Why 60% of Your Team’s Time Might Be Going to the Wrong Tasks

Hi everyone,   

Most accountancy firms do not struggle because their people are not working hard enough. They struggle because too much of that hard work goes into the same manual processes every single week. 

The same client chases happen every month. The same onboarding emails get sent one by one. Teams spend hours moving information between systems, pulling reports together in Excel, requesting missing records, reformatting management accounts, and following up on outstanding items that should already be sitting in a workflow somewhere. 

I think this is one of the biggest operational issues in firms today. Not because firms do not have good people, but because too many talented people are still spending their time doing work that should no longer need a human. 

Business process automation (BPA) offers a practical way out of that problem. And for growth-focused firms it could be a game-changer! 

The Real Problem Is Not Workload. It Is Repetition 

Most firms assume they have a capacity issue when in reality they have a process issue. 

When you look closely at where time goes inside an accountancy firm, a huge amount of it sits inside repetitive admin. Bookkeeping data has to be checked and moved between systems. Missing client records have to be chased. Reports have to be built manually. Internal teams have to keep following up on the same bottlenecks month after month.  

Add to that, this happens constantly and repeatedly. 

A 10-minute task does not feel like much in isolation. But if that task happens 30 times a day, across multiple team members, it quietly becomes one of the biggest drains on profitability in the business. 

A lot of firms only realise this when they start recruiting. They think they need another administrator, another bookkeeper, or another operations person. In reality, they often need better systems first. 

A good place to start is by identifying the tasks your team repeats most often. 

• Look for processes that happen every day or every week without much variation.

• Track how much time is being spent on client chasing, report preparation, document requests, and moving information between systems. 

• Ask every team member to list the three tasks they do most often that feel repetitive and low value.

   

The Best Automation Opportunities Are Usually the Least Glamorous 

When people think about automation, they often jump straight to complex AI tools or large transformation projects. In practice, the best first automation is usually much simpler. 

For accountancy firms, some of the strongest opportunities sit inside onboarding, bookkeeping workflows, reporting, and compliance administration. 

Client onboarding is another good example. Most firms still rely on someone manually sending engagement letters, requesting ID documents, chasing missing information, setting clients up across systems, and notifying internal teams. That process is almost always rule-based. It can be automated far more than most firms realise. 

The firms that get the best results tend to start small. They automate one painful process, prove the value, and then build from there. 

This is how you go about doing that: 

• Start with processes that are high frequency, rule-based, and time-consuming. 

• Prioritise workflows where delays frustrate both your team and your clients. 

• Avoid automating processes that depend heavily on judgement, exceptions, or unclear inputs.  

Automation Creates Capacity Without Increasing Headcount 

Most accountancy firms reach a point where they feel operationally stretched. More clients are coming in, but the internal team is already busy. Every new piece of work feels like it requires another hire. 

That is where automation becomes commercially important. 

If repetitive admin can be reduced, your team can absorb more work without immediately increasing headcount. That does not just improve profitability. It also creates more space for people to focus on higher-value work like advisory, client communication, business development, and relationship management. 

The firms that use automation well are not necessarily trying to reduce team size. Most are trying to stop talented people from spending half their week on repetitive admin. 

This is especially important for firms that want to grow but are finding recruitment difficult or expensive. Some imperatives include: 

• Measure the amount of time spent on repeat admin before making new hires. 

• Look at where automation could free up capacity inside your existing team. 

• Treat automation as an ongoing operational capability rather than a one-off project. 

The firms that will grow best over the next few years are not simply the firms with the biggest teams. They are the firms with the best systems. 

The Way Ahead with Samera 

At Samera, we have seen these operational problems first-hand inside accountancy firms, dental groups, and multi-site businesses. That is exactly why we are building Samera.AI. 

We are already developing in-house tools that help firms reduce repetitive work, automate workflows, and create more consistency across day-to-day operations.  

At the same time, we are investing in training AI engineers specifically in finance and professional services so they understand the real-world problems firms face, not just the technology. 

If you are seeking help with Automation, check out the following link: 

Cheers, 

Arun