Extreme weather, political unrest, surging oil prices, and a pandemic are just a few examples of the issues that have put small and medium business (SMB) resilience to the test in South Africa in recent years.
By Viresh Harduth, vice-president: small business at Sage Africa & Middle East
In other scenarios, an SMB may be confronted with a crisis related solely to its own circumstances, such as the loss of a flagship customer or a fire that destroys the majority of its office infrastructure. What all these catastrophes have in common: they commonly strike SMBs with little to no warning, and their effects can last for months and even years.
The human tragedies and economic costs of these events are always unwanted. But once a crisis hits, agile SMBs will assess what they can learn from it. For SMBs that adapt to change, there are often growth and optimisation opportunities amid the negative repercussions. Think of how COVID accelerated flexible working models, for example.
Accountants helping SMBs steer through challenging times
First-response teams are usually mobilised in an emergency such as a flood, a fire or civil unrest. When an SMB is confronted with a crisis, it is usually its accounting practice or in-house accountant that is first on the scene. Accountants are invaluable in helping SMBs make sense of their options, providing critical business advice and support.
This is no longer just about evaluating financial risks such as the health of the business’s cash flow or its reliance on credit. Accountants are increasingly asked to provide strategic decision-making advice and support based on intelligent forecasting. This creates the opportunity for accounting firms to enhance their core offering with value-added services.
Tech-powered advice
Modern, cloud-based finance and accounting solutions are effective tools for accountants who want to provide tech-enabled advisory services to their customers. These platforms are not only about automating repetitive, low-value activities and delivering smarter, faster customer service, they also enable accountants to tap into powerful analytic capabilities and real-time business insights.
In a crisis, customers need immediate assistance and knowledge related to their cash flow, sustainability, business leads, staff, customer retention, and market forecasting. This is not a time for accountants to stick to quarterly or monthly report cycles; they must respond quickly with helpful advice based on real-time intelligence.
Businesses navigating periods of uncertainty need help with present-day challenges and with preparing their operations for longer-term sustainability. Cloud-based, digitally empowered firms can use advanced technologies and tools to:
- Manage repetitive number-crunching tasks;
- Conduct continuous audits;
- Analyse future scenarios;
- Gather and process huge volumes of data for actionable insights;
- Highlight unexpected market events or anomalies for immediate re-strategising; and
- Access and share information easily for faster decision-making.
Improving lives of SMBs beyond the crisis
When a crisis passes, a firm with the ability to straddle traditional accountancy services with intelligent business advice can help its customers identify opportunities, design new strategies, and connect their customers to other companies for potential synergy. By helping SMBs grow, a practice can expand its own business.
All crises result in change; no economy ever returns to its previous state. As result of dealing with multiple crises, accounting firms should prepare themselves and their customers for a new working reality. Firms must digitally enhance their operations and empower their people as advisors – not only for the sake of their customers’ long-term sustainability and success, but also for their own.