15 customisable OKR examples for Accounting
What are Accounting OKRs?
The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.
Creating impactful OKRs can be a daunting task, especially for newcomers. Shifting your focus from projects to outcomes is key to successful planning.
We have curated a selection of OKR examples specifically for Accounting to assist you. Feel free to explore the templates below for inspiration in setting your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Building your own Accounting OKRs with AI
While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.
Our customisable Accounting OKRs examples
We've added many examples of Accounting Objectives and Key Results, but we did not stop there. Understanding the difference between OKRs and projects is important, so we also added examples of strategic initiatives that relate to the OKRs.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
1. OKRs to enhance efficiency in meeting accounting task deadlines
Enhance efficiency in meeting accounting task deadlines
Reduce overdue accounting tasks to 0% for four consecutive weeks
Review and prioritize all outstanding accounting tasks daily- Dedicate an hour each day to address overdue tasks
- Implement a tracking system for task completion progress
- Decrease error rate on reports and tasks to less than 2%
- Adopt effective error tracking systems
- Provide comprehensive training for staff
- Implement stringent quality control measures
- Achieve a 100% completion rate for accounting reports each week
- Implement a weekly reporting completion checklist
- Schedule dedicated time for reviewing and finalizing reports
- Prioritize weekly completion of all accounting reports
2. OKRs to streamline the accounting close process
- Streamline the accounting close process
- Implement automated accounting software with 100% staff adoption
- Monitor staff adoption, offer ongoing support
- Select user-friendly, comprehensive accounting software
- Train staff thoroughly on software usage
- Decrease the monthly closing cycle time by 30%
- Streamline data collection and management processes
- Implement automated financial systems for swift transaction processing
- Regularly review and improve workflow efficiency
- Eliminate 50% of identified bottlenecks in the closing process
- Implement solutions to remove identified bottlenecks
- Identify excessive processes contributing to bottlenecks
- Review and analyze current closing process parameters
3. OKRs to achieve full productivity in general accounting role
- Achieve full productivity in general accounting role
- Complete 100% of assigned tasks accurately and on time
- Regularly review progress and adjust plans as needed
- Allocate sufficient time daily for each assignment
- Prioritize tasks based on urgency and relevance
- Increase efficiency by automating 2 routine accounting processes
- Identify two repetitive accounting tasks prone to human error
- Research and select relevant automation software
- Implement and test the selected automation system
- Reduce error rate in accounting tasks by 50%
- Train staff in latest accounting procedures and software
- Implement a double-check system for all accounting tasks
- Regularly review and correct errors in accounting records
4. OKRs to improve efficiency in meeting accounting deadlines
- Improve efficiency in meeting accounting deadlines
- Achieve 100% on-time completion for end-of-month reconciliation
- Perform weekly audits to maintain accuracy and timeliness
- Assign specific roles and timelines to the team
- Implement a daily monitoring system for all reconciliation tasks
- Increase early completion rate by 10%
- Streamline processes for quicker completion
- Provide efficient training to improve early completion skills
- Implement rewards for tasks completed ahead of schedule
- Reduce late submission of reports by 20%
- Introduce penalties for late report submissions
- Regularly remind team about upcoming report due dates
- Implement strict deadlines for submission of reports
5. OKRs to enhance my understanding of royalties
- Enhance my understanding of royalties
- Attend two educational workshops or webinars related to royalties accounting
- Identify suitable workshops or webinars on royalties accounting
- Attend and actively participate in both sessions
- Register for two selected educational events
- Read and summarize five books about royalties in various industries
- Read each book carefully and comprehend key points
- Summarize each book's main arguments and findings
- Select and procure five books about royalties in different industries
- Interview three professionals in royalty management for unique insights
- Arrange and conduct interviews with these professionals
- List potential professionals in royalty management
- Analyze and document obtained insights
6. OKRs to enhance precision and productivity of tax and accounting operations
- Enhance precision and productivity of tax and accounting operations
- Reduce bookkeeping errors by 20% through the introduction of automation software
- Train employees to use the new software efficiently
- Research and select suitable bookkeeping automation software
- Implement chosen automation system into daily operations
- Condense tax computation time by 30% via process optimization
- Implement efficient tax software to streamline computations
- Regularly update tax computation best practices
- Allocate more resources to data compilation
- Achieve 15% rise in overall productivity by training staff in new methodologies
- Identify relevant training programs for new methodologies
- Arrange and schedule training for staff members
- Monitor and assess improvements in productivity post-training
7. OKRs to achieve full productivity as a General Accountant
- Achieve full productivity as a General Accountant
- Reduce weekly accounting errors by 50%
- Implement thorough double-checking procedures for all accounting tasks
- Provide additional training on accounting software usage
- Instantly address and correct identified accounting errors
- Score at least 90% on internal accounting knowledge assessments
- Study company's internal accounting policies daily
- Practice with past assessment tests for improvement
- Seek clarifications for any accounting concepts not understood
- Increase speed of invoice processing by 30%
- Train staff in efficient invoice processing techniques
- Streamline invoice approval process
- Implement automation software for quick invoice management
8. OKRs to enhance the accounting, financial, and tax processes architecture
- Enhance the accounting, financial, and tax processes architecture
- Implement a new accounting system, improving data accuracy by 30%
- Implement regular data accuracy checks
- Train staff on new software operations
- Research and choose an advanced accounting system
- Decrease tax-related errors by 20% through updated software integration
- Train staff effectively on new software usage
- Research and identify advanced tax software solutions
- Implement selected software into company systems
- Increase process automation by 25% reducing manual efforts in financial tasks
- Train all finance team members on new automated systems
- Review and adjust automation protocols regularly for efficiency
- Implement advanced accounting software for streamlined financial operations
9. OKRs to enhance organization skills for efficient billing management
- Enhance organization skills for efficient billing management
- Complete an advanced course in financial software systems for improved proficiency
- Research suitable advanced courses in financial software systems
- Enroll in the selected advanced financial software course
- Regularly study and complete coursework to enhance proficiency
- Organize weekly review meetings to monitor progress and identify areas of improvement
- Schedule weekly meetings with team for progress evaluation
- Design frameworks to monitor project advancements
- Establish metrics to identify improvement areas
- Implement a digital billing system to reduce processing errors by 30%
- Research and select appropriate digital billing system software
- Closely monitor error rates and make adjustments accordingly
- Train accounting staff on new billing system
10. OKRs to ensure precision in financial statement generation
- Ensure precision in financial statement generation
- Extend internal audit process to cover all financial transactions by 15%
- Implement extra training for thorough audits
- Add 15% more transactions to audit checklist
- Increase audit team size for additional oversight
- Train accounting team on latest financial standards to enhance compliance by 20%
- Identify key updates in recent financial standards
- Conduct interactive training sessions for accounting team
- Prepare comprehensive training materials
- Implement innovative accounting software to reduce errors by 30%
- Research and identify innovative accounting software options
- Purchase and install chosen accounting software
- Train staff in using the new software
11. OKRs to improve the accuracy and efficiency of our tax and accounting processes
- Improve the accuracy and efficiency of our tax and accounting processes
- Reduce errors in tax and accounting processes by 5%
- Increase accuracy of tax and accounting tasks by 5%
- Improve customer satisfaction with tax and accounting services by A%
- Increase speed of tax and accounting tasks by 12%
12. OKRs to improve the efficiency and accuracy in account maintenance
- Improve the efficiency and accuracy in account maintenance
- Introduce an automated system for 70% of transactions to boost productivity
- Train staff in using the automated system
- Identify transactions suitable for automation
- Select and purchase suitable automation software
- Reduce accounting errors by 20% through meticulous tracking and cross-checking
- Use accounting software for precise tracking and calculations
- Establish process for peer review before finalizing reports
- Implement regular internal audits to identify patterns of errors
- Improve professional knowledge by completing two accounting additional courses
- Enroll in two selected accounting courses
- Regularly attend and complete courses
- Research course options related to accounting enhancement
13. OKRs to minimize inaccuracies in journal entries
- Minimize inaccuracies in journal entries
- Reduce individual journal entry errors by 25% through improved software use
- Regularly update and maintain the software system
- Implement an advanced accounting software program
- Provide software training to all journal entry staff
- Implement a detailed training program for staff on correct journal entry procedure
- Identify necessary components for successful journal entry
- Create comprehensive training materials
- Schedule and conduct training sessions
- Introduce a double-checking system reducing entry errors by 40%
- Train staff on new double-checking procedures
- Monitor and measure error reduction periodically
- Create a standardized double-entry system protocol
14. OKRs to minimize inaccuracies in financial statements
- Minimize inaccuracies in financial statements
- Decrease financial statement errors by 20%
- Regularly review and correct financial statements
- Implement rigorous bookkeeping training for accounting staff
- Incorporate robust financial auditing software
- Train finance team on latest reporting guidelines within 1 month
- Plan training sessions to cover these updates
- Identify recent changes in financial reporting guidelines
- Execute planned training for finance team
- Implement new audit checklist for 100% of statements
- Train auditors to properly utilize the new checklist
- Implement checklist across all statement reviews
- Develop comprehensive audit checklist aligned with financial statement requirements
15. OKRs to boost efficiency in preparing financial statements
- Boost efficiency in preparing financial statements
- Decrease statement errors by 20% through improved training and software implementation
- Regularly evaluate and update statement production methods
- Implement in-depth training sessions on statement generation
- Procure advanced software for accurate statement production
- Reduce financial statement preparation time by 15% from its current average
- Streamline data collection procedures for efficiency
- Train team on efficient financial statement preparation skills
- Implement automated accounting software for faster data processing
- Implement a new financial statement software to automate at least 50% of tasks
- Research and select the most suitable financial statement software
- Monitor and evaluate software's effectiveness regularly
- Train employees on how to use this new software
Accounting OKR best practices to boost success
Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.
Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇
Tip #1: Limit the number of key results
Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.
We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.
Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRsTip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins
Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparencyTip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row
Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.
As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.
Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.
How to turn your Accounting OKRs in a strategy map
OKRs without regular progress updates are just KPIs. You'll need to update progress on your OKRs every week to get the full benefits from the framework. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:
- It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
- It will highlight poorly set OKRs
- It will surface execution risks
- It improves transparency and accountability
Most teams should start with a spreadsheet if they're using OKRs for the first time. Then, once you get comfortable you can graduate to a proper OKRs-tracking tool.
Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRsIf you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.
More Accounting OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to improve time management and task prioritization
- OKRs to enhance technical proficiency and efficiency as a Cloud Architect
- OKRs to improve efficiency of payroll processing metrics
- OKRs to implement a federated quality model successfully
- OKRs to uphold highest product quality standards
- OKRs to enhance our company's overall sustainability management practices
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: What is the meaning of OKRs
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples
What's next? Try Tability's goal-setting AI
You can create an iterate on your OKRs using Tability's unique goal-setting AI.
Watch the demo below, then hop on the platform for a free trial.