Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/411648
6 November 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FROM THE TRENCHES Note t h at a produc t l i ke R e s u lt s CR M interfaces two way with Con- sta nt Contac t to ea se ema i l ca m- paigns and also has a two way integra- t ion i nto Q u ick Book s. T here a re some niche oferings where Results CR M can be a product that both you and your clients can use. Approach a few of your tr usted clients w ith the new of fer ing , and convert them from your traditional services model to your new collabora- tive accounting model. You'll discover that you probably have a prety large number of clients in your base that are willing to pay you more for this service t ha n you were c ha rg i ng for a t a x return. As noted above, many frms a r e f i n d i n g t h a t c o l l a b o r a t i v e accounting is paying more than small compilation, review or audit engage- ments. Remember that you can staf this part of the practice with non-CPA, par t time, work at home, and out - sourced labor sources. Consider the Solutions To have an ef fective col laborative accou nt i ng solut ion, t he produc t must be available via the Internet, or as is common ly said today " in the Cloud." Tere are approximately 300 accounting sofware products sold in the U.S. market. A round 40 products are sold that are Sofware as a Service (SaaS noted in options below) that run completely in a web browser. As a rule, the SaaS products w ill have fewer features than the traditional products ofered by publishers during the last 20-30 years. Most of the products that can be installed in-house are also ofered in a hosted version today and can be accessed with cloud tools like Citrix. Further, the pricing of these t r a d i t i o n a l o n p r e m i s e p r o d u c t s i s u s u a l l y a v a i l a b l e i n t w o f o r m s : m o n t h l y s ubsc r ipt ion or p u r c h a s e w i t h a n nu a l m a i nt e - nance. ENTRY LEVEL PRODUCTS TODAY INCLUDE: • ACCOUNTING POWER (SAAS) – a product ofered through accounting frms that has good accounting capability including payroll. • CYMA – notable for the payroll and human resources capabilities and low cost of ownership. • I N T U I T Q U I C K B O O K S A N D QUICKBOOKS ONLINE (SAAS) – both are U.S. market leaders in their respec- tive categories. Tere is automation for integration into Online Tax, Lacerte and ProSeries. • S A G E 5 0 P R O, P R E M I E R A N D QUANTUM – Good inventory, costing, payroll and reporting capabilities make this product an atractive choice for slightly larger organizations that need more users. • THOMSON ACS – Tis is a complete solution that has a client portal, col- laborative accounting and integration into the back end ta x product of UltraTax. • WAVE (SAAS) – a free SaaS product with good accountant access and a payroll option. SMALL TO MEDIUM BUSINESS (SMB) PRODUCTS TODAY INCLUDE: • INTACCT (SAAS) – promoted by the AICPA's CPA2Biz unit, this product has inventory, costing and third party integration as well as entr y level accounting capability. • MICROSOFT DYNAMICS GP, SL, NAV AND AX – Microsof has four diferent oferings with unique capabilities in each of the product lines. Dynamics G P i s w e l l k n o w n f o r g e n e r a l accounting, costing and inventory. Te NAV and AX lines have the most customization capability. • NETSUITE (SAAS) – this publicly held company has good CRM and eCom- merce integration in their ofering. It also handles international currencies. • OPEN SYSTEMS TRAVERSE – a product that has good personalization capabilities, and has specialties in a number of verticals including not for proft, services, distribution and fex- ible packaging. • SAGE 100, 300 AND X3 – Sage has more installations in the U.S. market and globally than any other accounting sofware publisher. Tese products are frequently used in distribution and manufacturing and have broad third party support to fit many vertical markets. • S A P B U S I N E S S B Y D E S I G N (SAAS) – a comprehensive, integrated fnancial and distribution product that offers a multi-perspective GL for unique reporting needs. T hese ex a mples a re not recom- mendations, because we believe you need a reasonable system selection process to ft a product to your needs. However, CPA frms are fnding great success w ith a number of diferent produc t s . T he k e y i s to wor k on fnding a ft for your market. What To Do If you determine your frm wants to enter this market, follow the steps above. Consider reaching out to an organization that can help you build your practice by providing some of the tools needed. Once you under- stand some of your options and the process, build an appropriate busi- ness plan model. Spend a few days in demonstrations of how the potential products f it your needs. Negotiate your license agreements, make the decision, and implement. Vendors w ill do ever y thing they can to shorten the sales cycle and get you to make a decision fast. Tis is to their advantage as a method to elimi- nate the competition. If a product is a good ft now, it will be a good ft later. Don't overa na ly ze, but t he worst mistake of all is not spending enough time on deter m in ing your cl ient's needs, how your practice can satisfy these needs and how you can build a repeatable operation. Be thorough in your planning, and you will save a lot of time and mis- steps. Further, you will build a valu- able service to your clients and enjoy more proftability along the way. ENTERPRISE (9,000 Companies) LARGE SMB (100,000 Companies) MEDIUM SMB (600,000 Companies) SMALL SMB (3.2M Companies) ENTRY (23M Companies) Employees 2,500+ >$1B Revenue Employees 500-2,500 $250M-$1B Revenue Employees 100-499 $50M-$250M Revenue Employees 5-99 $1-50M Revenue Employees 1-4 <$1M Revenue