4 reasons why your next big training investment should be in Finance and Accounts
As an employer or person with managerial responsibility, having new employees can be an exciting prospect for your business, but it lies with you to ensure that employees are comfortable and efficient in their role whether that is integrating with the team or overcoming hurdles like learning new software.
1. Technology changes
Roles of every kind have evolved because of new technologies, but few have evolved as quickly and needed such a quick change in skillset as those associated with Accounts and Finance.
Whether that is payroll, auditing, general accounts or bookkeeping, the whole method of working has changed. From papers and filing, to computers and spreadsheets, to cloud-based accounting and apps. These changes have left a massive skills gap for some, and for those who only know new software, a huge experience gap.
This is where training is invaluable. Whether that’s contextualising software that’s already known, just refreshing, or leaning a new technology from scratch, there are many options for those needing Accounts training. It’s no real surprise that more than ever before employees are placing training as a high priority. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2019 workforce report, 94% of employees say that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning - which is definitely food for thought.
2. It’s proven that developed staff are happier
As well as the 94% of employees saying they would stay longer if a company invested in their learning, 68% of workers said training and development is the most important workplace policy. This is a pretty strong indication of what workers are looking at in terms of how they measure if they’re valued at a company.
So, with that in mind, your employees are comfortable and competent, but are they happy? A study showed that the average cost of just replacing an unhappy employee for an SME is estimated to be £11,000. With the average training programme costing much less than this, it makes for an easy win, meaning staff that are highly-trained, happy and valued.
3. The £ Factor
Not only is employee engagement vital for general wellbeing in the office, it can have a massive impact on company success, with a recent Dale Carnegie survey finding that companies with engaged employees are outperforming those without by up to 202%. Even with training costs built into this, the company is looking at an overall more productive (and more successful) workforce.
Companies that invest in employee training enjoy a 37% higher productivity rate and 24% higher profit margin versus companies who don’t. You could be processing more invoices, collecting payments more efficiently and overall smoothing out processes, making training and learning a key component for most teams, no matter where they sit in the business.
For almost all companies, highly-performing staff = more profit for the company. When you break this down, you’ll find that surveys have spotted a trend. 84% of employees at the best performing organizations are receiving the training they need compared to 16% of employees at the worst-performing organizations.
4. Auditing issues have been costing companies
It’s a great thing to have happy employees, but to continue to reward them, above all else, the business needs to be succeeding financially. Whilst this is where productivity and happiness can come into play, it’s also where issues with skillset can cost companies.
The news has been filled with big-name companies with massive errors that have cost them millions, if not billions. Fingers crossed this is not going to be the case for your business, but it is vital that every step is taken to ensure that these mistakes do not happen.
Take this as your scenario:
You have a new Accountant starting who knows Sage inside-out and knows perfectly how it works from when they used v17 back in 2011, but your company is using Sage 50cloud on the newest version. Do you trust that the technology hasn’t changed too much and that your processes or add-ons are the same, or that other employees can help out with that learning curve? If you can confidently answer yes to any of those, then you should be good to go, but if not, a refresher course could be a really good, safe solution.
Whether you’re looking at training as a morale-booster or an operational must, there are many options that can keep everyone happy. From a bespoke onsite training session to meet the needs of your staff and business, to a remote session that works with a hectic schedule, the most important thing is to speak to someone about your needs and what solutions are available for you.
We have been Sage 50 Partner of the Year since 2011, and in that time, we’ve helped businesses of all sizes with their training needs for everything from HR and Payroll to Making Tax Digital and CIS.
Every company is different in their experiences, skill set and requirements so we think it’s important that everyone leaves a training session feeling confident and happy that their specially-built session has put the individual and the company in the best possible position to succeed.
If this sounds like it could benefit your business, speak to our team, (who have been highly-rated by thousands of our customers,) on 0330 335 0011 to find out what your options are.
Posted at 9.17am on 01 October 2019 by Mollie Campbell in category 
