Big changes are coming for accounting firms, and they’re coming fast. From the 1st April 2025, the government’s increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will see rates jump from 13.8% to 15%, while the threshold drops from £9,100 to £5,000. That’s a double whammy for firms already battling rising costs. The Treasury might be expecting a £25 billion boost, but for firms footing the bill, this is yet another financial headache—one that will hit hiring plans, resource allocation, and, crucially, partner profits.
Inefficiency – the silent profit killer
Let’s be honest: inefficiencies have always been part of the game. Lost time, unrecorded work, inefficient processes – they’ve been silently draining revenue for years. But when those inefficiencies start chipping away at the bottom line in an era of rising tax burdens, suddenly it’s not just newsworthy—it’s noteworthy. And that’s when the panic kicks in. Cue the emergency meetings, cost-cutting, and the inevitable “do more with less” strategy.
But what if firms could address these inefficiencies proactively, rather than reacting in crisis mode? What if there was a way to unlock hidden capacity before it impacted profitability?
Enter CloudCapcha — helping firms identify and resolve hidden issues to ensure better resource utilisation, and improve overall individual, team and firm performance.
“Fix Me First”- empowering employees to drive efficiency from within
With employment costs rising, firms must find smarter ways to optimise existing capacity rather than relying on headcount expansion. This makes it more critical than ever to reassess how firms drive efficiency and productivity. Traditional approaches to performance management and efficiency improvements tend to be top-down, with leadership identifying inefficiencies and mandating change. However, this approach often meets resistance and can fail to generate lasting improvements.
CloudCapcha takes a bottom-up approach to optimisation, built on a philosophy called “Fix Me First.”
Uncovering latent inefficiencies – at the source
Most firms suffer from inefficiencies that go unnoticed at an organisational level – whether it’s unrecorded time, misallocated resources, or a mismatch between effort and output. Rather than relying on retrospective firm-wide assessments, CloudCapcha puts data and insight directly into the hands of employees – in other words, “Fix Me First.”
With visibility into their own work patterns, employees can immediately identify and correct inefficiencies, such as:
- Time gaps: Employees can spot when small increments of unrecorded time add up to significant lost hours
- Task prioritisation: By seeing where time is spent, they can optimise their workflow for better efficiency
- Process refinements: Repetitive, manual, or low-value tasks can be streamlined or restructured to free up valuable time
By making self-adjustment the first step in improvement, CloudCapcha flips the traditional top-down performance model on its head, replacing oversight with empowerment.
This shifts the focus away from rigid oversight and performance reviews, instead empowering the individual to self-assess, refine, and improve their own working patterns in real time. When applied across an entire firm, these small individual gains multiply leading to significant firm-wide efficiency gains.
Capturing lost time – maximising billable hours
We’ve discussed the benefits of time recording and timesheets in a previous article, and the NIC changes are a timely reminder of their importance in a cost-conscious environment. With firms needing to do more with less, now is the perfect time to revisit how automated time tracking can boost efficiency and profitability.
As described above, a major source of inefficiency in firms is unrecorded or misallocated time, resulting in lost revenue. CloudCapcha provides real-time insights into time usage, allowing employees to capture and account for time more accurately. The self-serve model encourages professionals to take ownership of their own productivity.
With employees naturally improving how they log and allocate their time, firms benefit from:
- More accurate billing, ensuring work done is properly monetised
- Greater transparency on how different matters truly consume resources
- Less reliance on management intervention to correct inefficiencies
Improving pricing with a true cost of production
Accurate pricing is critical in an environment where employment costs, including National Insurance Contributions, are rising. CloudCapcha helps firms understand the cost of delivering client work, by client by service line, helping firms align pricing with actual effort and resource use. By optimising how work is structured and understanding where hidden inefficiencies exist, firms can price with confidence, maintaining profitability without overburdening employees.
Doing more with what you have: the key to sustainable growth
With 1 April fast approaching, firms don’t have time to sit and wait. The payroll squeeze is coming, and the smartest firms will be the ones who plan, fix inefficiencies now, and avoid scrambling when the tax hikes kick in.
By empowering employees to refine their own workflows, firms can unlock hidden capacity without adding costs. The smartest firms aren’t just working harder – they’re working smarter with what they already have.