Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/116963
FROM THE TRENCHES Something Else the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1999, you should consider allowing your clients to sign documents electronically. Tis is currently not permissible for that bane of tax documents the 8879, but it certainly can work for engagement leters and other documents needed by the frm. Leading producers of software are including technologies like Adobe EchoSign, Topaz signature pads, DocuSign, Rpost or CloudX inside their products to ease the signature process. But what if your clients refuse to use your website and portal capability? Is there a viable alternative? We actually believe there may be using encrypted email. Te oferings f r om C PA S a f e M a i l , S e c u r e d Accountant, RPost, or ZixMail may provide an encrypted and safe way to transfer fles from the client to the frm or vice versa. Of course, it is in the frm���s best interest from a workfow and process perspective to have everything fowing through a portal. But if a client isn���t comfortable with using a portal after you have explained the benefts, then using a simple email encryption tool is at least a safe alternative. Beyond encrypted email, you���ll find that providers like SmartVault and Ziptr will have alternatives that serve as a nice bridge between email and a portal. Further, look for tools that have integrated their tool into Outlook or other email sofware just like ShareFile and SmartVault do. The Results Interaction with your client should be easy and become a second nature to both team members in the frm and clients. Understanding the workfow will take training on procedures among your team members. Review your processes and make sure that you refne the processes to accommodate the new electronic transfer and fling methods. Eliminate unnecessar y steps. Tink about how processing will take place when the technology doesn���t work, which isn���t ofen. Planning for continuing work, which the computer industry calls business continuity, will help you realize that processing payroll a day or two before it is due can really help reduce daily stress. Doing client activities or processing at the last minute is error prone and leads to lower quality work. For those of you that process tax, think about how you ofen refuse to take last minute tax work or you choose to accept the work at a premium rate. Are you taking that last minute return because you needed more to do or just wanted to have some ex tra f un? How much fun is it if all of your technology stops working for the last three days before any tax deadline? Your portal can become mission critical to your client and to the frm. If neither portals nor email work for your frm, think about an alternate method to get the information you need from a client. Tere have been hundreds of articles written about Cloud Computing and the benefts of working collaboratively in the Cloud. Perhaps systems for accounting, payroll, workf low and document management could all live in the cloud. This year, we will see tools such as itDuzzit, which begin to hook these separate systems together. One thing we don���t see is increased use of paper documents between clients and the frm. One fnal note: for a portal to work best, it has to be integrated into your website. If you don���t have an acceptable website, it is way past time that action needs to be taken to correct that. In the old days, we spent a lot of money on yellow page advertising. Most of us maintain our ofces as a pleasant and atractive place to work and we���d be pleased to host a client at our ofce. Does your website look like a place you���d bring a client? At the risk of an inappropriate analogy, if you were tr y ing to impress a prospective spouse, would you feel comfortable showing that person your website? Sometimes clients are dating you on your website and if you don���t make a great impression, they will frequently move on. Our tradition in the CPA profession is not one of marketing or stealing clients, but if an ���A��� t y pe c l ient i s look i ng a rou nd , wouldn���t you like to have your frm considered? The Opportunity Think about your preferred work style, your image, and the tools that you use. Get your website, collaborative tools, portal, and email encryption tools right. Train your staf and your clients on how to do business with you. All of these things will make it easier to do business with you. Further, there is high probability that this will reduce your work load and enable the frm to provide beter client service. April 2013 ��� www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 13