Accounting Industry | 10 Jun 2023

Revealed; the biggest drain on finance time

Have you ever found yourself at the end of the day wondering where all the time went?

It’s a common problem and one that definitely affects finance leaders as we get ourselves stuck into processes, reports and the dreaded excel workbooks and time just slips away.

So what are the biggest drains on finance time and what can you do about them?

Check out our best tips below;

Email
Multi-tasking
Poor objectives
Lack of communication
Manual processing
Errors and rework
No integration
Interruptions

Email

Email is both a wonderful boon and a dreadful bane of modern society.

It’s a convenient way to communicate and can work really well but at the same time perhaps it has become a little too convenient.

We have all been there and found that we are CC’d into a massive discussion that doesn’t involve us and where we are adding no value but because it is in our inbox we have to read it just to make sure.

If you have a company culture where the world and his wife have to be CC’d into every email chain then we pity you. This takes a while to get around and it is as much a mindset change as anything.

Start by telling your team that you trust them to deal with issues on their own and they don’t need to involve you unless you have anything to contribute.

Tell them that from now on, the standard is that you only include people in chains where they can make a contribution.

Explain that you automatically bin anything where you are CCd. If it is important then you’ll be on the ‘To’ list and not the ‘CC’ list.

Magically the number of irrelevant emails you get will start to drop and as your team policy becomes known across the wider company it will naturally spread.

Because it is a good idea.

Also, see ‘Poor objectives’ below.

Multi-tasking

For some unknown reason, we have started to venerate people who can multitask.

But there’s a problem, because multitasking is a synonym for lack of focus.

If you have fifteen tabs open on your browser, six workbooks and are logged into four systems at the same time then how on earth can you concentrate properly?

But it is not just that you aren’t concentrating on one task but also that there is a cost to switching between activities.

First investigated during the 1990s there is a wide body of research around the costs of multitasking and why it is less efficient.

When we switch from one job to another we have to mentally make a leap, forgetting the rules and goals of the first task and then understanding them in the second. The more complex the task is the higher the switching cost.

As the American Psychological Association notes “Although switch costs may be relatively small, sometimes just a few tenths of a second per switch, they can add up to large amounts when people switch repeatedly back and forth between tasks. Thus, multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error.”

So not only does multitasking take more time but you are more likely to make errors as a result, meaning more rework (see below).

Poor objectives

Objectives are important and there can’t be a manager who hasn’t been on a goal-setting course but how often do we actually do this?

And if we do it at a team level, how often do we do it at a personal, daily level?

The truth is that people who set goals are much more likely to achieve them than people who just amble through life. If you know what you want to achieve then your brain subconsciously concentrates only on things that will help with that goal.

Think about your morning routine. What is the first thing you do when you sit at your desk? Read your emails?

And how often do those emails set you off doing a job that you wouldn’t ordinarily be doing. The problem is that reactive management is inordinately inefficient and email is an inefficient way to choose your priorities for the day.

Instead, sit down at your desk and make your to-do list. Review where you got to at the end of the last working day and prioritise the things you need to get done then check your emails and add in the new tasks in the right prioritised order.

Lack of communication

Understanding your goals is important but it is also vital that you communicate them.

So often we find that members of a team don’t understand clearly what is expected of the group and of each individual member and this leads to people working at cross purposes and in some cases completely against the original goal.

At the same time, as a finance leader, it is important to tell your team members what you are working on and why because often you will find that they have already done some of the work for you or can introduce some insight to help.

Manual processing

Manual tasks that made complete sense when you were a small company look completely crazy when you grow but we still carry on doing them, why?

The truth is that there is a certain amount of inertia in work and we find that unless someone forces a change then people just carry on doing what they always have done, a bit like Mickey Mouse in “The sorcerer’s apprentice”!

Manual keying, manual importing between applications, manual computations. It all sucks away time from the really important things.

Be aware though that just marching in and destroying the current processes rarely ends well. Instead, implement a thorough assessment of what gets done, who does it, why and how.

We can guarantee that some really inefficient processes will stick out like a sore thumb.

Errors and rework

The more mistakes you make the longer you have to spend putting them right.

There can’t be many accountants who haven’t found an error and then spent longer looking for it than it took to do the work in the first place!

Institute a ‘right first time’ policy. Get people to check others' work and use things like checksums to ensure internal continuity.

It will mean that each individual task takes a little longer but at the same time will reduce the number of errors and the amount of corresponding rework dramatically.

No integration

We live in the age of the API.

If you haven’t connected up your systems then you are definitely wasting your time.

For example, here at Caxton, our payments system will take instructions directly from payroll, expenses and accounts payable apps using API integration.

This means that errors are removed and manual keying is eliminated. Whatever your payroll system says is what gets paid.

Integrating your systems in this way helps with a variety of our other categories such as rework and manual processing and leaves you free to concentrate on more value-add activities.

Interruptions

Without a shadow of a doubt interruptions are the number one drain on a finance leader’s time.

The problem is that it destroys focus (see multitasking), removes control over your workload and goals (see Poor objectives) and turns you into a reactive worker rather than a proactive leader.

Often we see a queue of people waiting at their manager's desk with queries that need to be answered.

The problem here is that it feels good to be needed so it is rare that someone who is suffering from this will do anything about it!

You can’t get rid of queries altogether but you can reduce them by;

Instituting ‘focus time’ where you don’t take interruptions
Delegating authority to make decisions
Working from home for at least some time
Refusing to take questions unless the person has thought of a solution
Forming decision-making groups that don’t include you

Reducing your interruptions will give you back so much time you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it before.

Being efficient takes work

We suspect that there are very few finance leaders that couldn’t do with a bit more time.

But it is important that now you have identified the problem you work hard at the solution.

Try using some of our tips above or check out our accounting hub and you’ll find that you start to add more value to your company and you will have a less stressed existence as a result.

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Caxton Payments is an alternative to traditional banks, established over 20 years, we help businesses make faster payments more reliably. We offer streamlined processes, automation through API and a collaborative solution to complex payment issues all from a single platform. Our payment capability extends from business expense management, to payroll payments, supplier payments, and currency risk management. We also offer personal prepaid travel cards and international money transfer.