Getting to Uncat Zero
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Throughout your workday, you’re probably ingrained to perk up and drop everything once you hear that nerve-wracking ping from your phone or computer, notifying you about an email or message sent to you from a coworker, boss, or client. And in one workday, you likely send and receive hundreds of emails and messages, hearing thousands of pings every day.
Even glancing at your inbox can be stressful. All the distractions and disorganization hold us and others back from being productive and efficient.
And as accountants and bookkeepers, you likely find yourself exporting spreadsheets, sending emails, and waiting on information from your clients about uncategorized transactions night and day. Your inbox and your client’s uncategorized transactions are intricately linked, working together to drain your focus and energy.
But what is the best way to alleviate this stress and disorganization and save your practice time and energy? How can you manage your inbox while also dealing with a client’s uncategorized transactions?
The answer for accountants and bookkeepers—Uncat Zero—lies in its inspiration: Inbox Zero.
What is Inbox Zero?
Inbox Zero is an approach to email management that prioritizes keeping your inbox empty or as clear as possible all of the time. However, Zero is not just a physical method but a state of mind as well. The “zero” in Inbox Zero does refer to the ideal number of emails you should have in your inbox. But, it also denotes how much of your mind or brain remains in your inbox, especially while you’re completing other tasks or projects.
And honestly, this sounds like an impossible dream to come true with the high volume of emails and messages we all constantly receive every day. But, there is no single method or approach to Inbox Zero. Inbox Zero consists of all of the different strategies individuals use to reach and maintain Inbox Zero. It’s different for every person and can range from designating specific times to check your email and clearing your inbox to unsubscribing from emails or newsletters you don't read or need.
Inbox Zero is key to any successful practice today. Merlin Mann, the creator of the Inbox Zero Method, notes how email discourages productivity as a constant distraction to our focused minds, even if a few of the emails are important, as most people can’t quickly and actionably sort through them:
“Clearly the problem of email overload is taking a toll on all our time, productivity, and sanity, mainly because most of us lack a cohesive system for processing our messages and converting them into appropriate actions as quickly as possible” (43F Series).
People don’t know how to quickly manage emails, and, as part of its methodology, Inbox Zero additionally recommends using the four D’s when first opening an email: delete (deleting emails that don’t require your attention or include important information), delegate (forwarding the email to the correct person), do (responding quickly to the email if possible), and defer (waiting to respond if the email requires more attention or focus).
Inbox Zero is a method everyone should implement, but it doesn’t necessarily resolve all of the productivity and efficiency issues accountants and bookkeepers face in their practices, especially regarding uncategorized transactions. This is where Uncat Zero enters the equation.
Uncat Zero
As accountants and bookkeepers, you’re all intimately familiar with the sheer number of uncategorized transactions from dozens upon dozens of clients that find their way into your accounting system.
The solution to this issue is as simple as Inbox Zero, but we’re calling it Uncat Zero.
With Uncat Zero, the goal is to prioritize keeping the number of uncategorized transactions piling up in your accounting system to zero or as close to zero as possible.
Sounds easy enough, right?
Sadly, maintaining Uncat Zero, though a great mindset and approach to have as accountants and bookkeepers, can be extremely difficult, especially when clients don’t respond back with information quickly, with incorrect information, or with not enough information. Exporting all of those spreadsheets and emails and waiting for responses just to get a few details to help you categorize transactions often wastes too much of your time, energy, and money.
But, there actually is an efficient solution to help you effortlessly and securely reach and maintain Uncat Zero. You can easily achieve Uncat Zero by using Uncat!
Uncat Zero via Uncat
Uncat is an app built for accountants and bookkeeping professionals to help you avoid constantly exporting spreadsheets, sending too many emails, and chasing down clients for information to categorize uncategorized transactions.
Uncat syncs uncategorized transactions from QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero, automatically notifying your clients when there are transactions that require answers from them. Your clients, through a one-click access Magic Link, will go to their Uncat dashboard and enter descriptions, upload receipts, and fill out any other information you might need from them. Uncat then notifies you—the accountant or bookkeeper—when your clients update their transactions so you can review, edit, and categorize them in your Uncat dashboard. Then, Uncat syncs your selections into your accounting software so you can close the books faster and free up your time and energy for productive tasks like advising your clients.
Through Uncat’s app, you can get client answers about transactions ten times faster than using emails and spreadsheets, giving you a much more helpful push than spreadsheets or emails to reach Uncat Zero. And Uncat even integrates with other accounting and bookkeeping software as well as individual software vendors to seamlessly integrate with your existing practice and save you more time and productivity.
Setting up a customized automatic notification system about uncategorized transactions through Uncat’s client settings that works for you and your client is another way to ensure you reach Uncat Zero with Uncat. Whether daily, weekly, or monthly, your clients will be notified about their uncategorized transactions, and you’ll be notified daily (or immediately, if you’d prefer) about updates from your clients. With easy one-click access for you and your clients within these email and/or text notifications, there’s no more needlessly waiting for information on either side, as a client or accountant/bookkeeper.
All of the time previously wasted on exporting spreadsheets and sending emails to gather information to categorize uncategorized transactions and distractedly waiting for those responses is saved through Uncat, helping you reach Uncat Zero in your accounting software and books.
And by reaching Uncat Zero, you can also work towards Inbox Zero since you won’t need to worry about the distractions of constantly sending and receiving emails about uncategorized transactions from your clients.
Conclusion
Even the smallest of distractions—including sending or receiving emails and spreadsheets filled with information about uncategorized transactions—can severely derail productivity to the detriment of your clients and your practice.
So, what are you waiting for? Try implementing Uncat Zero with Uncat in your practice today, and see how easily you can stop needlessly herding those (un)cats.
Want to implement Uncat Zero but haven’t used Uncat before? No problem! Schedule a demo, watch our tutorials, or sign up for a free trial of Uncat today.