Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/528834
6 June/July 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FROM THE TRENCHES time has been spent developing complex capabilities. For example, Epicor ERP, with the ability to be deployed in the cloud, in house or moved between either environment, has the f lexibility and depth inside the product, usually without third party add-ons, to work well in a number of vertical industries. Te Open Systems TRVERSE product was the frst product ofered on subscription pricing, instead of the traditional purchase and annual maintenance model, and has evolved into a hosted ofering as well. Competitors w ill claim that newer is beter, and that they are not burdened by older technologies or limited by a large client base, doing things a "beter" way. While that may be true, "beter" may just be "diferent" and not contribute to business operational efciency. It is probably wise to note that most SaaS oferings in the market today are ten years old or older and that most tradi- tional products are thirty years old or more. I know a lot of really fne, sharp ten- year- olds, but I trust the capabilities and knowl- edge of a thirty-year-old more. Some systems are mostly complete from a single vendor, such as those sold by Epicor, Sage, Microsof, and Open Sys- tems while others require several third party products to get the job done. Make sure you add up the costs of all of the modules/tools/third party products to do the entire job, and spread the costs over at least a 7 to 10 year period. Unfortunately, almost all accounting s o f t w a r e p r o d u c t s n e e d a d d i t i o n a l reporting tools to provide sufcient man- agement information for budgeting and reporting purposes. A number of these systems can be used stand-alone or without being integrated to an accounting sofware system. Examples here include: • Avalara – Sales and Use Tax sofware to support a SALT practice • Bill.com – an AP/AR tool that integrates to a number of systems • Biznet Sofware – an Excel based reporting tool • Microsof Power BI – an Excel based business intelligence tool • Microstrategy – analytics including big data and mobile • Palo Alto Live Plan – a budgeting and planning tool • Prophix – a reporting and budgeting tool • Results CR M – Business development integrated to QuickBooks and other products, with project management • SageView – a consolidated dashboard for clients on QuickBooks and Sage systems • SalesForce – a customizable CR M product that made SaaS popular • Tallie – expense reporting with forms recognition Why Does This Make a Differ- ence to Our Firms and Clients? We can provide more proactive information to help clients make beter business deci- sions if we can see the data more readily and more ofen. While most accountants remain in the compliance business, a few have ventured into the repeatable business model of accounting and payroll services. Ofen, a single system is chosen to create repeat- able processes even if work-arounds are required. Most frms solve this problem by focusing on a single vertical market so less capabilities are needed in the sofware and more familiarity is gained on how these types of businesses work. Even fewer accountants have chosen the interesting work of being a true outsourced Cont rol ler or C FO for la rger c l ient s . Industry CPAs understand right away that their roles are broad and important in most organizations. Appropriate negotiations with banks and financial organizations, ha nd l i ng r i sk ma nagement i nc lud i ng selecting insurance coverage, contract negotiations, human resources, information technology, and, oh yes, accounting, costing a nd re por t i n g , f re q uent l y f a l l to t he accountants inside organizations or to the outsourced CFO. However, many businesses still need outside accounting expertise even if they have one or more CPAs on their teams. Plus, cont rol lers a nd C FOs need t he more sophisticated tools illustrated above to do their jobs efectively and well. Better Results for Team Members and Clients Alike One size does not f it al l in accounting sofware, just like one person can't do it all. P r o p e r l y s e l e c t e d a nd i m pl e me nt e d accounting products allow us to manage operations, improve the botom line and satisf y customer demands and business goals and objectives. Te tools aren't perfect yet, but they are so much beter than 40-50 years ago. I'm hopeful to help create the next 40 or 50 year's worth of products and con- tinue solving client problems. I hope you can see the business oppor- tunit y and excitement of solv ing client problems, helping them be more proftable, while providing valuable and profitable client service to them.