CPA Practice Advisor

NOV 2011

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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GREAT PRACTICES ANDREA ABEL, LIME & COMPANY The Art of the Quick Change: From Filing Cabinets to the Cloud Andrea Abel's move to the Cloud was quick and painless — and key to L 6 her fi rm's rapid growth ike many others, before launching her own practice — Lime & Company — Andrea Abel worked for other fi rms. During this time, she enhanced her practitioner skills while also gaining valuable insight into what it takes to run a successful business. "When I worked in public practice, there was usually a full-time dedicated IT person to maintain the firm's technology, including soſt ware and servers," Abel recalled. "So, when I thought about starting my own practice, I immediately thought: How could I ever do it?" Concerned with the high cost of technology and IT support, Abel wasn't sure how she would ever be able to operate her own fi rm. She had heard of Cloud-based applications, but didn't really know what that meant or how these advanced technologies would ultimately solve the IT issue. "At the time, I was not up-to-date on Cloud solutions. So in my mind, high-end applications and costly IT support was the reality. It was what I experienced working for other fi rms," said Abel. A Quick Change Artist in Action — From Paper-Heavy to Paper-Free In 2004, Abel took a break from public accounting to start a family. In 2005, as a stay-at-home mom, she began helping a few friends with business consulting support. A few friends quickly turned into a few clients ... and then a few more. "It happened so fast. First, I'm helping friends get their businesses going, and then suddenly I have a list of clients." Before she knew it, Abel was well on her way to running a full-service accounting fi rm. However, technology was still an issue. Convinced that growing her home-based business into a full-service firm meant tackling complex technology issues and investing in an IT expert, she concluded that growth was not in her future. "T e technology aspect of running a fi rm was intimidating," Abel admit ed. "So I continued to work with desktop STATS AT A GLANCE Firm website: limeandcompany.com Year founded: 2005 Total employees: 1 full-time; 2 part-time Home base: Sarasota, Florida Firm description: Full-service accounting practice for small businesses Technology of Choice: SmartVault, InsynQ, Hosted QuickBooks, Fujitsu ScanSnap November 2011 No ember 2011 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com CPAPracticeAd isor com soſt ware and paper fi les. I knew there had to be a more effi cient way to work; I just didn't know what that was." A few years later, Abel at ended The Sleeter Group's Accounting Soſt ware Consulting Conference and was blown away by presentations on Cloud computing and the ease of use that web-based applications off ered. "I talked to a few Cloud technology vendors and asked questions about how their applications could help me," Abel stated. "T e SmartVault folks told me that Cloud-based apps take IT out of the equation … that I could easily implement and operate these solutions on my own. T at was the turning point for me. My old beliefs about technology were extinguished." From that point, Abel adopted a "to the Cloud" at itude, moving full force ahead in her transition to a virtual environment. Within a few short weeks, she had built a paperless system, accelerating fi rm effi ciency beyond anything she imagined. "Aſt er seeing a few product demos at the Sleeter show, I jumped in and invested in an all-Cloud system. Within a few weeks, I set up my clients on Hosted QuickBooks using InsynQ

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