30 Tactical Accounting Moves Our Customers Actually Use
One advantage of working as an outsourced accounting department is that we see what really works inside growing companies every day. This post shares some of the top accounting tactics that our customers implement to improve profit, strengthen cash flow, and reduce financial chaos.
These tactics come from the playbooks inside our P-R-O-F-I-T approach® to building a strong, scalable accounting and finance function. Think of this as a highlight reel. You can use it to decide where to start, then go deeper on the specific areas that matter most for your business.
30 of our Favorite Accounting Tactics by Playbook
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Be More Profitable
Manage Costs Effectively
Leverage Accounting Strategically
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Collect Cash Faster
Enjoy Reliable Numbers
Keep What You Earn
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Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these tactics. We recommend finding 1 or 2 to implement at any given time. Don’t overwhelm yourself or your accounting team. Some of these are easier than others. Regardless of how good your accounting and finance function currently is, I am certain you’ll find something that can help. Many of these are not one and done tactics. They are tactics that you can continually develop and improve over time.
Be More Profitable
1. Raise prices
Most service and SaaS businesses are underpriced relative to the value they deliver. Start with a targeted increase on new work, anchor pricing around outcomes instead of hours, and test higher rates on segments that clearly see strong ROI. A small price increase on a healthy base of revenue is one of the fastest ways to move your profit margin.
2. Lower direct costs
Focus on the costs tied directly to delivering your product or service, such as contractors, fulfillment, or purchases. Renegotiate, re scope, or replace anything that does not earn its keep. Every improvement here drops straight to gross margin. Manage your direct costs, don’t forget about them.
3. Track project profitability
If you sell projects, retainers, or implementations services, you should know which ones are actually profitable. Track time, labor, and key pass through costs against each project so you can spot scope creep, underpriced work, and low margin customers. You’ll need a software application for this, not spreadsheets. Invest in the right solution that gets you the data you need.
4. Change profit through process
Most owners treat profit as whatever is left after spending, using the traditional formula of revenue - expenses = profit. Flip that thinking. Decide on the profit you want first and treat expenses as revenue - profit = expenses so you intentionally design your cost structure and operating plan around the result you want. Read more about this concept in Mike Michalowicz’s book Profit First.
5. Stop discounting
Discounts feel like the quickest way to close a deal, but they quietly destroy margins and train customers to negotiate. Replace blanket discounts with value based pricing, clear tiers, and bonuses that do not reduce your core price. If you do discount, tie it to something specific like longer term, upfront payment, or tighter scope. Your sales team doesn’t necessarily need to “see” what impact discounting has on your net income - they need to stay positive and sell. Just give them the guidelines to follow that supports the profit targets your business needs.
Collect Cash Faster
1. Review AR aging frequently
Your Accounts Receivable report should be reviewed at least weekly, don’t ignore it. Look for chronic late payers, invoices stuck in the same aging bucket, and balances that are growing without a plan to collect. Regular attention here often shortens the cash collection cycle on its own.
2. Invoice faster
Too many businesses deliver the work and then wait days or weeks to send an invoice. Move to same day or next day invoicing as the default. Build it into your workflow so invoices are created and sent automatically as soon as milestones are hit or recurring periods roll over. A software application will be needed to do this efficiently. Time and expenses data should be entered into the system timely, manages approve and adjust billings as needed, and invoices pushed directly from the system is the goal.
3. Be easy to pay
Remove friction from paying you. Offer modern payment options, embed payment links directly in the invoice, and make sure remittance instructions are clear and simple. Even better, maintain methods of payment on file and charge that method based on your invoice terms so you’re not waiting on your customer. The harder it is to figure out how to pay, the longer your cash gets stuck.
4. Automated invoice reminders
Stop relying on your memory or one team member’s inbox to chase overdue invoices. Configure automated reminders that go out before the due date, on the due date, and after it passes. These do not replace human follow up on large balances, but they clean up a surprising amount of small and midsized invoices with no extra effort. Xero and Quickbooks Online can help.
5. Recurring revenue Is better
This may require a change to your business model but recurring revenue is better than varying revenue. Move customers to recurring billing with auto draft or card on file and a simple, clear engagement. You will smooth cash flow, reduce collections work, and make revenue more predictable.
Manage Costs Effectively
1. Convert fixed to variable costs
Fixed costs can suffocate a business when revenue dips. Look at what can be converted to variable, such as contractors instead of full time roles in non core areas, usage based software, or flexible leases. The goal is to align more of your cost structure with real demand. Identify thresholds on key costs where fixed becomes better than variance. Review expenses throughout the year, not just annually or when cash is tight.
2. Outsource non core functions
You do not need to build internal teams for everything. Outsource functions that are not your core differentiator, such as accounting operations, payroll processing, or basic IT, to specialists who can do them better and at scale. Keep internal headcount focused on what truly drives growth and value.
3. Establish a bill pay cadence
Paying bills reactively based on who yells the loudest is stressful and inefficient. Choose specific days each week to review and approve payables and stick to that rhythm. This gives you control over cash timing and ensures nothing slips through the cracks. Outsource this process to professionals if you don’t have a team to control the process.
4. Negotiate merchant service rates
Merchant and payment processor fees add up quickly once volume grows. Review your effective rate, all fees divided by total processed volume, and compare it with alternatives. Use your volume to negotiate better terms or move to a more cost effective provider; even a small reduction can meaningfully improve margins. Some merchant service providers will charge you a fixed percent. That percentage is driven up significantly by AMEX.
5. Variable compensation where possible
Where it makes sense, shift some compensation to performance based structures tied to clear metrics. This aligns incentives, protects the business during downturns, and can unlock higher upside for top performers. Just make sure the metrics are transparent, understandable, and within the employee’s control. Sales is the most obvious place to do this through commissions, but other departments could have metrics that make variable compensation make sense.
Enjoy Reliable Numbers
1. Automated, integrated systems
If your systems do not talk to each other, your team is keying the same data into multiple places and creating errors. Use integrated, cloud-based tools for accounting, billing, payroll, and expense management so data flows automatically. This reduces mistakes and gives you near real time visibility. Review your tech stacks periodically as technology changes fast. Systems that didn’t talk before may now integrate.
2. Skilled team
Great systems still need capable people behind them. Make sure you have a team, internal, outsourced, or a mix, that understands both your business model and accounting fundamentals. A skilled accounting team will spot issues early, ask better questions, and turn data into decisions. Accurate and timely data is critical for any business.
3. Written procedures
If your accounting process lives in one person’s head, you do not really have a process. Document how invoicing, bill pay, payroll, reconciliations, and month end close actually work. Written procedures reduce risk, make onboarding easier, and help you scale without chaos.
4. Remove bottlenecks
Find the points where work piles up, often approvals, missing documentation, or one over loaded team member. Redesign the workflow so approvals are faster, documentation requirements are clear, and responsibilities are properly shared. The goal is a smooth path from transaction to trustworthy financials. Reliable accounting data needs to flow smoothly. If you’re team has a bottleneck in the month-end close, you’re likely going to get late financials or financials with errors.
5. Reconciliations
You cannot trust your numbers if you do not reconcile. Bank, credit card, key balance sheet accounts, and major clearing accounts should be reconciled regularly, not just for the tax return. Clean reconciliations are the foundation for reliable reporting, lender conversations, and planning. All balance sheet accounts should be reconciled with related systems or schedules to ensure they’re accurate. Also, don’t just trust bank and credit card feeds - they can break.
Leverage Accounting Strategically
1. Perform health assessments and prescribe tactics
Treat your accounting system as a diagnostic tool, not just a historical record. Regularly review cash flow, margins, overhead, AR, and AP, then identify specific tactical moves to address weak spots. This is how you turn financial reports into an action plan instead of a file your accountant emails once a month.
2. Review a 13 week cash forecast weekly
A rolling 13 week cash forecast shows you what is coming before it hits. Updating it weekly gives you the context to make decisions about hiring, investments, debt payments, and distributions with clear visibility. For companies in the $1 to $20 million revenue range, this is one of the highest leverage tools available.
3. Accrual accounting for planning
Cash basis reporting is fine for taxes and terrible for decision making. Accrual accounting lines up revenue and expenses with when they are earned or incurred, so you can see true profitability by month, product, or customer. Use accruals for internal reporting even if your tax return stays on cash. You can always toggle from accrual to cash-basis financials if needed but you can’t toggle from cash to accrual. Information must be entered in on an accrual-basis first.
4. Track 1 to 3 core metrics and use them
You do not need dozens of KPIs. Pick the one to three numbers that really matter for your model, such as gross margin, utilization, or net revenue retention, and track them consistently. Review trends, set targets, and actually run the business against those metrics. If positive or negative results don’t drive action from your team, stop tracking them. The point is that they are used, not just charts on a page.
5. Beat your own KPIs and trendS
Industry benchmarks are useful, but the real game is beating your own numbers quarter after quarter. Use last quarter’s metrics as the floor and identify what will move them in the right direction. This creates a culture of continuous improvement rather than vague comparisons to other companies.
Keep What You Earn
1. Work with your tax accountant before year end
The worst time to think about taxes is after the year is over. Schedule a planning session with your tax accountant in Q4 while you still have time to act. Smart timing on expenses, bonuses, and other strategies can materially change what you keep.
2. Pay yourself accordingly
Many owners either starve themselves or drain the business. Set a compensation plan for yourself that reflects both your role in the company and the cash needs of the business. This creates healthier planning, reduces stress at home, and helps you build a sustainable company instead of an expensive hobby.
3. Ensure entity type matches your goals
Your legal and tax entity structure should line up with your growth plans, profit levels, tax goals, or exit plan. Review whether your current setup, LLC, S Corp, C Corp, or other, still makes sense as you scale. The wrong structure can cost you real money in taxes and complexity over time.
4. Record business expenses correctly
Messy books lead to missed deductions, higher taxes, and painful audits. Make sure expenses are categorized correctly, business and personal are clearly separated, and supporting documentation is stored. Clean expense records protect you and make tax season far less painful.
5. Time certain expenses accordingly
Some expenses are flexible. When cash is tight, delay or stage non critical spending. When you have a strong year and good visibility, timing certain expenses before year end can improve your tax position without hurting operations.
Want More Tactical Accounting Ideas Like This?
These 30 tactics come directly from the playbooks inside our P-R-O-F-I-T approach® to delivering an outsourced accounting department that actually moves the needle. Each one can be unpacked into its own deep dive, and we use them every day with founders who want stronger, more resilient businesses.
If you want practical ideas like this delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our Tactical Accounting newsletter. It is written for owners and operators who want clear, no nonsense guidance they can put to work in the next 90 days, not vague theory.
