"My last role was bookkeeper for a small, established company. However, my predecessor did not have established procedures in place, and it sounded like he had made constant mistakes. One of the first things I did when I started was I made a monthly checklist that detailed all the steps I took during the monthly close. Included in these steps were checks I performed to self review my work. The checklist served as a cover sheet that I would hand off to my manager so that she would know exactly what steps I completed. This led to increased efficiency as we estimated it saved 4-6 hours a month in error corrections."

In my experience, I have learned that one of the best ways to be efficient in your work is to create procedures. Procedures allow everyone in the office to be on the same page. Procedures not only save time but reduce the probability of errors. I, personally, create a checklist every morning. This to-do list allows me to stay on task and be sure all my duties are done for the day.