Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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JULY 2017 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 3 GAIL PERRY, CPA Editor-in-Chief gail.perry@cpapracticeadvisor.com @gperrycpa FROM THE EDITOR Published by SouthComm Business Media, Inc. PO Box 803 | 1233 Janesville Ave. | Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 | 920-563-6388 | 800-547-7377 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 6 Publisher: Barry Strobel Editor-in-Chief: Gail Perry, CPA Managing Editor: Isaac M. O'Bannon Assistant Editor: Taija Sparkman National Sales Manager: Lou Meszoros Columnists: Ken Berry, JD Doug Sleeter Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP Kristy Short Randy Johnston Rene Lacerte Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP Paul McDonald Amy Vetter, CPA.CITP, CGMA Richard D. Alaniz, J.D. Reviewers: Mary Girsch-Bock John Higgins, CPA Art Director: Rhonda Cousin Site Manager: Lester Craft Production Manager: Barb Evenson Audience Development Manager: Terri Petitt Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm CPA Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm NSA Practice Advisor (USPS 017-576), (ISSN 2160-8725 print; ISSN 2160-8733 online) is published six times per year (February, April, June/July, August, October and December) by SouthComm Business Media, LLC, incorporating two editions known as CPA Practice Advisor and NSA Practice Advisor. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Practice Advisor, PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257. Canada Post PM40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Practice Advisor, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Subscriptions: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. to qualified subscribers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscriptions. Subscription prices: The basic annual rate is $3, based on qualifying associations of 10,000 or more public accountants that may also subscribe for all their public accountant members (certain restrictive covenants apply) for a basic subscription rate of $9 per member for a three-year subscription. One year subscription for all others: USA - $48; CAN $70 GST; INT'L $99 GST. All subscriptions payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank. Canadian GST#842773848. Back issue $10 prepaid, if available. Printed in the USA. Copyright 2017 SouthComm Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. 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Editorial Advisory Board: Jim Bourke, CPA.CITP, CGMA, CFF Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP, CGMA, MBA Bob Cedergren, CPA.CITP, CGMA, CISA Randy Johnston, MCS Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP, CGMA Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA Doug Sleeter Sandra Wiley, PHR, SPHR SOUTHCOMM, INC. CEO: Chris Ferrell CFO: Bob Mahoney COO: Blair Johnson VP, Production Operations: Curt Pordes VP, Technology: Eric Kammerzelt Executive Vice President: Gloria Cosby Director of Digital Business Dev.: Lester Craft Subscription Customer Service 877-382-9187; 847-559-7598 Circ.CPA@omeda.com PO Box 3257, Northbrook IL 60065-3257 Article reprints: Brett Petillo Wright's Media 877-652-5295, ext. 118 bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com List Rentals: Elizabeth Jackson email: ejackson@meritdirect.com phone: 847-492-1350 ext. 18 fax: 847-492-0085 What Have You Done For Your Clients Lately? Just think about what consumers want today: online ordering and deliv- ery right to their door, instant access to people at all levels using social media, constant updates on news through alerts on their smartphones and even their watches, connectivity to the important people in their lives – the list is endless because everyone has different desires, but the underly- ing current is instant and constant. So what does that mean for accountants? For one thing, you can be sure that technology trends in the future are going to lead toward ease of use, connectivity, instant gratification. But for now, perhaps the place to start is in your own office, with your own people, your own clients. Try taking one day and document- ing the client experience in your firm. Think about these issues as you imag- ine yourself being one of your clients: ■ How do clients contact you? ■ If they phone, does a person answer or is there an automated service? ■ What are each of those experiences like? ■ How long do clients typically wait on hold? ■ What is the hold experience like? ■ How often do your clients got routed to voice mail? ■ How rapidly do you reply to voice mail messages? ■ For clients coming in the office, how comfortable is your waiting area? ■ How are clients greeted? ■ Are clients offered a beverage? ■ Is there WiFi for the clients to use and are they made aware of this? ■ How long do clients typically wait in the reception area? ■ Within your office, is there comfort- able seating? A work table? Is the lighting bright and welcoming? ■ Do you look at the clock or your watch when talking with clients? ■ Do clients know if you are timing their visit and how or if they are being charged for that time? ■ Do you prov ide a por tal where your clients can securely share documents? ■ If t here i s a p or t a l, have you instructed your clients on how and why to use this? ■ Are clients encouraged to contact you whenever they have questions? ■ If so, have you explained the best way for them to contact you? If you were the client, would you respond negatively to any of these experiences? As the accounting practitioner, do any of these items frustrate you? By picking apart your client experience into small steps, you can isolate problems and find ways to make the experiences better both for you and your clients. ■ — Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief I HAD THE honor of spending a day recently with members of the Rootworks community, a group of accounting firms from all over the country who met to discuss ways in which they can be better. Defining "better" is a singular task, as each firm, person, client, assigns that term a different meaning. But my primary takeaway, as the group discussed what they can do to be more 21st century, more modern, even using the hashtag #themodernfirm, is that accountants who are likely to succeed will do so by improving the accountant/client experience.