6 High-Impact Time Management Techniques for Finance Professionals

More than 7 million people work in finance roles nationwide, and yet there’s a gulf between the top performers and the least impactful professionals in terms of how they manage their time. In this sense, experience and education will only get you so far, and you need to make conquering the ticking clock a priority if you want to progress in this field.

With that in mind, here’s a selection of sensible steps that will leave you in a stronger position to wring the most value out of every minute you have available during a typical working day.

Putting Project Management Software to Work

Finance pros can get swamped by deadlines and intricate tasks. This is part of why 50% of experts would look for opportunities elsewhere if forced to work solely on-site, as this only intensifies the pressure while creating more obstacles to productivity. Using project management software makes this juggling act easier.

For instance, tools like Trello and Asana simplify complex projects by breaking them into manageable chunks. Mapping out each step and due date means you’ll streamline your process, reducing stress and increasing efficiency.

They provide:

Centralized Task Management: Keep everything in one place. Think of it as a digital filing cabinet.

Automated Reminders: Never miss another deadline with auto-notifications. This applies to all stakeholders in an ongoing project, not just to you.

Collaborative Features: Share documents, leave notes, assign tasks, which means no more endless email chains to wade through.

Tracking Progress: Visualize your workflow with Gantt charts or Kanban boards.

Setting SMART Daily Goals

Clear goals can transform a chaotic day into a productive one. Using the SMART criteria helps finance professionals stay on track, and can boost performance by 90% compared with other approaches. This acronym covers the following:

Specific: Pinpoint exact tasks, like “Complete Q2 financial report”, rather than vague ones.

Measurable: Use metrics to track progress. For instance, you might aim to “reconcile 10 accounts today” so you have an unambiguous target to hit.

Achievable: Set realistic goals, considering your workload and resources as part of this.

Relevant: Align tasks with bigger objectives, ensuring every action counts.

Time-bound: Establish clear deadlines. So you might finish smaller tasks by noon, while having bigger project deadlines for the end of the week.

Time Blocking Techniques for Financial Reports

Dedicating specific time slots to tasks can vastly improve productivity. Time blocking is particularly effective for handling detailed financial reports, which is something that Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) must contend with regularly.

In turn this is why the average CPA salary varies so wildly, from $45k to over $300k, representing the difference between mediocrity and excellence in time management.

Basically, the time blocking method ensures that crucial tasks don’t get sidelined by less important distractions, helping you maintain steady progress on detailed projects. It involves:

Dedicated Slots: Assign fixed periods solely for report analysis and creation, avoiding interruptions.

Break Down Tasks: Split large reports into smaller segments, tackling them one at a time.

Buffer Periods: Include short breaks between blocks to maintain focus without burnout.

Use Tools: Employ calendars or apps like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook to set up your blocks visually.

Prioritizing Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix

Deciding what to tackle first can be tricky. The Eisenhower Matrix offers a clear framework for prioritizing tasks, particularly in a team productivity context. This technique helps avoid the trap of constant firefighting, ensuring that strategic initiatives also receive attention. It encompasses the following classifications:

Urgent and Important: Handle these tasks immediately. They often include pressing deadlines or critical issues.

Important but Not Urgent: Schedule time blocks for these activities. They're key for long-term success.

Urgent but Not Important: Delegate these if possible. These tasks can clutter your day without significant impact.

Neither Urgent nor Important: Minimize or eliminate these to focus on higher-priority work.

Using Automation Tools for Repetitive Tasks

Automation can be a game-changer for finance professionals, which is why 94% of CFOs are investing more in this process right now, as it’s a means of freeing up valuable time from mundane tasks. This can cover:

Invoice Processing: Use tools like QuickBooks or Xero to automate invoice creation and tracking.

Expense Management: Automate expense reports with apps like Expensify, reducing manual entry.

Reconciliation: Implement software that auto-matches transactions with bank statements, cutting down reconciliation time.

Report Generation: Leverage platforms that generate financial reports based on real-time data.

Optimizing Meeting Schedules

Meetings can eat up your day if not managed well. In fact one report suggests that a typical professional will have to sit through 31 hours of meetings each month which don’t contribute to productivity in a meaningful way. Here’s how to optimize them and avoid this scenario:

Set Clear Agendas: Outline specific objectives before each meeting, ensuring focused discussions.

Time Limits: Keep meetings short and to the point, ideally between 15 or 30 minutes max when possible.

Standing Meetings: Hold regular check-ins at the same time each week to maintain consistency.

Use Technology: Leverage video conferencing tools like Zoom for remote teams, cutting down travel time.

Wrapping Up

These time management techniques are able to overlap and interlock with one another, so the more you take onboard and adopt as part of your finance pro workflows, the bigger the benefits will be. The alternative is being up against it from dawn until dusk every weekday, so don’t let this aspect slip.