5 New Year's Resolutions for Accountants in 2022

It’s almost time to ring in a new year and what better time to start fresh and improve yourself and your career? 2022 is going to be your year and it’s up to you to make the most of the opportunity! With self-improvement in mind, here are 5 New Year’s resolutions accountants should have this year.  

Learn a new skill 

Keep your mind sharp and take on learning a new skill this year. Challenging yourself can give you motivation, bump up your confidence, defeat boredom and might just keep you happier at work. Research shows that 94% of employees would stay with a company longer if it invested in their career development. Plus, it might even make you more productive at work—80% of people report that learning new skills would help them feel more engaged in their jobs. Not sure what skills you should learn this year? Here’s a list to get you brainstorming some good skills you can learn: 

• • • Technology skills 
    • Communication skills
    • Marketing skills 

Better document management 

It is almost 2022 and it’s definitely time to say goodbye to sticky notes, scattered papers, unorganized files everywhere and invest in a document management software system instead.

If your firm is not yet paperless, you should at least start considering adopting a software solution for your document storage.  

Sending documents to clients becomes a lot easier with the click of a button, rather than the hassle of mailing or faxing. Do research on different solutions and consider investing in a cloud technology program that can help your firm streamline your document management process. 

Decrease work stress 

If you’re like the majority of Americans, you likely experience work-related stress in your life. That isn’t always a bad thing—sometimes you have an upcoming project you’re working hard on and need the extra motivation to focus. But, if you’re experiencing daily stress related to work, it’s time to make a change in the new year. 

If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. According to a 2019 Wrike study, a whopping 94% of US workers report experiencing stress in the workplace. That’s a lot of stress caused by the place we spend 40+ hours at every week. If you lead a team of workers, it’s important to know if your employees are stressed out too considering research shows that it can lose businesses money. Annually in the US, businesses lose $300 billion due to workplace stress, according to research.

Aside from the money lost, no one really wants to work at an office that is a constant negative ball of stress. If you find yourself stressed out at work, set a New Year’s resolution in 2022 to try and decrease your stress levels. Here are a few tips to help you get started lowering those stress levels: 

• • • Block out times on your calendar to get work done, so your coworkers know not to schedule meetings or bother you during those hours 
    • Try and stand up and stretch for a few minutes after sitting at the computer for over an hour
    • Take a walk and get outside the office at least once a day to give yourself a change in pace 
    • If you know you are having an extra stressful day, try to avoid those coworkers or clients that tend to push you over the edge 
    • Listen to calming music while you work

Hone in on your niche and speciality 

These days, everyone knows specialists are in higher demand than generalists. Would you travel to another state to see a general physician? Would you pay a higher fee for a run-of-the-mill regular lawyer? The answer is no, and the same goes for the accountancy industry. Firms who remain generic and don’t find their niche will continue to get beat out by accountants who find their niche and focus in on that specialty. It can be a huge pay off to identify your firm’s niche, offload old clients who don’t meet that criteria, and instead focus on your new group of specialized clients. 

Not sure how to get started? Check out this blog. 

Innovate your firm through technology 

It can definitely be overwhelming to think about changing how you do things at your accounting firm, which is why we suggest starting out in baby steps. Even just thinking about innovating your firm can be a great first step before you’re ready to take any action. 

You can start by writing down all the pain points you run into at your firm and go from there when researching different technology solutions to your problems. For example: If you’re still using Google Sheets or Excel for your workflow, it’s time to look into getting workflow software. If you struggle managing incessant client phone calls and emails, a client portal is something that can help.  

What New Year’s resolutions will you be focusing on this year for your firm? Let us know in the comments below.

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