Due Date Tracking Software Helps to Develop Interns   Interns are an important part of any CPA firm and developing them allows your firm to have more potential accountants when the interns are finished with their programs. When the firm gets busy or if there are a lot of accountants and interns training in your office, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone’s progress. You, your managers and partners, and the accountants that work with interns can use due date tracking software to effectively develop intern skills faster. Personalize each intern’s training and help them improve where they’re lacking using this kind of software to communicate and stay on point.   Connect With Interns Positively The concepts of positive reinforcement are drummed into the minds of human resources and training personnel on a regular basis and for good reason. These concepts work as well for managers and accountants that train with interns. By using due date tracking software, you can attach positive notes and motivating memos to task lists and calendar events, you are incorporating positive reinforcement into efficient training practices.   Guiding Instead of Pushing Even with positive reinforcement, sometimes more guidance is necessary to steer interns on the right path. Pushing someone who is developing is usually the wrong way to go because a young person who is still learning is likely to resist this method. While it’s still important to motivate interns, it’s also a good idea to provide gentle guidance that fosters independence. In this way, you’ll create accountants that turn into leaders.   Accountability and Training As a trainer, accountants in your firm that take interns under their wings are usually the ones held accountable for mistakes made during the learning process. Due date tracking software makes it easier for trainers and managers to hold the interns accountable for their actions. This gives them the autonomy necessary for fostering leadership skills.  

• Track task lists and set reminders for interns to follow daily or weekly.
• Print progress reports on a regular basis to show which areas trainers should focus on moving forward.
• Use reports to help show interns how they’re developing and where their greatest strengths are. This can also assist them in choosing a specialty.

  At the end of the day, the reports are a written account of how each intern is doing. They’re the proof that lets you hold them accountable for their own actions. Try holding weekly or biweekly meetings with each intern or have trainers do the same so that they can see their progress (or lack of) for themselves.   Reward Progressively The reports generated by due date tracking software allow you to track the progress of your interns and hold them accountable. You can use the task lists involved positively reinforce but after all that it’s also important to reward the top performers progressively. Showcase their efforts to the other interns and give them more responsibility so that everyone else in the group has the motivation to keep doing better.   This is a sense of healthy competition that can move into the accountants that already work at your firm as well. Divide accountants into teams with their interns and encourage them to work together to make everyone do well and beat the other teams at the same time. Use all of the tools of positive reinforcement to make sure the competition doesn’t turn ugly and you’ll notice higher energy and more productivity in the office.   Use Trial and Error Systems Due date tracking software offers excellent assistance but your intern programs may not work the way you want them to right away. Every person learns differently and you have to adapt to that with each intern class. Try personalizing training programs as much as possible to give individuals the chance to flourish in their own ways. Use generated reports to understand strengths and weaknesses and cater programs to these specific points. This way, you’ll be turning out accountants who really know what they’re doing or training them to come back and work for you when their intern program is over. Improve your professional profile and image while at the same time fostering leaders.