10 Amazing Tools for Training New Team Members

When you hire a new team member, there is an onboarding period during which they get to know your clients, learn about their role and get up to speed with your firm’s ways of working. The onboarding process can last anywhere from one week to a few months. Effective onboarding and training take time, but this period is critical to ensure your new starters become valuable assets to your organisation. 

One of the best ways to ensure the process is successful is to use online onboarding and training tools. Today, we’re exploring some of the best tools available to accounting and bookkeeping firms to accelerate your onboarding process and set your team up for success.

10 tools to support the effective training of new team members

There are countless innovative tools available to help you train new team members. Even better, many of them are free to use! Here are some of the best tools accounting and bookkeeping firms can use to train new team members:

1. Trainual

Trainual is a fantastic tool that makes onboarding new team members a breeze. With Trainual, you turn best practices into standard operating procedures to make sure training is consistent across the firm. 

But that’s not all. This tool also offers a searchable and trackable team handbook. The handbook shows you who has viewed the company policies (these can cover everything from best practices to rules about pets in the office) and tests whether your team members have understood its contents.

Onboarding isn’t only about learning company processes. Educating new team members about your firm’s mission and values is also essential. Trainual allows you to outline valuable information for new team members, creating transparency around what your company stands for. 

2. Loom

One of the best tools for training new team members is Loom. This video recording tool is especially valuable if your team works in a remote or hybrid environment.

 Loom lets you record quick videos of your screen and camera, generating a link that allows you to easily share the video with your colleagues. These videos can be organised into categorised folders to create onboarding packs or guides. For example, you can record a Loom video demonstrating how to request annual leave via your HR system to form part of an HR guidance pack.

Creating Loom videos for new team members is a great way to save time and communicate information in a way that is easy to digest. Swap time-consuming meetings with quick, informative videos that new team members can re-watch when needed. 

3. Mercia

Mercia is one of the leading providers of training services in the UK accounting profession. The organisation offers face-to-face training, virtual classroom events, and on-demand online recordings. Mercia is an excellent training tool because it offers flexible accounting and bookkeeping-specific courses that will help your new team members succeed in their roles.

New hires can join virtual classrooms and watch on-demand videos exploring topics such as audit planning and completion, probate and estate administration, bookkeeping principles, family tax planning, and more.

4. Pixie

Joining a new accounting and bookkeeping firm just got easier for new team members. Another excellent tool is Pixie (that’s us!), an accounting and bookkeeping practice management software. Pixie offers everything you need to manage clients efficiently, such as CRM, task management, workflow management, document signing, client onboarding, and automation tools. 

Plus, Pixie’s client management software provides users one central place to manage all client relationships and communications, so nothing slips through the cracks. 

Once new team members are up to speed, Pixie will help them increase their productivity and consistency by turning workflows into detailed processes containing instructions, checklists, links, images, and training videos. All the information your new team members need to succeed in their role is at their fingertips.

5. Zoom

If your new team members work from home, you’ll need to find a reliable video calling tool to help you keep in close contact. One of the best tools available is Zoom. This video communications tool offers a range of valuable features, including video meetings, phone calls, web chats, Zoom rooms and webinars.

Zoom is suitable for organisations of all sizes, and offers versatile solutions, whether you’re training one new team member or a large group. For the former, one-on-one video calls will suffice, and for the latter, a webinar-style set-up will ensure you have the tools to effectively train multiple people at once. Plus, you can record your Zoom meetings and repurpose them for future training.

6. Slack

It’s vital that new team members have quick and easy access to others who can help them if they run into problems. This is where a communication tool such as Slack can make all the difference

Slack is a fantastic tool for streamlining work communication and creating a collaborative and supportive environment. Users can easily see who is currently online and join group channels. Dozens of integrations, such as a connection with Google Drive, make Slack an all-in-one communication tool that easily fits into your existing tech stack. With Slack, new team members can quickly contact their colleagues to ask for help, access important documentation and ease into their new workplace’s culture.

7. Docebo

If you have multiple new starters to train at once, you may find Docebo particularly useful. This workplace learning software is powered by artificial intelligence and allows users to create personalised accounting and bookkeeping training resources and content for team members. Some of Docebo’s best features include an extensive learning content library, training management, progress tracking, and reporting tools. 

You can create new content specific to your business, such as onboarding documents or training videos. It’s also vital that accounting firms give team members cybersecurity training. With Docebo, you can create cybersecurity training content that is tailored to your organisation. 

Plus, team members can refer back to the content whenever they need it. However, if you don’t have the time or resources to create training materials, the platform provides free content and courses to help you upskill your team.

8. Cloud Academy

As ways of working adapt to modern practices, accounting companies are beginning to adopt new technologies. For example, many accounting firms are experimenting with cloud accounting, which encourages growth. That means new team members must be trained to use these new tools, which is where Cloud Academy comes in handy. 

This online training solution allows accounting and bookkeeping firms to visualise and build tech skills by team or ability based on the needs of its team members. So, if your firm does not have the in-house resources to train team members on your new cloud-based software, using Cloud Academy can fill that gap. 

9. Charlie

Charlie is an HR software solution designed to make the process of onboarding new starters as simple as possible. The platform automates the admin process by collecting new team members’ details for you and ensures the process is consistent, efficient, and compliant with the law.

Charlie allows accounting and bookkeeping firms to reduce time spent on HR admin tasks. For example, you can automate repetitive tasks, safely store confidential documents, conduct performance reviews, and offer perks and benefits. Using Charlie to streamline HR processes will ensure that new hires are seamlessly onboarded, helping them feel valued.

10. Auzmor Learn

Accounting firms looking to streamline training processes should consider using Auzmor Learn. This training tool allows users to create courses, share learning content, and monitor team performance. 

The easy-to-use course builder helps accounting and bookkeeping firms build training content that fits their needs. For example, if your firm needed to create training resources that explain the importance of accounting information systems to new recruits, Auzmor Learn could help. 

With Auzmor Learn, you can create a course that quickly and effectively covers everything your new hires need to know, from the importance of accounting information systems to how to use workflow templates. This gives new team members all the information they need to hit the ground running.

The pros and cons of tools for training

Final thoughts on choosing a training tool for new team members

You might be wondering how much time accounting team members should spend on training per week. After the first few weeks of onboarding and training, just 10 minutes each week should be enough to keep your team members on the path to success. Choosing the right training tools can help them make the most of this time.

Effectively training your new team members is essential to the long-term success of your accounting or bookkeeping firm. By using one or more of these amazing training tools, your new starters will feel confident that they have the support needed to succeed in their roles.