What Is The Best Way To Prioritize Your Tasks? A Guide for Accountants

As an accountant, you probably have a lot on your plate: tax returns, financial statements, audits, client meetings, compliance tasks, and more. The workload can feel like an endless to-do list, especially during peak seasons. So, how do you make sense of it all and ensure you're focusing on the right tasks at the right time? Let’s dive into some practical strategies to help you prioritize your tasks effectively and boost your productivity.

Why Prioritization Matters

First, let's address why prioritization is essential, especially in the accounting profession. Accountants are often juggling multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously. Without a clear plan, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, miss deadlines, or spend too much time on low-value tasks. Prioritization helps you:

• Meet deadlines consistently: Ensuring compliance and client satisfaction.
• Improve efficiency: Working on the most important tasks first helps you maximize your time.
• Reduce stress: Knowing what to tackle next can make your day feel more manageable.

With that said, let’s explore some of the best ways to prioritize your tasks.

1. The Eisenhower Matrix: Urgent vs. Important

The Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, is a simple yet powerful tool to categorize your tasks based on urgency and importance. Here’s how it works:

• Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important): Tasks you need to do immediately. For example, an approaching tax filing deadline or an urgent client request.
• Quadrant 2 (Important but Not Urgent): Tasks that are important for long-term success but not time-sensitive. This might include professional development, building client relationships, or strategic planning.
• Quadrant 3 (Urgent but Not Important): Tasks that require immediate attention but don't contribute significantly to your goals. For instance, responding to non-critical emails or attending low-priority meetings.
• Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent and Not Important): Tasks that are essentially time-wasters, like unnecessary social media scrolling or attending irrelevant webinars.

How to Use It:

• List out your tasks and place them into one of these four categories.
• Start with Quadrant 1 tasks, then move to Quadrant 2. Delegate or minimize Quadrant 3 tasks, and eliminate or defer Quadrant 4 tasks.

For accountants, this might look like prioritizing a client’s tax submission (Quadrant 1) over attending a networking event (Quadrant 4) during the busy season.

2. ABCDE Method: Simple Yet Effective

The ABCDE Method, popularized by Brian Tracy, is another straightforward way to prioritize. Here’s how you can use it:

• A: High-priority tasks that must be done immediately. These are your “must-do” tasks.
• B: Important tasks, but not as urgent as “A” tasks. There are consequences for not doing them, but they’re not critical.
• C: Tasks that would be nice to do but have no significant consequences if left undone.
• D: Tasks that can be delegated to someone else.
• E: Tasks that should be eliminated altogether.

Example for Accountants:

• A: Finalizing a client's quarterly report before the submission deadline.
• B: Preparing for an upcoming client meeting next week.
• C: Reviewing new accounting software features.
• D: Delegating basic data entry tasks to a junior accountant.
• E: Skipping a non-essential industry webinar during a busy period.

The ABCDE method helps you clearly distinguish what needs your immediate attention and what can wait, be delegated, or eliminated.

3. The 80/20 Rule: Focus on High-Impact Activities

The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 Rule, suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. In other words, a small number of tasks often have the most significant impact on your productivity. For accountants, this might mean:

• Focusing on high-value clients who contribute the most to your revenue.
• Identifying and completing tasks that directly influence your firm's profitability or client satisfaction.

How to Apply It:

1. Identify the tasks or clients that have the most significant impact on your business.
2. Prioritize these high-impact tasks over others that contribute less to your overall goals.

For instance, spending more time providing personalized financial advice to a key client may be more valuable than working on small, low-fee projects.

4. Time Blocking: Structure Your Day

Time blocking involves scheduling specific blocks of time to work on particular tasks. This technique helps you allocate dedicated time slots for high-priority tasks and reduces distractions.

How to Implement It:

1. List your tasks for the day.
2. Assign a time block for each task based on its priority and estimated completion time.
3. Stick to the schedule as much as possible, but allow some flexibility for urgent interruptions.

For accountants, this might look like setting aside the first two hours of your morning to focus solely on financial statement analysis without checking emails or phone calls. Then, you could block off another hour for client communications.

5. The 2-Minute Rule: Handle Quick Tasks Immediately

The 2-Minute Rule is a simple yet effective strategy to handle small tasks quickly. If a task will take less than two minutes to complete (like responding to an email or filing a document), do it right away. This prevents small tasks from piling up and cluttering your to-do list.

For instance, if you receive a quick email from a client asking for a simple clarification, handle it immediately rather than adding it to your list.

6. Eat That Frog: Tackle Your Toughest Task First

"Eat That Frog," a concept by Brian Tracy, is all about tackling your most challenging task first thing in the morning. The idea is that if you handle the most daunting task early in the day, everything else feels easier in comparison.

For accountants, this might be a complex reconciliation or audit preparation. By addressing the most challenging task first, you can reduce procrastination and set a productive tone for the rest of your day.

7. Use Task Management Tools

Leveraging technology can streamline your task prioritization. Here are some popular tools accountants can use:

• Trello: A visual tool to organize tasks using boards and lists.
• Asana: Great for tracking projects and team collaboration.
• Todoist: A simple to-do list app that helps you set priorities and due dates.
• Microsoft To Do or Outlook Tasks: Integrates well with your email, making it easy to track tasks related to client communications.

Using these tools helps you keep everything organized in one place, set reminders, and avoid missing important deadlines.

8. Regularly Review and Adjust Priorities

Prioritization isn’t a one-time activity; it’s an ongoing process. As new tasks come in and priorities shift, it's essential to regularly review your to-do list and adjust accordingly.

Weekly Review:

• At the end of each week, review what you’ve accomplished.
• Adjust your priorities for the upcoming week based on deadlines, client needs, and overall workload.

Daily Adjustment:

• At the start of each day, quickly review your tasks and make any necessary changes.
• Be flexible but also guard your time against non-essential distractions.

9. Delegate and Automate Where Possible

Accountants often feel the need to handle everything themselves, but delegation can be a powerful tool. If a task can be completed by someone else, like a junior accountant or administrative assistant, delegate it. This frees up your time to focus on higher-priority tasks.

Automation is another way to streamline your work. Using software tools to automate repetitive tasks, like data entry or report generation, can save you significant time.

10. Practice Saying No

Finally, it’s important to recognize your limits. Taking on too many tasks can lead to burnout and decreased quality of work. It’s okay to say no to requests that don’t align with your priorities or capacity.

When a client asks for something outside the agreed scope or a colleague requests help on a non-critical task during a busy period, politely decline or suggest an alternative timeline.

Conclusion

Effective task prioritization is key to staying organized and productive as an accountant. By using strategies like the Eisenhower Matrix, ABCDE Method, and Time Blocking, you can better manage your workload and focus on what truly matters. Remember, prioritization is about making intentional decisions on where to direct your time and effort. With a clear approach, you can meet deadlines, serve clients well, and reduce stress.

Start experimenting with these techniques today and find the mix that works best for you. Your future, less-stressed self will thank you!

Happy prioritizing!