Firms Can Tap into Business Intelligence Tools to Create Capacity and Increase Productivity

Reports fuel tax and accounting firms of all sizes. The numbers help management assign tasks, understand workflow, monitor firm health, and find ways to improve the bottom line. But static reports are often only worth the paper they're printed on.

Business intelligence (BI) tools that integrate with your firm's existing tax, accounting and audit software to create dynamic dashboards allow those in charge to analyze up-to-the-minute data to inform strategic decisions.

In our eBook, “3 Ways Peak Performing Firms Overcome Challenges with Business Intelligence Tools,” we explore how BI tools can help firms operate more intelligently by giving management—and staff—real-time information on project status and resource utilization.

Optimize Resource Utilization with Data Analytics

Manual reports, which are often built from out-of-date information, can give your firm a historical perspective. But forward-focused firms that want to grow need a glimpse into the future too.

BI tools help you leverage your data from a robust platform to identify performance gaps, process improvement needs, and opportunities to scale and grow the business.

On-demand, near real-time dashboards also provide enhanced visibility and insight into resource cost and utilization. That makes return on investment (ROI) calculations are easier to perform and more accurate.

The Power to Reduce Productivity Constraints

Making informed, proactive decisions about employee performance and productivity helps your team work smarter. BI analytics can help pinpoint ways to increase employee effectiveness. But it's not just a "work faster" mandate formed in a vacuum.

BI allows your firm to evaluate your workflow and project status data with other performance measures and financial results to optimize overall efficiencies and employee effectiveness. Plus, real-time structured data lets you look for trends that highlight problems with processes, individuals, and even clients so you can solve them before they affect your bottom line.

Power BI training helped one firm create a set of visual data-driven dashboards to analyze firm profitability and staff and manager productivity. Employees were empowered to monitor their productivity data (billable vs. non-billable, realization data, etc.) via an intranet site. The dashboards showed management that one employee's hours had spiked while other employees didn't have enough hours.

Understanding the firm's resource utilization at this level means you can optimize your staff's time and talents.

Overcoming Challenges with Integrated BI Tools

BI tools allow tax and accounting firms to gain data-driven, actionable insights that help them operate their business more intelligently. Armed with analytics and powerful data, decision-making becomes more strategic, staffing becomes more streamlined, and performance, productivity and profitability improve.

Ready to Add Business Intelligence to Your Toolbox?

Download the full eBook to learn more about how Wolters Kluwer’s business intelligence tools can also can also mitigate risk and increase visibility at all levels of your firm.