today. The current business landscape demands that firms assess and amend KPIs more frequently, based on fresh market variables. KPIs such as client retention rate and business time-to-recovery have become increasingly prominent performance indicators in the past year. If clunky technology makes KPI management difficult, practices have less time and insight to plan future growth.

Reducing Risk
CCH KPI Monitoring makes it far easier to track KPIs and report on them. This is fundamental in minimising risk. For example, if a KPI is set to track and escalate debt filtered by overdue dates, the ability to easily set alerts and automatically generate reports is critical to practice performance management.

Some practices are manually running monthly reports to measure KPIs. Others are running real-time reporting engines, a key feature of CCH KPI Monitoring. This latter solution allows practices to review essential data at any time – covering both performance management and compliance requirements. They can do so remotely or on-premise.

This means that firms can assess issues before they become problems, and thus act proactively. Real-time reporting is a true asset in building a future-fit practice.

The Proof is in the Practice
A number of Wolters Kluwer customers have been using CCH KPI Monitoring for several years now. Our customers look to us when they need to be right. Ryecroft Glenton has successfully integrated CCH KPI Monitoring with its own system. This consolidates information from several sources, including CCH Central and CCH Practice Management.

“We can use the year end date to trigger a sequence of reminders. Have we asked for the books? Have they been received? If a request to a client has been outstanding for a certain period, the partner will receive an alert via email. For limited companies, we can monitor the corporation tax and Companies House filing deadlines – as well as the different deadlines for pension schemes”

– Ian Smith, partner at Ryecroft Glenton

Corporate events agency who benefited from greener graphics initiative

“Apogee are not just aprinting company, theyconsult with us and go onto deliver a full end to endservice from concept toinstallation. They go aboveand beyond and we lookforward to continuing ourjourney with them”

Corporate events agency who benefited from greener graphics initiative

“Apogee are not just aprinting company, theyconsult with us and go onto deliver a full end to endservice from concept toinstallation. They go aboveand beyond and we lookforward to continuing ourjourney with them”

Corporate events agency who benefited from greener graphics initiative

“Apogee are not just aprinting company, theyconsult with us and go onto deliver a full end to endservice from concept toinstallation. They go aboveand beyond and we lookforward to continuing ourjourney with them”

Corporate events agency who benefited from greener graphics initiative

“Apogee are not just aprinting company, theyconsult with us and go onto deliver a full end to endservice from concept toinstallation. They go aboveand beyond and we lookforward to continuing ourjourney with them”

Not One Size Fits All
Arguments against timesheets often assume a one-size-fits-all scenario, ignoring the diverse landscape of services in top accounting firms.

Time Is Not Our Currency
While some proudly claim, "We sell our expertise, not time," many accountants sell time due to varied client needs. Ditching timesheets may lead to regrettable decisions without considering the diverse service demands.

If You're Counting Hours, You're Not Value Billing
The fallacy of equating time counting with a lack of value billing overlooks the simultaneous success of industries counting inputs and valuing outputs. Value billing isn't a flawless solution and can lead to profitability issues without accurate data.


We've Got a Fixed Fee Model – Why Bother with Time?
Even firms focused on fixed fees may find value in accurate time data to identify underperforming services or clients, enabling strategic decision-making.

You Should Not Measure Inputs, Only Outputs: A Risky Approach
Advocating for an exclusive focus on outputs ignores the importance of measuring inputs, particularly time, for effective problem-solving and early issue detection.

If People Are Counting Time, They Don't Care About Client Outcomes: A Misguided Myth
Suggesting that meticulous time tracking reflects a lack of concern for client outcomes is unfounded. Time recording provides insights similar to performance metrics in other fields.

Measuring Time = Lack of Trust
Measuring time is not about distrust but a strategic approach to enhance daily performance, providing insights for improvement.

If It's Broken, Fix It!
Modern time-recording tools, such as CloudCapcha’s automated time recording tool, WorkCpacha, eliminate the traditional drudgery associated with timesheets, making accurate data collection easier and more efficient.


Data Tells a Story: Making the Transition from Anecdotal to Analytical
While no single measurement gives all answers, data, including time records, provides crucial context for informed decision-making and understanding the true value of services.

Transparency: Building Trust and Accountability
Accurate time management enhances transparency, providing clients with justified breakdowns of fees and strengthening client relationships.

New Ways of Working
In a hybrid work environment, time recording becomes crucial for managing productivity, assessing work/life balance, and ensuring sustainable capacity.

Time Recording = Increased Focus
Time recording promotes focus by surfacing distractions, helping employees understand work patterns, interruptions, and priorities.

Putting an End to Misunderstood Timesheets
In a world where we are all looking for answers to how to price and sell services in a way that benefits you, your clients, and your practice, the question isn’t whether to timesheet or not to timesheet. It’s why a firm uses (or doesn’t use) them that counts and it’s why a one-size-fits-all scenario and instruction to throw out your timesheets doesn’t work.

The question should instead be how do you make measurement smarter and in doing so answer the question where did we invest our time? That enables us to assess the most strategic and effective use of our time for sustained capacity, efficiency, and profitability. In an era of hybrid work environments, modern time recording becomes even more critical for understanding team productivity, managing workloads, and supporting employee well-being.

If you need help getting the most from your firm’s time, get in touch with CloudCapcha: [email protected]

Dec 2023

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