Tax & Accounting Professionals Aren’t Technophobes Anymore

From the Aug. 2009 Issue

Over the past year or so, I’ve changed my perception of tax and accounting
professionals, at least when it comes to their adaptation of technology. Once
upon a time, the profession was seen as a stodgy old collection of technophobes,
stuck in their old ways, refusing to even entertain the idea of doing things
differently.

And while many people may still hold this stereotype, including some within
the profession, I see things differently. Professionals are increasingly opening
their eyes and checkbooks to new tools and practices. The notion that tax and
accounting firms are much slower to adapt than other similarly sized businesses
is just wrong, I think. Take a look at your own clients, for instance. How often
do you need to persuade some of them to make changes that you know will be more
advantageous to their productivity, but that they stubbornly resist? Technologically
speaking, how would you compare your practice to your clients?

Rather than a dilemma related to any particular profession, I think it is
instead one that is more related to age. I know some of the more seasoned professionals
out there are very tech savvy. But when it comes to changing complete workflow
processes and relying on technology for virtually every aspect of professional
practice, I think it is harder for them to embrace than their mid-career and
younger colleagues.

The reason, of course, is that many younger professionals have never known
another way other than the digital way. And when they encounter technologies
that are at least five years old, they see it as antiquated. Now, change for
the sake of change is not an advisable policy. It causes disruption when new
programs have to be learned and new policies have to be ingrained in everyday
work. And this takes time. But when better solutions are available and yet consistently
ignored in favor of processes that are less productive but seem “comfortable,”
that is where a practice does itself a disfavor.

Fortunately, many of the professionals now ascending to partnership levels
or striking out on their own are of a breed that recognizes the benefits of
periodically analyzing workflow processes and looking at the potential benefits
that many technologies can/may provide. This can, of course, include the business
side of things, like increased productivity, the ability to take on more clients,
diversification of services, etc. But it can also mean more flexibility in work
hours and the ability to work remotely, which can help you be equally responsive
to clients (perhaps more so), while also being able to enjoy more time with
family, friends or hobbies.

Chris York, a CPA in San Ramon, California, is a good example of the new generation
of partners. After 17 years at a large firm, he’d grown frustrated by
its inability to think outside of the processes it had used for three decades.
So he started out on his own with a remarkably fresh business model that is
proving quite successful. You can read more about his practice here.

Conversely, I’ve recently spoken with the owner of a water sports retailer/outfitter
who was still maintaining paper files for virtually all office and client documents.
I’ve also recently visited with a senior federal employee who voiced agony
over his department’s lack of policy regarding electronic filing of documents.
The first has yet to even entertain electronic document management processes,
while the other has a basic system in place but with no policy or structure.

Document management isn’t the only example, of course, but it is one
that seemingly stretches across many business types, especially professional
services firms. And there are many products on the market, which makes selecting
a system even more challenging. Fortunately, our Document Management Selector
tool (www.CPATechAdvisor.com/dms-survey)
can offer tax and accounting firms some assistance in this area. You can also
see recent reviews of these products at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2410
and www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2354.

Workflow isn’t a thing, it is everything. It includes every action of
every member of your staff while working on an engagement, however minimal or
extensive. From scanning a source document, to import functions, export, opening
other programs, using a ten-key (if you still have one), jotting down notes
on stickies, checking your calendar, filling out timesheets and spreadsheets,
business calls, digging up a 1040 from 2005, managing payables and collecting
client payments.

How you and your staff do each of these things impacts how they do each additional
thing down the line, whether by saved or lost time along the way through automatic
integration as opposed to manual data entry, or by outsourcing less profitable
components that enable valuable staff to work on more lucrative engagements,
or simply by reducing wasted or redundant actions.

Implementing new technologies is just the first step, and it may not always
be necessary. The focal point of making positive changes in workflow processes,
whether involving new programs or not, is that users must be invested in the
change as much as the senior management is. In other words, enhancing workflow
is about people; not only training them in new methods, but also in providing
and reinforcing structure to the new way of doing things.

The great news is that greater numbers of professionals with the temperament
for change are ascending into the top offices at many firms, and this will continue.
This translates into a profession that will continue to embrace technological
evolution.

———————

THAT’S COOL!

On a note related to document management, I recently had the opportunity to
explore a new document collaboration tool. The online WatchDox (www.watchdox.com)
system from Confidela is similar to some other document sharing options on the
market, such as GoogleDocs, but with much more control and management features,
along with improved security.

The user of the system uploads documents to the secure WatchDox site where
it is also encrypted, and then invites those with whom he or she wants to share
the documents to log into the system. Users have the ability to restrict the
access rights and capabilities of each of the invited guests, whether to view,
edit, copy, print or forward the items.

The system uses an audit trail-like feature to track the actions of all invited
guests (as it pertains to the documents) and notifies the original user not
only of what they did with it and when (view, print, forward), but where they
were located geographically. And since the documents remain hosted on the WatchDox
site, access permissions can be revoked, set to automatically expire or changed
after email invitations have been sent.

When using the WatchDox system for collaboration on documents (if guests are
allowed to edit them), the hosted program automatically maintains version controls
that allow users to see and revert to previous versions.