The hours behind the expertise
Most of a small firm's week does not go to advice or review. It goes to moving numbers from one place to another: from a client's documents into the tax software, from the bank into QuickBooks, from a timesheet into payroll, from QuickBooks into a report. Every firm does these, every week, and none of them needs an accountant's judgment until the numbers are in.
These are the shape of a typical small firm, not a named client. The hours are what a firm of a few people usually gets back.
1. Entering tax documents
Tax documents into the tax software
About 8 hours a week back
Before
For every return, someone opens each W-2, 1099, 1098 and K-1 and types the boxes into the tax software. A client with a brokerage account and two K-1s can take an hour before the preparer starts.
After
Documents are read as they arrive and the figures are entered into the return, each one linked to its source page. The preparer reviews and corrects instead of typing. Anything the system is unsure of is highlighted, not guessed.
2. Categorizing transactions
The monthly bookkeeping close
About 8 hours a week back
Before
Each month, staff go through every bookkeeping client's bank and credit card transactions in QuickBooks, categorize them one by one, and chase the client about the ones they cannot place.
After
Transactions are categorized by each client's own rules and history. Only the new or unusual ones are left for staff, already grouped into one question list per client.
3. Loading payroll hours
Client payroll input
About 4 hours a week back
Before
Payroll clients send hours as spreadsheets, emails and photos of time cards, each in its own format. Staff key every employee's hours into the payroll system before each run.
After
Each client's hours are read from whatever they send and loaded into the payroll system. Staff check a one-page summary, with anything unusual flagged, before approving the run.
4. Sending monthly reports
Monthly financial statement packages
About 3 hours a week back
Before
Once the books are closed, someone exports the reports for each client, formats them, writes a cover email and sends them one at a time.
After
When a client is marked closed, their package is built from QuickBooks in the firm's format and sent with a standard note. Staff only touch the ones that need a comment.
What it adds up to
Together that is about 23 hours a week. At an illustrative fully loaded cost of $45,000 a year for one person, it is roughly $26,000 a year of your team's time, spent on review and client work instead. Each one works with the tax software, QuickBooks and payroll system you already use, and client documents stay in your systems.
Fixed price, running in days
Most of these land in the single-task band, $7,500 to $25,000, with the first deliverable running in your operation within 14 days. A simpler version can be a quick task, from $2,500, running within 7 days. Either way the price is fixed before work starts, and the clock starts when we have access and sample data.
You do not need to automate all four. Pick the one that takes your team the most hours. The evaluation is free, and if a task is not worth automating, we say so.