In the accounting industry, time management is essential. Every minute counts. This means that you must develop time management strategies if you hope to be a successful bookkeeper. But do you know how you spend every billable hour of your working day? For most of us, the answer is no. But, if you’re not keenly aware of how you spend your work hours, you could be losing money. And lots of it.

This is why you need to track your time. Tracking your time is one of the most important time management techniques. By tracking time, you can maximize the value of every billable hour. In this blog post, we'll explore some pivotal tips that will not only help you track time more effectively but also transform the way you manage your daily to-do lists. From prioritizing your workload to leveraging the latest in time-tracking technology, here’s how to unlock the full potential of every hour in your workday.

Let’s get started.

Tip #1: Prioritize Tasks

We cannot have a serious conversation about time tracking without first discussing task prioritization. You can’t treat all of the tasks with the same level of importance because, frankly, they’re not all equal. Some tasks are money makers, others are necessary evils, and some might even be considered time sinks if not kept in check. Knowing which is which and allocating your precious hours accordingly is what sets the top-performing bookkeepers apart from the rest. By prioritizing effectively, you ensure that your most valuable asset—your time—is invested where it can generate the highest return.

Here's how to prioritize your tasks effectively:

Understand Your Responsibilities

Start by having a clear understanding of all your tasks. Write down all of your tasks in no particular order, no matter how great or small.

Identify Urgent vs. Important

Distinguish between urgent tasks and those that are important. Urgent tasks require immediate attention, while important tasks contribute to your long-term goals and missions. Use the Eisenhower Box (also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix) to categorize tasks and prioritize accordingly.

Assess Value

Determine which tasks have the highest value to your clients and your business. Focus on tasks that contribute most to your accounting firm’s success and profitability.

Estimate Time and Effort

Estimate the time and effort required to complete each task. This helps you plan your schedule more effectively and allocate the right amount of time to each task.

Set Deadlines

Assign deadlines, starting with your most daunting tasks first. This creates a sense of urgency.

Be Flexible

Your priorities can change due to unforeseen circumstances. Be prepared to reassess and adjust your priorities as new information comes in or as situations change.

Avoid Multitasking

Focus on completing one task at a time. Multitasking can lead to mistakes and reduce the quality of your work.

Tip #2: Use Time & Billing Software

In bookkeeping, tracking every minute isn't just making sure you’re at the top of your game internally. It’s also about turning time into tangible profit. That's where Mango Practice Management steps in. Our software has built-in time-tracking features that turn this from a chore into your strategic advantage.

Imagine boosting your revenue by up to 35% just by capturing every billable moment more precisely. Mango is engineered to do just that. Our intuitive design simplifies time tracking. You can start and stop timers effortlessly with a single click wherever you are in our software. Need to pause or tweak your entries? No sweat. A swift click lets you adjust times to reflect your work accurately.

Mango’s capabilities extend beyond just timing individual tasks. Our weekly time cards feature offers a panoramic view of your entire week. Use this feature to see where your time is allocated at a glance. Or, if you’re juggling tasks for the same or multiple clients, you can use our batch time entry feature to effectively manage several records at the same time. This can streamline your workflow and save precious time.