The Snowball effect describes when something grows in significance or size at an increasingly faster rate. It’s also an approach we utilize at Peak Advisers to save our QuickBooks clients serious time and major money.
The name comes from imagining a Snowball rolling down a hill - it gets larger and larger with more snow and becomes faster and more powerful as it moves onward. The Snowball effect describes a situation that starts small and builds up increasing in power and momentum as it grows.
The famous advisor, Dave Ramsey, uses the term to describe how to efficiently reduce debt. Here’s how it works:
Pay the minimum on all debit obligations except the smallest.
The debtor pays the maximum amount it can against the smallest obligation each month until that small debt is paid off.
Once the smallest debt is paid off the next smallest obligation is selected.
It is the focus of maximum payments until it is paid off.
Well, you see how the Snowball Effect works. The pattern continues until debt is reduced or eliminated.
Snowball effect works for workflow improvements
The same concept applies in other areas of business including workflow improvements.
How often does an executive or owner say, “Oh we need to make all these changes, but we just don’t have the time?” When a client says this to Peak Advisers, we recommend the Snowball. E.g., Peak says, “Let’s pick the smallest opportunity for saving time and effort and fix it. Once resolved, let’s take the time saved and apply it to the next smallest opportunity and then resolve that one.”
We work with clients to do this repeatedly until the workflow in an organization is significantly improved. Let’s review some examples.
Let’s say you are a contractor, and your accountant spends considerable time the days before each payroll to make sure employees have reported their time, that the time is charged to the correct job, and once payroll is completed the accountant posts the costs and billable expenses to the correct jobs in QuickBooks.
This is not a small problem, but the Snowball effect can apply. Let’s start by improving time reporting.
Prevent payroll preparation panic
A time reporting system currently exists, but if we implement a system that allows the accountant to monitor and check on time reporting for each employee during the workday problems are addressed as they occur. Or as Peak thinks about it, real time training prevents payroll preparation panic.
Once the time worked is reported reliably, we address importing that data into QuickBooks and the payroll system with just a few keyboard strokes.
Then we address how to invoice customers most effectively for the reported time, send the invoices electronically and enable online payment.
Finally, we make sure that the payroll system is filing and paying payroll taxes without the accountant being involved.
This Snowball has eliminated a significant amount of work and increased income by increasing time reporting accuracy.
Here is another example.
Proper preferences save massive time
QuickBooks Desktop by default considers all bills and expenses billable. When Peak engages with a new Desktop client, this preference is one of the first things we check. Peak has worked with clients that for years unchecked the billable box each time a bill was posted. When Peak sees this problem, we show the client how to a change a preference so that bills are not marked billable by default. Thousands of minutes are saved each year and we then work with the client to use that time savings to make another improvement. This often means changing other preferences to improve the basic workflows in QuickBooks.
Automating data entry for QuickBooks is a game changer
In another example Peak has worked with a large user of QuickBooks to automate the import of data from other applications. Over the course of a year, Peak and the client worked together to go step by step in the elimination of human work replacing it with software work - software that is off the shelf code but implemented to the client’s specific needs. The client is now saving hundreds of hours of work across the organization each month.
There are many ways we can work to improve your workflow and the Snowball effect means it does not have to be an all or none proposition. We will work with you to correctly set up your QuickBooks. Then we can discuss additional automation and third-party apps that will do all of the following:
Increase accuracy
Improve internal controls
Reduce time required to complete tasks
Talk to us about your concerns. We can help you get the Snowball rolling and save time and money.