SMBs, customers with high expectations
Working with SMBs requires specific skills and knowledge where flexibility, availability and responsiveness are essential. Customer needs are always a priority, and even if they do not require much time from your employees, the sheer volume of tasks that need to be completed can make planning optimization very difficult.
« In the accounting industry, we deal with many tasks that need to be completed in a day or two. For example, a tax verification or an administrative audit that requires an immediate response to the client. »
Marie-Christine Dura-Cayron, Project manager at PwC for Entrepreneurs (now PKF Arsilon)
SMB managers expect a great deal from their accountants, who for the most part are their primary advisors. They ask for regular communication, greater sensitivity, and a more human relationship than large enterprises. To meet these requirements, determination is not enough. Planning must be managed both effectively and flexibly.
« The best planning has to consider several factors, the most important being deadlines. You have to make the customer happy while ensuring employee well-being. If an employee is assigned too many tasks, this will never work,
even for the best! »
The peak work periods that are recurrent in the accounting industry make this even more challenging. When you have to deal with delays and due dates, it's not unusual to see people working on 3 to 4 projects simultaneously. This not sustainable.
PwC for Entrepreneurs’ office in Paris was using several tools to plan, from internal custom applications to Excel spreadsheets. These tools were inadequate, and the need for a fully integrated application grew stronger every day in order to effectively plan and assign tasks, handle conflicts in a timely manner, manage the different teams and track progress with customized dashboards and reports.
After a year of using Beeye, PwC for Entrepreneurs have changed the way they plan their tasks. As Marie-Christine Dura-Cayron stated:
« We don't need to ask people what they are working on anymore. The planning gives us the answer immediately. »
Right now, other offices from PwC are testing Beeye to plan and manage their tasks on a daily basis.« Beeye is always listening to what we need. They are highly reactive and creative in adapting the product to our systems and issues. After the training, the application has been well-received by all employees. »
PwC for Entrepreneurs is a firm specialized in counseling, accounting and audit for SMBs. Its office in Paris is composed of 80 employees and 10 partners. PwC for Entrepreneurs counts more than 20 offices in the whole of France.
In Paris, their tasks are split evenly between audit and accounting. They consist mainly of certification, consolidation, bookkeeping, revision, salaries, taxation...
The variety of tasks, the workload, the requirements and needs of customers, being mostly entrepreneurs and CEOs, requires the best planning and staffing to ensure everything will be accomplished on time.