8 New-Year Habits to Build a Healthier, Stronger (and More Profitable) Firm

New year energy is great… until the inbox fills up, the deadlines start stacking, and we slip right back into “survive and cope” mode.

If you run an accounting or bookkeeping firm (or you’re the accidental COO of your own solo practice), the habits you build now will quietly shape your entire year—your capacity, your culture, your client relationships, and your profitability.

Here are eight business habits worth committing to this year. Not because they’re trendy, but because they make the work more sustainable, more human, and honestly… more enjoyable.

1) Wellness isn’t a reward. It’s a strategy.

There’s no point building your own firm if you and your team are miserable, burnt out, or running on fumes.

And the hard truth? Wellness won’t “wait until you’re less busy.” If anything, the busier you are, the more you need it.

Treat wellness like you treat production and marketing:

• Put it in the calendar (yes, literally)

• Budget for it (resources, tools, support)

• Make it visible (normalize breaks, boundaries, and time off)

A wellness strategy isn’t fluffy. It’s risk management. It protects your decision-making, your client experience, and your ability to lead.

2) Accountability: the grown-up version

Most of us don’t love the idea of being held accountable. But accountability is how things actually get done.

It doesn’t have to mean people being “beaten around the head with a rolled-up timesheet.” Accountability is not punishment. It’s clarity.

This year, build the habit of clear and fair expectations:

• KPIs that make sense (and don’t encourage bad behaviour)

• Deadlines that are realistic (and communicated early)

• Goals that are visible (so people know what “good” looks like)

And then the key part: accept that delivery matters. That’s not harsh. That’s business.

3) Leadership: work on the person who runs the firm

Your leadership style shows up everywhere—how your team communicates, how problems get solved, how clients are handled, and how safe people feel bringing issues to you.

So here’s a new-year habit that pays dividends: allocate time to your own development as a leader.

Ask yourself:

• When did I last work on how I influence people?

• What impact do I have when I’m stressed?

• What do I want my team to say it feels like to work with me?

A mentor or coach can be a game-changer here, because it forces you to focus on yourself as well as the firm. (And yes, I would say that… but it doesn’t make it wrong.)

4) Team development beyond CPD

Firm leaders often invest in technical training (CPD) but don’t allocate enough time to developing the wider skills and confidence of their team. In a tech-driven age, it’s our human side that differentiates us.

So build the habit of developing your people more holistically:

• Communication and client confidence

• Ownership and decision-making

• Problem-solving and prioritization

• Professional presence and boundaries

This isn’t just “nice to have.” It’s powerful for retention, recruitment, and capacity. A confident team doesn’t just do the work—they improve the work.

5) Client management: draw your lines

Let’s be honest: accountants and bookkeepers generally have good clients… but clients can still be a pain.

We lose too much time chasing them, waiting on them, and watching our advice get ignored.

And with the pressures on firms today, we can’t afford to keep doing this.

The chances are roughly one in three of your clients are barely profitable. That’s not a moral failing—it’s a signal.

This year, build the habit of creating better-balanced client relationships:

• Set expectations for response times and document delivery

• Define what happens when they don’t meet them

• Price for the true cost of “client chaos”

• Exit relationships that stay unfair

They trust you and like you—otherwise they’d go somewhere cheaper. So it’s time they show it by paying attention to you.

6) Digital strategy: yours should trump HMRC’s timetable

We live in the Digital Age. Real-time, accessible data is normal in every part of life.

So why are some firms letting HMRC drive the digital progression of their clients?

The timetable shouldn’t be the issue. Your clients need to work smarter regardless of when anything is mandated.

Build the habit of leading with your own digital strategy:

• Decide the minimum tech standard you’ll support

• Set a roadmap for clients to get there

• Stop enabling clients who refuse to participate

You can’t help clients who won’t help themselves.

7) Work cycles: quarterly isn’t the only way

The quarterly cycle of bookkeeping and management accounts has been around since the inception of VAT almost five decades ago.

That was a time before the internet, apps, mobile devices, machine learning, and AI.

So why is quarterly still the staple cycle for so many firms?

Daily and weekly cycles are becoming the norm—and already are for many.

This year, build the habit of asking:

• What work can move to weekly?

• What can be automated or systemized?

• What would “real-time” look like for our ideal clients?

The goal isn’t to do more. It’s to reduce last-minute chaos and improve decision-making.

8) Embrace change: start from “if we were starting today…”

Traditionally, professional firms improve by looking at what they did yesterday and refining it today.

But the pace of change in people and tech is so rapid that yesterday isn’t always the right place to start.

A powerful habit is stepping back and asking:

• Forget where we are for a moment—if we were starting afresh today, how would we do it?

That question can lead to the agile, pivotal firm we all talk about… and actually help you build it.

A simple way to make these habits stick

Pick one habit to focus on for the next 30 days. Not eight. One.

Put a recurring 20-minute “firm habit” appointment in your calendar each week, and use it to:

• Review what’s working

• Identify what’s slipping

• Choose one small action for the next week

Momentum beats motivation every time.

Until next time,