CPA Practice Advisor

MAY 2015

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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BRIDGING THE GAP By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP May 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 25 Is Your Firm Using Electronic Signatures? Now think about the steps you've asked your client to do in order to complete this task. Open the docu- ment, print, physically sign on the line, scan it back into digital format, atach it in an email and send it back. Ye s , t h e s e s t e p s a r e n ' t o v e r l y demanding and likely won't lead to any workers comp claims, but they a re c u mbersome a nd completely unnecessary. An Easier Way Technology has once again simpli- fed the entire document signature process. Electronic signature tools allows the document, whatever it m ay be , to be sig ned a ny w here , any time v ia a computer, tablet or smart phone. Clients simply open the document and tap to electroni- cally apply their signature. A nd your frm has the beneft of tracking the signature status as well as the ability to easily send reminders. You can a l s o a u t o m a t e t h e p r o c e s s f o r obtaining multiple signatures on a single document and monitor the progress of the signature chain. Shorten the Cycle B y e l i m i n a t i n g t h e o b s t a c l e s requ i red to sig n a doc u ment we increase the likelihood of success a nd s hor t e n t he c yc le . W he n it comes to sales, shortened cycles are always beter because it frees you up to focus on more prospects, reduces the chance the potential client will change their mind and limits the opportunities for a breakdown in the sales process. A nother way the electronic signa- t u re proces s helps you e x ped ite t u r n i n g p r o p o s a l s i n t o s i g n e d engagement leters is that you can catch prospects while they are in a buying mood. If you're face-to-face they can sign the engagement leter right on your tablet. Even over the phone, you can send the document for esignature and have them sign while you're still on the line. Changing Expectations Consumerization of technolog y is c h a n g i n g t h e e x p e c t a t i o n s o f employees and clients. With mobile devices readily at our fngertips, the ability and expectation to be able to complete tasks on-the-go is growing. Tis has been happening for quite some time in other industries such as real estate, mortgage, healthcare a nd i n s u r a nc e , but it 's ju s t now s t a r t i n g t o g a i n t r a c t ion i n t he accou nt i ng profession . I f you've purchased a house recently you have probably ex per ienced t he conve- nience of signing documents elec- t r o n i c a l l y. A s t h i s t e c h n o l o g y be c ome s more per v a s i ve i n ou r everyday lives, the expectations will only grow stronger. More than Just 8879 Signifcant time and resources are spent every tax season managing the process of gathering client signa- tures. For the last couple of years many accounting frms have taken a wait-and-see approach to electronic signatures as they waited for I R S approval on Form 8879. Last year, by accepting electronic signatures, the IRS cleared the way to eliminate the archaic and counter-productive process of requiring a ta x payer to physically sign Form 8879 in order to electronically fle their tax return. Fi r ms a re a lso seei ng benef it s from using electronic signatures in the engagement leter process with clients and internal work fow docu- ments. Other frms have used them to get t hei r pa r t ner a g re ement s sig ned i n mu lt i-of f ice sit uat ions where they were previously mailing paper documents around. In doing so the frms are recognizing signif- cant efciency gains. If your frm has not looked into esignature tools or has been taking the wait-and-see approach, I would e nc ou r a ge you to g r a b t h i s low hanging fruit. It w ill improve ef- ciency, shorten the signature cycle and improve the overall signature ex perience for clients, employees and yourself. Jim Boomer is a shareholder and the CIO for Boomer Consulting , Inc. He is the director of the Boomer Technology Circles™ and an expert on managing technology within an accounting frm. He also serves as a strategic planning and technology consultant and frm adviser in the areas of performance and risk management. In addition, Jim is leading a new program, Te Producer Circle, in collaboration with CPA2BIZ and the AICPA. jim.boomer@cpapracticeadvisor.com S o you think you're a progres- sive firm, right? You're com- mitted to going digital and eliminating, or at least mini- mizing , paper. Your engage- ment leters are all electronic and are emailed to clients and prospects for signature.

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