By Emma Crawford-Falekaono, Head of EMEA at Ignition

The past three years have been far from easy for accountants, or indeed many professionals in the service industry. We know from our close work with accountants and bookkeepers that before the pandemic, they were anxious and stressed about the prospect of approaching clients with bad news and engaging in difficult conversations. But the pandemic, along with increasing workloads, has increased the pressure even further.

For example, AccountingWEB found that 40% of accountants began to experience anxiety or depression for the first time in the first year of the pandemic, while seven in ten said they had felt ‘unable to cope’ with the added stress that the pandemic and associated lockdowns created in their working lives. The pressure of managing mental health effectively continues to push many people to breaking point, but it really does not need to be that way.

Technology now provides a new way to help firms, accountants, and other professional services businesses meet client needs, no matter where they are working. While no accounting technology tool is a panacea, the use of improved technology tools such as automated billing and proposal management can help to minimise everyday stresses, that will otherwise accumulate into burnout longer term.

The right technology tools for the job

Accountants are often forced to have difficult conversations with clients around proposals and billing – especially as it is seen as an arduous process that can take months to complete. Chasing clients can be stressful and there is a prospect of debt being created because of missed payments.

For example, as can often be seen in the SME sector, accountants are trusted advisors that take on the burden of their clients. Many accountants go above and beyond to service their clients in the best possible way whether that is through taking the time to understand the challenges that their clients they face on a day-to-day basis, or their first-hand experience of how external factors such as the pandemic have added to this pressure. This all has a knock-on impact for the mental health of the advisor.

The existing systems used by most accountants do not automate payment collection. This adds further tension by making it a manual process, leading to dissatisfaction for accountants as manually typing invoice data into a system takes up to three times longer than an automated process.

For even the most productive and high functioning accountancy professionals, cash flow issues not only create a mental health burden but can create worry about their businesses going into financial difficulty and their livelihoods coming under attack.

Preventing burnout and maintaining good mental health

Fortunately, help is at hand for accountants when it comes to using technology to reduce their mental workload and to in turn enable them to focus on more strategic and value add tasks. This is where using the right tools can not only have a positive impact internally in an accounting practice, but also benefits their clients.

Automated payment systems allow accountants to focus on the things that deliver real value for them and their clients, rather than worrying about cashflow or missed client payments. Awkward conversations around billing and payments can now be prevented – all leading towards less burden on accountants, freeing up their time for the things that they want to do most.

Account receivables can also be minimised using centralised billing. By putting all billing information in one place, accountants are in control of upcoming client invoices and payments. The combination of automated and centralised billing processes can help make it a set and forget process for accountants, reducing stresses by using readily available technology solutions.

Putting these tools in place increases the level of value that accountancy professionals can deliver for clients while simultaneously increasing job and client satisfaction. Accountants get paid for the value they provide and do not need to worry about the things that do not matter – thereby helping to improve mental health across the sector. The right practice tools do not just benefit accountants, but also their end users. Although there is a lot more to be done to support accountants in the right ways, utilising the solutions you have to hand is certainly a good place to start.