We could all use a little more structure in our day-to-day life. We buy planners, set reminders on phones, and strive every day to sort through our busy schedules. Now add clients, deadlines, and managerial tasks into the mix. Operating a successful CAS firm can be… chaotic. There is a lot to keep track of and a lot of essential tasks that must be done right, every time. Building out and documenting your procedures can help you turn chaos into order — and it could also help you scale your firm! So, here are some of our tips for how to start building your procedures.
Get the Team Together
Your team is filled with professionals with unique strengths AND unique daily tasks. Chances are, you do a lot of delegation at your practice, so you might not know what goes into every job before it’s completed. One person can’t do it all, after all. That makes every member of your team an expert in their own right. It’s best to bring everybody’s heads together to get a clear idea of what your procedures currently look like and how they can be improved.
Determine Your Goals
At your CAS firm, it’s important to constantly be looking to the future. What are the things you want to accomplish in 2024? How about by 2028? We all know how work can be a drag when it doesn’t feel like you’re working towards something. That’s why it might be a good idea to also clearly write down the goal associated with every procedure that you plot out. What is the procedure for and why is it important?
Document Your Procedures
Once you’ve worked with your team to dissect your daily procedures, it’s time to document them! Writing things down may seem like a no-brainer, but having well-documented, easily accessible procedures can be invaluable to a growing CAS firm. If consistency and scalability are your goals, look no further. Write down your procedures, step by step, making notes of common mistakes and tasks that may need extra attention. With accounting software like Aero Workflow, you can also turn these procedures into easy-to-follow checklists that your entire team can use!
Find a Storage Place
The filing cabinet is far behind us. When storing your written procedures, we recommend a cloud-based approach. That way, you can reduce the amount of paper your firm uses while simultaneously ensuring that staff can access the documents easily, wherever they might be. This is especially useful when working from home! Plus, cloud-based storage is far more secure than regular old paper.
Plan to Evolve
When you build procedures at your CAS firm, keep in mind that they shouldn’t be set in stone. Circumstances change. New tech gets implemented. Sometimes, you become aware of holes in existing procedures. Whatever the case, you need to be able to adapt. You and your team should constantly be looking for ways to improve your procedures. At the same time, you should be communicating clearly with one another so nobody is caught off guard by any changes.
Not sure which procedures you should start documenting? Don’t forget to check out our other blog on 4 procedures you can build NOW at your firm.
