Case study 1CLICK
Client: Barta s.r.o.
Branch: Accounting, payroll, HR, tax
Team size: 9 people
The main problem: client tasks and requests were dealt with verbally, by email and ad hoc; the owner did not always keep track of all deadlines and requests
Solution: Projects, tasks, contact database and mobile apps
Result: More visibility, less stress, better work planning, clearer responsibilities and control over deadlines
Barta s.r.o. is a Slovak accounting firm specializing in bookkeeping, payroll, HR, tax and other related services. On its website, it communicates an emphasis on precision, responsibility, personal approach and digital accounting. The firm also offers clients simple and double-entry bookkeeping, payroll, HR and tax services.
As the team grew and the firm started taking on larger clients, it became increasingly challenging to keep track of what was happening where. Tasks, deadlines and client requests could no longer be reliably managed by word of mouth, email or “in your head”.
That is why Barta s.r.o. decided to introduce 1CLICK.
A company built on precision and trust
Barta s.r.o. is engaged in external bookkeeping and related personnel agenda for various clients. The team currently consists of nine people and is led by the owner and director of the company, Ms. Belanová.
Accounting is a field where an error or delay will quickly become apparent. Deadlines for VAT, monthly closures, payroll or communication with the tax authorities must run accurately. Each client has their own specific requirements and each colleague in the firm has their own agenda to deal with.
This is where the original way of managing work became limiting.
Before 1CLICK: tasks in emails, verbal agreements and a lot on my mind
Before the introduction of 1CLICK, tasks were mainly solved verbally or by forwarding e-mails. Each colleague kept track of her own agenda, her clients and her deadlines.
“Mostly it was just word of mouth, or some forwarding of emails. It was not planned, it was gradual, things were dealt with ad hoc,” says Ms Belanová.
For the regular dates, my colleagues kept their own system. Operational requests from clients, however, often came directly to specific accountants. Sometimes the owner was copied, sometimes not. And that’s where the problem arose.
“Sometimes we missed some requirements. The client needed something, but I didn’t know about it.”
It was not just the usual accounting tasks. For example, the client needed the residual value of a car, information on assets, or a basis outside the standard monthly closing. The request came to a specific colleague, but the owner had no knowledge of it.
If a task was late, she often learned about it only when the client reminded her.
“I didn’t know exactly all the requirements. I only found out when the client contacted me and started to discuss it with me.”
Impact: stress, work interruptions and late checks
This way of management brought stress to the company. If a problem came up late, the owner had to start addressing it immediately – even if she had her own work or other agenda to check.
“It was causing stress and it also had the effect of wasting time. When I had to start working on something that needed to be addressed immediately, but I already had something else planned, it created stressful situations.”
There was also a fundamental problem in the continuity of the work. In Barta s.r.o. the process works in such a way that colleagues process the agenda, then the output goes to the owner for checking and only after the checking can the submission be sent to the tax administration.
But when everything piled up just before the deadline, the inspection was moved to the evening hours.
“It was getting unbearable. I went to bed on the twenty-fourth before VAT, at eleven or midnight, for so much had accumulated that it was beyond my power to check before then.”
Why they started looking for a solution
Since January, the company has taken on additional, larger clients. This was the moment when it became clear that the current way of managing work was no longer sufficient.
Ms Belanova needed to see from her colleagues what their deadlines were for completing tasks, which clients were waiting for what and when a specific output was due for review.
“I needed to keep track of what was going on in the company. Up until now, it was really just word of mouth – what’s where, what’s pending, etc.”
The company started to use 1CLICK mainly for their projects. For each agenda and specific employee, a project was created with clear steps, deadlines and responsibilities.
“In 1CLICK I created a project for each agenda. Each employee has exactly when and which client to contact.”
Thanks to this, the owner automatically sees if the client has not sent documents, is not responding or is missing documents. And she can intervene in time, not when it’s too late.
“Earlier on the 20th, I learned that the client had failed to deliver some documents. I should have known on the 10th.”
Why they chose 1CLICK
Barta s.r.o. has already tried another tool in the past. According to Ms Belanová, it did not act as a help, but rather as an additional burden.
With 1CLICK, she especially appreciated the speed, simplicity and the ability to work instantly with tasks, contacts and projects.
“In 1CLICK there is a very fast interaction. We like that very much. Because we are a young team and we are close to digital accounting, my colleagues got used to it very quickly.
The mobile app also played a big role. If Ms. Belan is in a meeting or has an idea outside the office, she creates a note or task for a specific colleague.
“When I am in a meeting and we agree on something, I automatically send the information to the colleague. It’s not that someone called me, then someone walked into my office and I didn’t know who I was talking to five minutes ago.”
Introduction: first night client database, then team "thrown into the water"
According to Ms Belan, the introduction of 1CLICK was quick. As soon as she gained access, she sat down with the system and within the first evening began creating a client database.
“In one evening we had a whole database of clients”
The contact database has become another important asset for the company. Previously, contacts were passed on in various ways – paper, word of mouth or through individual people. When a new employee or temporary worker joined, she had to do a complicated search for contacts.
Today everything is in 1CLICK.
“I have created a complete database of contacts in 1CLICK. When a new client appears, the contact and the specific employee are set up directly.”
This saves time and reduces dependence on who remembers what.
“When a colleague calls a client to say they haven’t delivered their documents, she can no longer say she doesn’t have a phone number for them. We have all our contacts in one place.”
The actual introduction of 1CLICK into the team was pragmatic.
“I trained my female employees very quickly. I threw them in the water and said: this is this and this is this.”
Some of the team adapted immediately, some needed more time. This is common with any new tool, according to Ms Belan.
“We have two types of female employees. Some of them go all out, others find it hard to get used to new things. It’s a bit squeaky, but they have no choice, because they get requests from me through 1CLICK.”
What changed after the introduction of 1CLICK
Ms Belanova put the biggest change simply:
“I sleep better”
Thanks to 1CLICK, he has a better overview of the work in the company, deadlines and client requirements. He doesn’t have to keep everything in his head and doesn’t have to manually check who promised what, who needs to be reminded and where to wait for documents.
“I have more visibility and I feel like I don’t have to oversee everything.”
The company set up recurring tasks and projects according to the monthly rhythm of accounting work. Each client has clearly defined steps-for example, requesting documents, checking delivery, urging missing documents, checking VAT and filing itself.
“We have precise deadlines for each task. We know what has to be done when.”
1CLICK also helps the owner to better plan her own time. She knows when she can expect to have the documents ready for inspection and where she needs to intervene.
Benefits for time, peace of mind and profitability control
Barta s.r.o. has not yet measured the exact time savings, as the company has taken on new clients and the agenda has grown. Nevertheless, the impact is clear, according to Ms. Belanová.
“It certainly saved us time. For me, it certainly did.”
But even more important is the calmness and ability to handle a larger volume of work without chaos.
“If we didn’t have 1CLICK, I can’t imagine it very well”
1CLICK doesn’t just help the company with tasks. It also gives the owner a better idea of the workload of people and the profitability of individual clients.
If a company has an agreed monthly flat rate with a client, but the agenda actually takes significantly more time, it is necessary to start solving it – either by adjusting the cooperation, the price, or by setting up communication with the client.
“The way I see profitability is that if I have a set monthly flat rate and I see that it’s not going to pay me or the employee who spends a lot of time on it, I have to start to figure out whether to continue or start to negotiate with the client.”
Thanks to the work schedule, Ms Belanová can see whether the deadlines are realistic and whether the team can meet them.
“I created a work schedule and after the first month I saw if it was possible to follow it.”
To whom would Barta s.r.o. 1CLICK recommend
According to Ms Belanová, 1CLICK is suitable for anyone who wants to keep track of what is happening in the company and what needs to be done.
“Anyone who wants to keep track of what needs to be done and what’s going on where.”
At the same time, he adds that the setting of the owner or manager plays a big role. If he wants to keep order in the company, paper or mere verbal agreements are no longer enough.
“If I want to keep order somewhere, it’s good to have support tools. Paper is no longer enough.”
At Barta s.r.o., digitization is a natural part of the work. The company itself highlights digital accounting and more efficient work with documents on its website. This fits well with the way it has started using 1CLICK – as an internal system for tasks, contacts, clients and the regular monthly agenda.
1CLICK in one sentence
When asked to describe 1CLICK in one sentence, Ms Belan replied:
“1CLICK is a tool to keep order in the company.”
And this is the main result of the whole cooperation.
1CLICK at Barta Ltd. did not replace the professional work of accountants. However, it has helped to create a system in which it is clear who does what, when the work is to be done and where it is necessary to intervene before a problem arises.
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