The financial formula that helps SMEs scale smarter

You’ve probably heard the term “work smarter, not harder”. The reality is, as an SME owner, you need to do both. 

This blog post can’t help you work harder. However, it does offer some tips on how you can work smarter, based on our recent report, Growing Pains: Typical Mistakes That Hold Growing SMEs Back.

Based on a survey of over 4,000 managers and decision-makers at UK businesses, the report reveals how growing SMEs are scaling smartly. Their secret formula? They combine expert accounting support with AI-powered tools to stay in control, save time, and make better decisions. 

Here’s how your company can do the same and create a finance setup that scales with your business. 

Growth brings new challenges

Nearly every business encounters growing pains. The systems that kept things running smoothly in the early days start to strain under the weight of new demands—more invoices, more transactions, more complexity.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in the finance function.

As SMEs scale, financial processes that once felt manageable start to buckle. Cash flow becomes harder to track. Tax obligations multiply. Reporting takes longer, and it’s harder to get a clear picture of performance.

According to our research, more than a third of growing SMEs struggle to keep track of their cash flow. That figure rises steadily as businesses expand—from 30% of sole traders to 39% of companies with up to 250 employees. The same pattern appears in other areas too, like expense tracking, tax filing, and long-term financial planning.

These issues aren’t just admin headaches. They slow teams down, hide valuable insights, and make it harder for leaders to make confident decisions.

The message is clear: as your business grows, your finance setup needs to grow with it. Without that foundation in place, even successful companies risk stalling just when they should be picking up speed.

Turning to your accountant

As businesses grow, many turn to accountants for help—and rightly so. A good accountant brings clarity, experience, and a valuable outside perspective. They help businesses move beyond day-to-day bookkeeping and start thinking strategically.

But as financial demands increase, so does the volume of admin: payroll runs, reports, regulatory tasks, and more. Without the right support, even the best accountants can spend too much time on manual processes—and not enough time offering high-value advice.

That’s where many SMEs hit a ceiling. They’ve outgrown basic accounting support, but they haven’t yet modernised their systems. As a result, teams end up relying on spreadsheets, email chains, and time-consuming workarounds.

Our data shows that medium-sized businesses spend significantly more time on finance admin than smaller firms. 24% of companies with 50–99 employees spend 6–10 hours per week on routine finance tasks—while 15% spend 16–20 hours or more. That’s valuable time that could be spent on planning, growth, or customer work.

Accountants remain essential. However, to get maximum value from their expertise, businesses need to free them from low-value admin. That’s where AI comes in.

Leveraging AI-powered tools

AI-powered tools reduce manual work, increase accuracy, and make it easier to track financial performance in real time. For growing SMEs, that’s often transformative—especially when admin time is already stretched.

QuickBooks data shows that medium-sized businesses using AI tools can reclaim 6–10 hours each week. That’s more than a full working day freed up—time that can be reinvested into strategy, sales, or product development.

But while AI is powerful, it can’t replace human judgment. It can generate reports, forecast cash flow, and flag anomalies. However, it can’t tell you what to prioritise or how to respond to market shifts

Without someone to interpret the numbers, AI is just data. And as the volume of financial information grows, so does the risk of misreading it—or ignoring it altogether.

That’s why the most effective SMEs aren’t choosing between AI and accountants. They’re combining both.

The perfect formula: AI & accountants

The smartest SMEs don’t rely on one solution—they build a system where AI and accountants work together.

AI handles the heavy lifting: automating payroll, reconciling expenses, generating real-time reports, and forecasting future performance. It reduces routine admin and cuts down on errors. Most importantly, it gives business leaders instant access to the numbers they need.

Accountants step in where automation stops. They bring context, strategy, and experience to interpret the data and guide leaders on what to do. No software can replicate this kind of guidance.

According to our research, SMEs that combine AI-powered tools with expert accounting support report:

• Higher revenue – businesses using professional accounting services grow 12% faster on average.

• Improved margins – over 40% of companies with 50-99 employees say their accountant has had a significant impact on profitability.

• Time-savings – AI tools save growing businesses up to 10 hours a week in finance admin.

In other words, the formula works. AI-powered tools like QuickBooks Advanced give your accountant more time and headspace to add value. 

Final thoughts

Scaling your business doesn’t have to mean chaos and complexity. With the right support in place, it can feel calm and controlled.

That’s what this formula delivers. AI handles the routine, while your accountant brings the insight. Together, they offer the ideal financial setup to keep your business growing smoothly. 

If you’re ready to see how QuickBooks Advanced can help your business, sign up for a demo here. 

Or, learn more about the growing pains affecting scaling SMEs by downloading the full report here. Download here.

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