Increasing the Productivity of Accountants With Microsoft 365
Microsoft
Frazer Lloyd-Davies
The accounting industry is facing a turning point. Many accountants are leaving the profession, and with growing workloads, firms like yours are under pressure to find ways to be more efficient with fewer resources.
One of the biggest reasons for this shift is the widening skills gap. As technology advances, traditional accounting roles are being automated or digitised, and many finance professionals are exploring new career opportunities in other industries.
Ed O’Connell, UK Managing Director of Professional Services at recruitment firm Search, has noted that “traditional accounting roles have all but gone,” while David Whitson-Black, Head of Talent Development at SME advisory firm Azets, points out that technological advancements have made it easier for finance professionals to transition into other fields.
With a shortage of accountants, firms need to find more effective ways to meet demand without putting extra pressure on their existing staff. Microsoft 365 provides a suite of integrated tools designed to help your business do just that, which we’ll explore in this article.
Automating Repetitive Accounting Tasks With Power Automate
Accountants spend a lot of time managing client communications, generating financial reports and processing data. Automating these repetitive tasks is one of the most effective ways to improve productivity and free up time for more valuable work.
With Power Automate, accountants can set up workflows that handle these tasks automatically across different Microsoft 365 applications, such as Outlook, SharePoint and Power BI. The platform is designed to be user-friendly, featuring a drag-and-drop interface and a library of prebuilt templates, making it easy to implement even for those with no coding experience.
Here are three practical ways accountants can use Power Automate to save time:
Automating Client Communication
Accountants send the same types of emails every day – requests for receipts and invoices, reminders about tax deadlines, meeting follow-ups and status updates on financial reports. While each email may only take a minute to write and send, when multiplied across dozens or even hundreds of clients, it adds up to hours of administrative work every week.
Power Automate allows firms to schedule and send these emails automatically. For example, if a tax deadline is approaching, the system can automatically send a reminder to all affected clients – no manual work needed. This is particularly useful during client onboarding, where new clients need multiple pieces of information over time. Instead of overwhelming them with everything at once, Power Automate can stagger a series of emails, ensuring they get the right information at the right time.
Automating Document Creation
Just as accountants send repetitive emails, they also generate a large number of standardised documents, such as invoices, contracts, tax returns and financial statements. The content of these documents remains largely the same, but the client-specific details need to be updated for each case.
Power Automate streamlines this by pulling data directly from accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero and inserting it into pre-designed templates. Instead of manually inputting information for each document, accountants can generate accurate, up-to-date reports in just a few clicks.
This automation can also be linked with email workflows, so once a document is created, it’s automatically sent to the relevant client or internal team members. For example, firms can schedule monthly financial reports to be compiled, converted into PDFs and emailed directly to clients, reducing administrative overhead.
Automating Task Reminders
Power Automate isn’t just useful for client communications, it can also be used internally to help accountants manage their own workload. One of the most practical applications is automated reminders. If a client meeting is scheduled in Outlook, Power Automate can send a notification a week in advance, prompting accountants to review relevant documents and prepare reports without relying on memory alone.
Using Microsoft Teams for Accounting Firms to Improve Collaboration
Accounting has always been a collaborative profession, with teams working across multiple clients, departments and specialisms. Now that many firms have adopted hybrid or remote working, staying connected is even more important.
Microsoft Teams provides a central hub for accountants to communicate, share documents and collaborate in real time. But many firms don’t take full advantage of its features. Here’s how Microsoft Teams can improve productivity in an accounting practice:
File Co-Authoring
Instead of emailing spreadsheets and reports back and forth, Microsoft Teams enables real-time co-authoring. Multiple team members can open and edit a document simultaneously, with all changes saved automatically and visible to everyone. This eliminates version control issues, prevents duplicated work and speeds up the entire review process.
Recording Meetings
Most businesses use Microsoft Teams for virtual meetings, but many don’t realise they can also record them. Recording meetings ensures that important discussions aren’t lost and can be revisited whenever needed.
This is particularly useful for keeping accurate minutes, where team members can replay conversations to clarify details and track action points. If someone misses a meeting, they can catch up later without needing a full recap. All recordings are securely stored within Teams and can be shared with relevant team members.
Channels and Group Chats
Instant messaging is a standard part of workplace communication, but in Microsoft Teams you can create dedicated channels for specific projects or topics as well as group chats, allowing people to work together just as they would in person.
Again, this is of particular benefit to accounting firms that don’t have staff in the same office at the same time. Accountants don’t have to wait for an email response or to schedule a meeting, they can quickly check a channel or group chat for the latest updates.
Task Management and Third-Party Integrations
Microsoft Teams integrates with Microsoft To Do, allowing accountants to assign and track tasks within the platform. It also connects with accounting software like Xero and QuickBooks, which grants access to financial data without switching between multiple apps.
Analysing Accounting Data Using Power BI
With technology reducing the need for manual data entry, accountants can focus more on financial analysis and offering strategic advice. Power BI, available within Microsoft 365, is a data visualisation tool that helps accountants make sense of large datasets in a way that’s easy to interpret.
Some of the major benefits of using Power BI are as follows:
Better Data Visualisation
Accountants often need to explain complex financial information to clients who may not have a strong background in numbers. Power BI can help here by transforming raw data into visual reports, dashboards and graphs that are easy to comprehend and act on.
Making Better Informed Decisions
By integrating Power BI with accounting software, accountants get a real-time view of key metrics like cash flow, revenue trends and expenses. This allows them to provide data-backed recommendations that help clients make smarter financial decisions.
Identifying Areas for Improvement
Power BI can also be used internally by accountants to make their own accountancy practices more efficient. By analysing data and creating various reports, they can identify areas of their own businesses that need improvement.
For example, if certain clients are taking up a lot of resources but aren’t as profitable, the firm can decide whether to renegotiate contracts or focus on attracting more high-value clients. On an organisational scale, this can lead to data-driven strategies that underpin the overall direction of the firm, supporting growth and future success.
Microsoft 365 Services for Accountants From Acronyms
At Acronyms, we look after your IT, so you can concentrate on doing what you do best – looking after your clients and business!
With this in mind, we’ve helped many accounting firms get the most from their Microsoft 365 licences, as well as the technology within their firm.
Book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our experts today to see how we can support your accounting firm.
Alternatively, here are a number of other resources you might find useful:
Our Microsoft 365 Services
Acronyms’ Work in the Financial Industry
Best Accountancy Case Study