According to Debbie Foster, a partner with Affinity Consulting Group in Tampa, businesses need to implement a policy of Continuous Improvement. This means periodically re-evaluating processes to ensure that they are not extraneous or outdated. Foster says value is anything a client is willing to pay for. Waste is the opposite. She cites the textbook definition of over-processing as doing more than necessary to get a job done. While it’s important to do everything needed to complete a job for a client, it’s important not to spend excessive time and resources on extraneous things that, in the long run, add no value for the client. The client will not want to pay for these excesses and wasted employee time is a loss to the company.

Here are a few examples she cites:

-Doing work beyond the scope of your engagement with the client (especially when you won’t be paid for it);

-Emailing and mailing something when simply emailing would have sufficed;

-Writing a personal cover letter to accompany your bills.

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Read more about these issues, as well as the other Six Sigma concerns, by following this link: http://www.cbalaw.org/CBA_PROD/Main/News_Items/Lean_Six_Sigma_at_Your_Firm__Extra-Over-Processing.aspx