Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/44903
TECHNOLOGY IN PRACTICE W ABCs of Capturing Best Practices We've all seen the statistics that point to the incredible brain drain that will occur in the accounting profession over the next decade, and most fi rms have experienced the loss of a key person that leſt the fi rm, taking with them key knowledge or experience that the fi rm wishes they would have captured. Without a systematic process to document this knowledge, the brain drain will continue. Firms must make a conscientious eff ort to capture best practices to protect the fi rm for the future. T is knowledge capture needs to go beyond the standard manual provided by the accounting application vendors to include all of the fi rm's processes and custom-developed procedures for each of the production workfl ows. It should also be in a format that can be used not only for training, but live guidance when personnel are working in the offi ce or in the fi eld. Document Workfl ow & Opportunities Now is the perfect time to debrief the production processes of the previous busy season and identify opportunities for new applications or workfl ow processes. Firms should chart out the steps it takes to process work. For example, they should take a look within the tax practice, beginning with the acceptance of a client, creation of their organizer, how their information is received and processed, all the way through delivery of the fi nal return and invoice. T e fi rm should then evaluate bot lenecks and identify today's solutions by having key production personnel network with peer accountants, view webinars and at end training from their tax, audit and accounting application providers. Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP is president of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. and works exclusively with CPA fi rms to imple- ment today's leading best practices and technologies. Roman authored "Quantum of Paperless, a Partner's Guide to Accounting Firm Optimization" which is available at Amazon.com. 34 34 November 2011 November 2011 • ww Identify Expertise & Existing Knowledge Each firm has per- sonnel that everyone goes to with questions on applications, and these individuals are oſt en measurably more efficient than peers because they just have the system fi gured out. T ese are your experts, and they should be the ones called upon to explore best practices, attend training and document thei r knowledge in a format that can be easily shared. Usually, these experts are also the most likely to be aware of the resources and documentation the fi rm already has captured, which can be in the format of physical manuals, digital forms stored on the intranet, or documented processes saved somewhere as a Word fi le. T ese resources should all be accumulated and "fl ow charted" so the fi rm has a good starting point for understanding visually what they are doing today. ABC Prioritization for Success Once the fi rm experts have documented each workfl ow, it is important to take an independent look at each individual step and rate the fi rm on how well they are doing. An "A" step is one that is documented, everyone understands and for which fi rmwide training has been provided. A "B" step is one that some personnel have figured out, but the process is not documented or personnel throughout the fi rm have not been trained on that process. "C" steps are those that everyone in the fi rm agrees are ineffi cient and new applications or processes must be explored to see if there is a viable solution for the fi rm to adopt. Each department should identify the ABCs within their workfl ow and then prioritize each grouping based on which items would have the greatest impact on improving fi rm productivity, taking into account the amount of eff ort and resources needed. In most cases, the "A" items just need to be organized within the context of the documented department workfl ow and with minor customization to the fi rm's fi le naming and network directory conventions to be standardized. T e fi rm would then allocate time to the identifi ed experts for the "B" steps until the best practices for that step are well documented and fi rm personnel are trained. In most cases, the expert is among the most in demand within their department. I suggest that at least four hours per week be allocated (based on ONE OF THE KEY DIFFERENTIATORS OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE FIRMS IS THAT THEY IDENTIFY AND CAPTURE STANDARDIZED BEST PRACTICES THAT PROMOTE EFFICIENCY. that person's availability) for them to focus on standard- izing that step until it becomes an "A." For this process to be successful, the expert should be given "chargeable" credit so it is valued as highly as client work, because the reality is that each captured practice will make the entire fi rm more standardized and more productive. T is time should also be focused, meaning it may be best to block out a conference room or work remotely to minimize external distractions and interruptions. While the fi rm's "A"s and "B"s are being documented, www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com the department can address the prioritized "C" items, which will require outside personnel, training and vendor resources to resolve (and usually require expenditures and CPE that must be approved by the partner group). By specifi cally documenting the possible solutions to a "C" step and the educational resources that can provide the solution (articles, webinar, vendor training, user conference), the partners can outline expectations that can then be used to justify any expense and time requirements. T e ABC prioritization process should be repeated annually to evaluate and adopt new tools and technology processes. Best Practices Identifi cation I have found the most eff ective processes to identify and evaluate best practices come from vendor webinars and user conferences that are validated by peer accountants. Each fall, the major vendors have user conferences and webinars that introduce new products and off er end-user sessions to discuss optimization of current tools. By at ending, fi rm experts can be educated on what is possible as well as be exposed to trainers and end users who have already implemented these processes. By networking with such individuals, the expert can confi rm the best practices are working and possibly get access to already developed documented procedures that the fi rm can customize to its needs. Knowledge Documentation T e key to capturing best practices is to put them into a format where they can be eff ectively utilized by all personnel whenever and wherever they need it. By default, this would be a digital document that is stored on the fi rm intranet, local hard drive or portal. Most fi rms store these documents in a searchable PDF or Word documents so keywords can be used to fi nd information. In addition to explaining the process in a textual context, it is important to integrate actual screen captures of processes that show the menu options, firms' network directories and file naming conventions. For fi rms still on Windows XP, tools such as SNAG-IT and Camtasia can capture images in condensed format. Windows 7 has an integrated "Snipping" tool. T e documentation should be developed so that it can be utilized not only as a reference guide, but also for training of new personnel. By exposing them to best practices in a centralized format available online, they will learn to rely on that resource whenever they have questions and can access it at their own convenience. One of the key diff erentiators of the most eff ective fi rms is that they identify and capture standardized best practices that promote effi ciency (and profi tability) in such a way that every person in the fi rm can take advantage of them. By prioritizing the ABCs of workfl ow, fi rms can start a process to capture best practices before they walk out the door.