Say you’re thinking about hiring another salesperson. Business has been good, and there’s enough work to justify it. Before you commit, you ask your controller what another salary would do to cash over the next few months.
They can put something together. Just not this week. Payroll is due, last month’s books aren’t closed yet, and there’s an issue with inventory that needs attention.
You understand. They’re busy, and you know they’re putting in the hours. So you wait, or you make the decision with what you have.
That happening once isn’t necessarily a concern. But if getting an answer always means waiting for accounting to catch up, it’s worth asking whether the team has enough support.
You Start Hearing “After We Finish the Close” a Lot.
There are good reasons to put certain requests on hold during month-end. Your team needs time to reconcile accounts, review entries and get the financial statements right.
But there should be time after that to answer questions and work on other priorities.
If the close runs into the middle of the month, and the rest of the month goes toward catching up, there’s very little room left. A cash forecast or a review of customer profitability becomes another assignment nobody has time for.
You may start making smaller requests because you don’t want to add to the workload. Or you stop asking altogether.
That’s something to pay attention to. Ownership should be able to ask reasonable questions about the business and get answers in time to use them.
The Numbers Are Ready. Nobody Has Had Time to Look into Them.
You receive the monthly reports and notice that gross margin is down. Sales were strong, so you ask what happened.
Your controller needs to check.
That’s fair. Some questions take research. But when the team regularly sends reports without having time to review the results, important work is being left unfinished.
Was material cost higher? Did a job go over budget? Was an expense recorded in the wrong month? You would respond differently to each of those situations.
Preparing the statements is part of the job. Having time to look at what they’re telling you matters too.
We cover those expectations in more detail in our article on what an accounting team should be doing every month. If your team understands what needs to happen but can’t consistently get to it, workload may be part of the problem.
One Person Can’t Really Take Time Off.
Think about what happens when your controller or senior accountant takes a vacation.
Can someone else handle routine questions and keep the work moving? Or does everyone assume that person will be available by phone?
In a smaller department, some dependence on one person is understandable. They may have been with the company for years and know things nobody else knows. Still, there needs to be some backup.
Often, the team already knows this. They’ve been meaning to document the process or train someone else. They just haven’t had time.
Ask which responsibilities would stop if that person were unexpectedly out for two weeks. That will give you a better picture of where coverage is missing.
You’ve Been Talking About the Same Process Problem for Months.
Maybe someone enters the same information into two systems. Maybe your controller spends several hours fixing a spreadsheet before the monthly reports can be prepared.
Everyone agrees it needs to be addressed. Nobody has gotten to it.
It’s easy to question why the team keeps using a process that takes so much time. But fixing it also takes time. Someone has to review the options, make the change and check that it works.
Meanwhile, payroll still needs to run and vendors still need to be paid.
When the department has no room to make improvements, the same problems keep adding to its workload.
Catching Up Has Become the Normal Plan.
A busy period is one thing. A backlog that carries forward month after month is another.
Ask your accounting leader what’s outstanding and when they expect to finish it. You’re looking for specifics.
“We have three reconciliations left, and they’ll be done Friday” is a manageable answer.
“We’ll get to it when things slow down” needs more conversation, especially if you heard the same thing last month.
The distinction is whether the department has a realistic way to get current while handling the new work coming in. If catching up depends on a quiet month that never arrives, the current arrangement needs attention.
What to Do if Your Accounting Team is Stretched Too Thin.
If you recognize several of these situations, the next step is to find out what’s causing them. Your team may need more help, but it’s worth looking at how the work is being handled before deciding who to hire.
Start with your accounting leader. Ask what takes the most time, what keeps getting deferred and where they need support.
An experienced controller spending much of the week entering invoices may need help with transaction work. Adding another senior person might be more than you need.
A team waiting on job information or approvals from other departments needs those handoffs addressed. Another accountant won’t necessarily fix that delay. Accounting process and systems improvements may help reduce the recurring work.
A department that keeps accurate records but struggles with forecasting may need more experienced financial leadership.
There can be more than one issue. Review the responsibilities, the hours involved and the experience needed before deciding what to change. If the workload consistently exceeds the team’s capacity, an internal hire or outsourced accounting support may be appropriate.
Find the Right Accounting Support with Strategic CFO
Strategic CFO helps business owners evaluate accounting workloads, improve processes and put the right financial leadership in place. We can help you determine whether your department needs additional capacity, targeted consulting or ongoing outsourced accounting. We also provide interim CFO and controller support during leadership gaps and accounting department efficiency support to improve workflows and reduce manual work.
Schedule a consultation with Strategic CFO to talk through what’s getting delayed and what would help your team keep up.
