Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/571003
September 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 7 FROM THE TRENCHES for its premise based DMS system and a very innovative mobile applica- tion. Doc-It has a suite of products t h at i nc lu de wor k f lo w, a bi nde r system, OCR, annotation tools, PDF creat ion a nd a si mple 10 4 0 work- paper product. By purchasing t he Doc-It suite, you get a collection of tools that you may have to purchase s e p a r a t e l y w i t h o t h e r s y s t e m s . AccountantsWorld Cloud Cabinet is a browser based product that serves a s paperless storage for bot h t he accounting frm and for clients using a fle cabinet approach. Tis allows collaboration bet ween accountant and client in a single system, a long- t e r m s t r e n g t h o f t h e A c c o u n - tantsWorld product. Ju s t l i ke ac c ou nt i ng sof t w a re , there are around 300 DMS, Filing Cabi net, a nd Enter pr ise Content Management (ECM) systems sold in the United States Market. A round 15 or so integ rate wel l in accounting frms, although many paperless sys- tems can be made to work. So What Are The Most Important New Tools and Programs available? Te major publishers of CCH Wolters K luwer, Tomson Reuters and Intuit have new products in the market or a re developi ng ne w produc t s for deliver y. Competitors continue to develop new paperless systems. A fairly complete list can be found at: w w w.totallypaperless.com/solutions . W hat deser ves some of your aten- tion, resources and money? For example, in the areas of Docu- ment Management Systems, there is a broad number of oferings. Ofer- ings that should be included for CPA Firms are: • 1040 Bridge • AccountantsWorld Cloud Cabinet • Acct1st • CCH Axcess Document • CCH ProSystem fx Document • Conarc iChannel Document Management • Doc.IT • Drake Sofware Drake Document Manager • eFileCabinet • Lacerte/ProSeries DMS (caution: near end of life) • OfceTools Professional • Reckon Virtual Cabinet • SmartVault • Tomson Reuters FileCabinet CS • Tomson Reuters GoFileRoom Likewise these vendors have made s i g n i f i c a n t i n r o a d s i n t o t h e accounting market. Examples here include: • Alfresco One • Cabinet SAFE • Citrix ShareFile • Contentverse • DocStar Document Management • DocuXplorer • EMC Documentum • Hyland OnBase • iManage Work (formerly Autonomy WorkSite) • Laserfche • PaperSave • Personable SourceLink • Worldox However, document management is only part of the batle. To prov ide useable information to clients that helps them manage their operations beter, there are a number of inter- esting additional tools for por tals, eSignature, work fow, 1040 workpa- pers and more. Many of these can be integrated w ith other products or as stand-alone applications. Examples here include: • CCH Scan • Citrix ShareFile • Drake GruntWorx • LeapFILE • Right Signature • SurePrep • Thomson Reuters 1040 Source Document Processing • Tomson Reuters FirmFlow • XCM I f you note t he f i rst l i st above, vendors a re t r y i ng to ma ke doc u- ment management integrated and to more ef fec t i vel y cont rol engage - ments. I f you note the second list, you' ll see a number of applications that are atempting to prov ide DMS in a more general fashion. Te third l i s t a d d s c a p a b i l i t i e s t h a t m a n y accountants and frm owners value and need. T hese products usua l ly work standalone or w ith one or more o t h e r s y s t e m s . F o r e x a m p l e , S ha reFi le i s one of t he ea siest to implement, branded portal and fle t r a n s f e r p r o d u c t s a v a i l a b l e . Selecting the right tool(s) from this list can round out your oferings. Why Does This Make a Difference to Our Firms? O u r m a n a ge me nt pro g r a m s a nd cl ient ofer ings have to match our s t r a t e g i e s . D u r i n g y o u r a n n u a l re t re at , you s hou ld c on s ide r t he business you are in today, the busi- ness you'd like to be in in the f uture, and who your clients are. How can y o u s e r v e y o u r c l i e n t s b e t t e r , i mprov e you r f i r m , i nc re a s e t he va lue of your practice, and work a rea sonable a mou nt of t i me to get this done? We k now we can't believe vendor c la i m s t hat by u si ng a pa r t ic u la r p r o d u c t , y o u w i l l h a v e s u c c e s s . However, if you don't have the right program to get the job done, you' ll wor k muc h h a rde r t h a n ne e de d . Hav ing the right tools and processes enables your f ir m to have a better c l ient del i ver able w here you c a n charge a premium for your ser v ice and expertise. You can also focus on your com- pl ia nce prac t ice a nd i mprove t he way that you sell, create, document and deliver ta x and audit ser v ices. You shou ld look for t he best pro- g ra ms i n doc u ment ma nagement, work f low, por t a l i nteg rat ion a nd other extended features like OCR , 10 4 0 work paper or ga n i z at ion or e S i g n a t u r e s t o p r o v i d e t he b e s t client experience possible. Better Results for Team Members and Clients Alike T he r i g ht prog r a m s c a n prov ide beter value for your clients and the frm alike. However, in your selec- t i o n p r o c e s s , y o u s h o u l d s p e n d enough time at the beginning of the process to understand your needs, w h a t y o u h a v e t o d a y , a n d t h e e x pec ted i mprovement . We h ave discussed these processes in pr ior columns. If you can't see a notable change for the good, why make any change at all?