MTD and beyond: turning time saved into team growth
With MTD transitions now well underway, firms across the UK are starting to feel the benefits of going digital.
According to HMRC, businesses are saving an average of 26 to 40 hours a year thanks to MTD software, and almost half say they’re already seeing time savings from digital record keeping.
Those hours may sound small on paper, but across a whole team, they add up to real opportunities; more time to plan, learn, and engage with clients.
MTD (Making Tax Digital) has made compliance faster and more automated, but it’s also unlocked an opportunity to reinvest that time into developing your people, refining your processes, and delivering deeper insights for every client.
Whether you’re a UK-based accountant navigating MTD or part of a global firm looking to upskill your team, the opportunity is the same: take the time you’ve gained and turn it into capability, confidence, and collaboration.
The firms that will thrive post-MTD aren’t just more efficient; they’re more empowered. They’re using that extra capacity to help their whole team, from juniors to partners, build skills in analysis, forecasting, and storytelling.
Here are some expert resources to help your team make the most of this moment.
Engage with your clients more effectively
As compliance becomes more automated, firms are using the time saved to strengthen the quality of their client conversations, and it’s paying off.
In his Ask an Expert session, Darren Van Zyl , Partner at Elements Advisory Group , shares practical ways to engage clients more meaningfully, from structuring meetings around outcomes to using visuals that help clients understand and act on the numbers.
He explains how consistent, story-led discussions turn financial data into shared insight, helping advisors build trust, clarity, and lasting relationships.
Turn data into financial stories
Helping your team interpret and communicate numbers clearly is one of the most valuable ways to reinvest time saved through digital efficiency.
Paul Barnes , Managing Director at MAP , explains why great financial reporting doesn’t just track results, it connects every part of a business into one clear narrative.
“Finances are the outcome of everything else that happens. Your marketing, sales, operations, HR,” Paul says. “Good reporting translates that story into something leaders can act on.”
His Expert Series shows how storytelling through reporting helps teams create alignment, drive clarity, and deliver more confident advice.
Connected forecasting to drive better decisions
For Helina Patience, CEO of Entreflow Consulting Group, forecasting isn’t just about estimating next year’s numbers — it’s about giving clients a clearer picture of how decisions ripple across profit, cash flow, and balance sheet.
“Forecasting gives clients a voice in the conversation,” Helina says. “It connects what’s possible with what’s practical.”
In their work with high-growth clients, Entreflow moved away from brittle Excel models to three-way forecasting tools in Fathom, enabling:
That shift lets your team spend less time wrestling with spreadsheets and more time helping clients make decisions that are grounded, visual, and confidence-building.
Creating confident conversations
When clients face uncertainty, the most powerful thing an advisor can offer is structure.
In her Ask an Expert session, Erica Goode, CPA shares how a simple, repeatable meeting structure helps advisors move beyond surface-level conversations. Her approach, anchored in preparation, visual storytelling, and open-ended questions, transforms client meetings into confident, forward-looking discussions.
As Erica puts it, “When you visualise the possibilities, clients stop reacting to problems and start planning their next move.”
Building reports that help clients to understand their story
The next step is turning all that efficiency into communication that sticks, reports that make insight feel simple.
The Fathom Report Library was created in response to one of the most common requests from firms: “Can we see how other accountants are using Fathom in practice?”
It’s a customer-driven collection of real reports from firms around the world, showing how they build management packs, commercial health checks, and board reports that simplify complexity and spark conversation.
Each example is designed to help teams translate data into stories that clients can actually understand.
MTD has made compliance faster, but the real transformation starts when you reinvest that time into developing your people and deepening your impact. The more you empower your team to interpret, communicate, and act on the numbers, the more your clients will grow with you.
See you next time,
Team Fathom!