Last week the Accrual World Team made a promise. Fewer posts about the recession*.

One post later and we’ve failed abysmally, but we found the story about KPMG trying to cut staff hours too interesting to ignore.

In the current climate it’s refreshing to see an employer recognising the importance of staff as their main asset and looking at means other than redundancy to streamline the business.

We wondered if this came down to the way in which accountants approach problems. Are they just naturally aware that a little bit here and a little bit there can prove vastly more effective than going crazy with a cleaver and chopping off essential appendages?

So what other practices could be adopted?

In our daily encounters with accountants we’ve heard suggestions ranging from half days working from home (supposedly staff treat time travelling to and from work as ‘office’ time anyway), outsourcing administration work, or even psychological profiling of staff to make sure they’re working in their most effective role!

So what do you think should be the focus on the prepared practice? The staff, the systems or the overheads?

* We also decided we won’t use the term Credit Crunch. It sounds like a chocolate bar.