Four preparers, four methods
One preparer always reconciles the bank first. Another starts with the trial balance. One checks the previous year's adjustments, another does not. A new starter asks how the practice does a set of sole trader accounts and gets three different answers. Reviewers then find different gaps depending on who prepared the job.
The practice has procedures, written years ago in a Word document on the shared drive. Nobody opens it.
A document is not a workflow
Written procedures fail because they sit outside the work. Preparers work in their practice software and working papers, not in a procedures folder. Unless the steps are in front of them at the moment they are needed, they fall back on habit.
Procedures also go out of date. Software changes, requirements change, the practice learns from mistakes. Updating a Word file does not change what anyone does, so the file drifts further from reality each year.
Training suffers most. New staff learn from whoever sits next to them, and inherit that person's habits, good and bad.
What inconsistent method costs
| Issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Different methods | Quality depends on who did the job |
| Steps skipped | Errors found at review or by the client |
| Reviewers compensate | Longer reviews to catch varying gaps |
| New starters confused | Slower to become productive |
| Procedures out of date | The document and practice drift apart |
The problem grows with the practice. With a handful of staff, everyone learns by watching the partner. With more people, several offices or remote staff, habits multiply, and the partner can no longer see how each job is being done.
How we build procedures into the job
- We work with your senior staff to turn each job type's procedure into a checklist: steps, the order that matters, and which steps need evidence such as a reconciliation or a document.
- The checklist is attached to the job template in your practice software, such as Karbon or Xero Practice Manager, so every new job of that type starts with it.
- Each step links to a short how-to note in your practice's knowledge base, written by your team, so the how is one click away.
- Steps that need evidence cannot be ticked without it, and the job cannot be submitted for review until every step is complete or marked not applicable with a reason.
- Changes to a checklist are made once by a named owner, apply to new jobs from that point, and are logged.
- Reports show which steps are most often marked not applicable or completed late, which points to where procedures need rethinking.
The procedures are your practice's. We structure them and put them where the work happens.
One method, whoever does it
Jobs are done the same way across the team. Reviewers look for judgement issues, not missed steps. New starters follow the checklist and learn the practice's method from day one. And procedures stay current because changing them changes the work immediately.
Partners gain confidence as well. When a checklist changes because of something learned, they know the change reaches every new job straight away, rather than depending on whether people read the updated document.
Over time, the checklists become a record of how the practice actually works, which is useful for training, for quality reviews and for anyone considering the practice's future.
Recognise your practice?
- Different preparers follow different steps
- Procedures sit in an unread document
- Reviewers find different gaps depending on the preparer
- New starters learn from whoever sits next to them
- Procedures have not been updated in years