Author: Becky Rogers Content Writer for Accountants

Published: 7th May 2025

Team members making mistakes on your clients’ work on behalf of you and your accounting firm is something that happens. And, if you are honest, probably happens more times than you would like. But what sets successful accounting firm owners apart is you handle the team member’s mistake. Do you ignore them? Beat yourself up? Or do you take charge, learn quickly, and use the experience to future-proof your accounting firm

I think you know the answer already…

This blog is about turning around a mistake into something positive.  Of course, at the time, the last thing you may be thinking is positively. After all, you’d be human if you didn’t think about swearing or getting frustrated with the team member who made the mistake!

How you deal with the error really does matter. If you go hard on the problem, not the person, you can use the team member mistake to strengthen relationships within your team, help build more resilient work flows and also deepen client relationships.

Real-world lessons from real accountants

The advice in this blog isn’t just theory. It’s based on real experiences shared by members of the Accountants’ Growth Club during a recent Members’ Morning session. Our members are accounting professionals (accountants, tax advisors, Portfolio FDs and bookkeepers) are all growing their firm. That means servicing clients, leading and managing people, winning work and dealing with the major and minor crises; such as handling mistakes by team members. Their stories and insights bring a powerful, practical perspective that you won’t find in a textbook. And that’s why we’ve broken down those lessons into the following steps to help you handle mistakes from your team members with confidence and leadership.

These are the leadership habits we see time and again in our members who are growing profitable, resilient firms.

Step 1: Own the mistake, early and clearly

Mistakes left unspoken fester, so don’t bury your head in the sand, hoping that they will just disappear. Trust us, they won’t, and they will cause far more damage than good. Everyone is human, mistakes happen, and believe it or not, your clients don’t expect perfection. They do, however, expect honesty.

As one member pointed out during our Member Mornings session, taking responsibility immediately is crucial while maintaining professionalism. Their advice?

• Let the client know as soon as possible.
• Be clear about what went wrong.
• Give a timeline for resolving the issue.
• Commit to following up with a resolution by a specific date.

When you are handling mistakes from team members in your accounting firm, it’s important to be open and transparent. This is key to building trust. As another of our accounting firm members, put it on our members’ morning discussion, “When we show clients we’ll put it right on our own time, we regain control of the situation.” Clients remember that, and so does your team.

A recent mistake came to light in our business. We checked the invoices and realised we had billed a member incorrectly for the last 6 months. This mistake led to a conversation with the member. The club then offered to reduce what they owed by 50% to own the mistake. The member was happy but also apologetic as they realised they should have noticed the billing mistake.

Step 2: Use frustration to fix the real problem

Frustration is a natural reaction to mistakes, but your job as the accountancy firm owner isn’t to yell, shout or scream. Or even play the blame game with this. Yes, mistakes by your team members are frustrating, but they’re also a form of feedback. During our members’ morning this message about handling team member mistakes came out clearly:

“Frustration is usually a sign that something deeper needs fixing.”

When a mistake is made, your aim is to go hard on the problem and process rather than the team member who made the mistake. This means trying to look under the surface and understand what went wrong and why that mistake was made. Mistakes are a signal that you need to make improvements. After your name is above the door of your firm. For example:

• Is the process clunky?
• Are roles or expectations unclear?
• Are deadlines unrealistic?
• Do my accounting firm’s team members feel that they can talk to me when a mistake happens?
• Are our processes designed so that mistakes are picked up before they get to a client?

Then, you can address the root cause and implement changes to prevent it from happening again.

Mario – our Growth Expert with over 15 years experience of helping accounting firms grow and scale – leading the session added a great reminder here: if you let your frustration or resentment show, your team will pull back. Why? Because people disengage or switch off when they feel negatively or unfairly judged. Instead, he suggested,

“Walk the walk. Show them how to handle pressure and mistakes the right way, and they will adopt the behaviours and the culture of continuous improvement that you want to foster.”

Read: Psychological Safety: The game changer when you are leading a high performing virtual team

Step 3: Zoom out and keep it in perspective

In the heat of the moment, one mistake on a client matter can feel like the end of the world. The fear of having a PI claim against your firm is always near the top of your mind. However, a mistake from a team member on a clients’ matter is not the end of the world. It’s important to remember that. Our members realised that even when a mistake leads to a client’s loss, it often comes with a silver lining:

“Sometimes the clients we lose aren’t the ones we wanted to keep.” 

While upsetting, this perspective shift can be powerful when a team member’s mistake threaten to send you into a “doom cycle” of self-doubt. You wouldn’t be the first or last accounting firm owner to worry about the ‘what if’ when a mistake is made.

Our members agreed on the importance of this step when handling mistakes from team members in your accounting firm. They noted that mistakes whilst frustrating do offer you clarity. By simply stepping back and reviewing the bigger picture, they show you what (and who) is working and not working, and they force tough decisions you might otherwise avoid.

Yes, this is often easier said than done. However, this mindset is essential if you are going to step up and lead your accounting firm. When you are operating as a leader, you will take the longer term view. After all your accountancy firm is bigger and more important than the fall out of handling a mistake from a team member.

Our members love the fact they have many opportunities to use other members as a sounding board. It helps them keep these types of problems in perspective.

For example, Mark Hughes, owner of SUMX, recently said about his club membership:

As much as the financial benefits are the reasons for joining, there are many more benefits you receive, such as the community and support from other members. Knowing I am not alone and there are other people further along on their journey that you can reach out to.”

Step 4: Protect your energy so you can remain calm when dealing with team member’s mistakes

One of the most powerful takeaways from the Members Morning session was the importance of self-care. Why? Because you can’t lead well if you’re running on empty.

As one member eloquently put it,

“Taking time to focus on your well-being can transform how you handle challenges.”

And they had first-hand experience in this. They shared that after taking a 10-day break, they were able to reset and come back sharper with a greater capacity to tackle issues.

You can’t do your best best thinking or decision-making when you are exhausted. It’s a lot harder to bite your tongue and remain calm when you are shattered and realising that a team member has made an embarrassing mistake. Your body has a way of keeping score with these things. You can’t drink from an empty cup. And the tough side of leading and managing people in your accounting firm is when team members make mistakes. How you react when you handle the mistake can literally make or break your firm’s culture and morale. After all, your other team members will be watching to see how you handle the team member and their mistake. They will be thinking “this could be me in the future”. If they don’t like how you handle the team member’s mistake – either too leniently or too harshly – they may start planning their exit from your business.

A good way to think about this, particularly as the owner of an accounting firm, is to think of yourself like a car in need of regular maintenance. After all your car has a regular service. It’s the same with you. Prioritise self care and you’ll be able to drive your accountancy firm forward more effectively (and for longer).

Knowing when enough is enough

Let’s be real: not every mistake is a growth opportunity. Neither is there a silver lining in every cloud. If someone on your team keeps making the same mistakes or dodging responsibility, you have to step in. That means taking some formal action.

In the session, members discussed the importance of knowing the “tipping point” in the session; the point when informal feedback hasn’t worked, and it’s time to formalise the process. Typically there will be a number of red flags which lead up to this “tipping point”. For example:

• Is there a pattern of blame-shifting? (i.e. a lack of accountability)
• Are actions agreed upon but not followed through? 
• Are the same mistakes by this team member popping up again and again?

This is where being an accounting firm owner takes courage. Start documenting mistakes and make your expectations clear. If the behaviour doesn’t change, protect your firm by moving into formal performance management. Sometimes, letting someone go is the right next step, not just for you, but for your team.

Read: Why you need to plan to protect your firm when a key fee earner leaves (and 5 steps to do it)

You need to step up and lead your team

The strongest accounting firm owners don’t try to avoid all mistakes. Making and handling mistakes is all part of the journey to grow your accounting firm. What really matters is how you handle the mistake after it has happened. Here are some standout quotes from our Accountants’ Growth Club members from the members’ morning discussion that sum it up:

• “Hold back your reaction and respond constructively.”
• “Don’t let mistakes drain your energy. Focus on staying strong.”
• “Take ownership and don’t let emotions take over.”
• “Admit your mistakes; it’s disarming and restores control.”
• “Address the process, not the person – until the red flags appear.”

These aren’t just soundbites. They are the habits that underpin good leadership behaviours and traits. And they’re exactly what we help our members put into action inside the Accountants’ Growth Club.

What good practice for handling mistakes from a team member looks like

Mistakes, while uncomfortable, are inevitable in any growing business. Particularly one where you are trusted to deal with business owners’ financial affairs! The key is how you respond to them and how you lead through them. If you’re serious about growing your firm, then you need to look at mistakes as more than just speed bumps; they’re signals. They tell you how to lead better, communicate clearly, and tighten things up in your business.

If you want to build a firm that doesn’t just survive mistakes but grows from them, we can help. Our Growth Experts are there for those moments where mistakes happen. They can give you that all important sense of perspective before you end up doing something you later regret.

About Becky Rogers

Becky Rogers has spent the last 10+ years writing copy and content for Accounting firm owners and Accounting specialists. Over the last 5 years she’s written copy for over 30 accountants’ websites. Connect with Becky here on LinkedIn