Hiring an accounting team is a significant investment, but how can you tell if they’re truly effective? Beyond simply “getting the books done,” a high-performing accounting team brings structure, clarity, and strategic value to your organization. Here are five key indicators to evaluate whether your accounting team is delivering:
1. Can They Articulate a 90-Day Plan?
A competent accounting team should be able to tell you exactly what they plan to accomplish in their first 90 days. Are they outlining specific accounting and technology tasks that will be completed? Have they identified priorities such as historical transaction cleanup, creating missing balance sheet schedules, and validating or establishing technology integrations and data feeds? If they can’t define their short-term goals, it’s a red flag.
2. Are There Clear Communication Milestones?
Accounting shouldn’t be a black box. Your team should set clear expectations about when and how they will communicate during and after the initial 90 days.
3. Have They Communicated What They Need From the Rest of the Organization?
Accounting doesn’t happen in isolation. A high-functioning team proactively engages with other departments to get the information they need—whether it’s systems access, source documents to support balance sheet schedules, or transaction details. If your accounting team hasn’t clarified what they need from you and your team to be successful, you’re likely headed for inefficiencies and delays.
4. Did They Set—and Deliver On—Expectations for Financial Reporting?
One of the easiest ways to measure accounting performance is consistency in financial reporting. If your team commits to delivering financials by a specific day of the month, are they hitting that deadline? If financials are always delayed or unreliable, something is broken.
5. Are They Making Appropriate Use of Technology?
Today’s accounting teams should be leveraging technology to improve accuracy, efficiency, and visibility. Are they automating workflows where possible? Using cloud-based solutions for collaboration? Eliminating unnecessary manual processes? If your accounting team is overly reliant on spreadsheets and outdated systems, they may be creating bottlenecks instead of solving them.
Final Thought
Your accounting team should be more than a cost center—they should be a proactive partner that helps drive your business forward. If they’re meeting these five criteria, you’re in good hands. If not, it might be time for a deeper assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
James Wheeler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesdavidwheeler/James Wheeler is the founder of kept.pro, where he helps business owners design accounting systems that create clarity and confidence in decision-making. Over more than 15 years in executive financial leadership roles across service and technology companies, James has focused on making finance a true strategic function rather than a reporting burden. He was twice a finalist for the San Diego Business Journal CFO of the Year and has served on several nonprofit and for-profit boards over the past decade. James earned both his BA in Economics and MBA from the University of California, San Diego, where he received multiple graduate fellowships, and later completed executive education at MIT Sloan.
