Issue 22: The Most Dangerous Phrase in Accounting Firms: “We’ll Figure It Out.”
Welcome to “The Outsource Insider”, dispatched to you biweekly by Finsmart Accounting, where we share insights and resources that become key in your growth journey.
Every accounting firm says it at some point.
A client request comes in late.
A process breaks.
Someone leaves unexpectedly.
Deadlines start piling up.
And somewhere in the middle of the chaos, someone says:
“We’ll figure it out.”
At first, it sounds harmless. Even responsible.
But over time, this phrase quietly becomes the operating system of the firm.
And that’s where the real problem begins.
Because “we’ll figure it out” rarely means:
there’s a plan,
there’s capacity,
or there’s a process.
Most of the time, it means:
someone will work late,
senior team members will absorb the pressure,
and the firm will rely on effort instead of operational design.
For a while, it works.
Until it doesn’t.
⚠️ The Real Cost of “We’ll Figure It Out”
The phrase itself isn’t the problem.
The dependency on it is.
When firms constantly operate in “figure it out” mode, a few things start happening quietly in the background:
Work becomes reactive instead of intentional
The team spends more time responding than planning.
Every week feels like recovery mode.
Processes never fully mature
Because problems are solved in the moment instead of systematically.
So the same issues keep returning:
missed handoffs
review delays
unclear ownership
client communication gaps
repeated rework
Senior people become the safety net
Partners and managers start carrying operational weight that systems should handle.
Reviewing everything.
Fixing everything.
Answering everything.
Not because they want to.
Because the firm depends on it.
Growth starts creating stress instead of momentum
New clients no longer feel exciting.
They feel risky.
Because deep down, the team already knows:
“We’ll figure it out” is becoming harder to sustain.
🔍 Why This Happens in So Many Firms
Most accounting firms weren’t intentionally designed to scale.
They evolved.
New clients came in.
More people got hired.
Services expanded.
Processes adapted “just enough” to survive.
But survival systems and scalable systems are not the same thing.
Eventually, firms hit a point where:
communication becomes fragmented,
work visibility drops,
delivery slows down,
and operational complexity grows faster than the infrastructure supporting it.
At that stage, effort starts replacing process.
And effort is expensive.
↗️ THE FINSMART POV
The firms scaling successfully today are not necessarily the firms with:
the biggest teams,
the most clients,
or the longest working hours.
They are the firms building operational clarity early.
The firms asking:
Who owns this?
What does “done” actually mean?
Where does work slow down?
What should be standardized?
What should never depend on one person?
That shift changes everything.
Because scalable firms don’t run on heroics.
They run on systems.
🛠 PRACTICE BUILDER
👩💻 How Women In Accounting Are Changing the Game - A Finsmart Webinar
In our upcoming webinar:
Women in Accounting: How Are They Leading Change?
We’ll discuss:
✔︎ How women leaders are reshaping firm culture
✔︎ Sustainable growth and flexibility
✔︎ Leadership in modern accounting firms
✔︎ Burnout, retention, and operational change
✔︎ The future of accounting workplaces
Date: 28th May | Time: 1 PM EST
📅Upcoming Events
The next few months are packed with opportunities to connect, collaborate, and exchange ideas with accounting and finance leaders across the industry. Our team will be attending several key conferences and forums, and we’d love to meet you there.
Here’s where you can find us:
Tax Retreat
📍 The Plaza Hotel & Spa | San Antonio📅 June 3-6
CFO Leadership Conference
📍 Sheraton Boston Hotel | Boston📅 June 3-5
AICPA - Engage’2026
📍 ARIA Resort & Casino | Las Vegas📅 June 8-11
🎯 Booth — #326
👉 Let’s Meet at Event
If you’re attending any of these events, we’d love the opportunity to connect and discuss how firms are rethinking growth, talent, and operational efficiency in today’s evolving accounting landscape.