Accounting Firms & Clients Benefit from the Cloud

For more than a decade, accounting professionals have been advised to get their
practice online, that it was imperative for them to be competitive in the future.
“Productivity-enhancing technologies” and “workflow optimization”
became keywords for the movement, the continuing technological evolution of
accounting firms. And there’s no doubt that these innovations have greatly
improved the modern practice, resulting in new technologies that help professionals
work smarter, take on more and higher value clients and engagements, be more
responsive to client needs and, ultimately, realize greater revenue and profits.

There’s another factor, however, that’s often left unmentioned.
Your clients, unfortunately, might be the weakest link. Whether they are mostly
business entities, individaual tax engagements, non-profits, high net worth individuals,
or a diverse mix, your clients are one of the major infaluencers on whether you
are able to reap the full benefits of those technaologies.

In short, a professional practice is only as technologically adept as its clients
allow. Offering client portals, for example, can greatly streamline collaboration
between the client and accounting firm, but if only a few clients are using
the technology, the firm isn’t going to realize the true benefit. The
same goes for the other major productivity-boosting technologies such as ASPs
(hosted desktop applications), online bill payment solutions, online invoicing,
and online document management tools. All these solutions help small businesses
be more efficient, while also facilitating a more productive relationship with
their professional accountant.

Sounds like an obvious win-win, but for many accounting practices, even some
with very tech-savvy partners and staff, the challenge has been getting their
clients on-board with the idea of cloud computing and other remote technologies.
It wasn’t very long ago that these doubts were also prevalent in the professional
accounting space, but continued developments in security, reliability and the
potential benefits have led most to realize that there is a significant ROI
here. These technologies require minimal investment; they allow for new revenue
opportunities, and they produce better results for the practice and for the
clients.

So, how can you persuade a technology-doubter to follow your firm into a more
digital and collaborative environment? The first step is to learn more about
the technologies available. Of course, there are countless small business technologies
on the market, and keeping up with the ones best suited to certain client industries
isn’t a simple task. And while there are webcasts offered by many of the
vendors, they are often a waste of time because each vendor focuses on their
own product rather than on the broader needs of clients and accountants.

Fortunately, a new seminar is being offered this summer that specifically looks
at a several web-based technologies that are beneficial to the small business,
but also benefit the accounting practice, by providing enhanced collaboration,
workflow and remote access.

The seminar, which is being offered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago,
Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles, is called “Taking Your Clients Online:
How to Transform Your Client Relationships Using Cloud Computing.”

The key focus is on helping professional accountants realize greater benefit
from web-based technologies by helping get more of their clients to see the
benefits for their own businesses, according to noted technology expert Doug
Sleeter, president of The Sleeter Group, the largest network of small business
technology consultants in the nation.

The seminar also offers practical advice that attendees can start
using on day one, including best practices, industry-specific tools, and advice
on:

– Using portals for sharing data and files between consultant and client
– Offering successful remote consulting services
– Helping clients leverage online invoicing and payment systems
– Using web based bill payment and bill management systems
– Using online paperless document management solutions
– Building custom applications online that synchronize data with desktop apps
– Security considerations for using cloud technologies
– How professionals and their clients can “rent” the software
they use
– How ASP (hosted) client accounting programs can improve a practice
– Difference between ASP and SaaS

Darren Root, CPA.CITP, executive editor of The CPA Technology Advisor,
will join Sleeter in presenting the seminar. Root is the managing partner of
Root & Associates, a 14-person accountancy in Bloomington, Indiana. He is
also the co-founder of RootWorks, LLC, a technology consultancy that helps small
and mid-sized accounting practices better utilize technologies and optimize
their internal workflow processes, and he also serves on the board of the AICPA’s
CITP Credential Committee and is a guest lecturer at Indiana University’s
Kelly School of Business.

Registration for the full-day event, which lasts from 7:30-5:00 at each city
location, starts at $159, and includes a continental breakfast and refreshment
breaks. CPAs can also receive 8 hours of accredited continuing professional
education (CPE) for attending the seminar.

“Web-based programs and online technologies that enhance collaboration
are becoming more and more important to the success of accounting practices
and business consultants, but keeping up with the latest solutions can be challenging
for these professionals because they’re primarily focused on running their
own practices and other client issues,” Sleeter said.

“This new one-day seminar is tailored to the information needs of accounting
pros, letting them which solutions are the best-of-breed, how to use them, how
to encourage and support their clients’ use of the technologies, and how
moving more clients into a cloud computing environment can help them improve
the productivity, efficiency and profitability of their clients and their practice.”

More details about the “Taking Your Clients Online” seminar are
available at www.sleeter.com/online,
including conference venues, dates and additional materials.

The Sleeter Group (www.sleeter.com)
is the largest network of small business technology experts in the country.
Its members provide consulting services to small business owners in the accounting
software and business process design areas. The group provides accounting software
training resources to users and consultants including textbooks, reference books,
expert level Webinars, the annual accounting solutions conference, a consultant
membership network, practice management tools, teaching systems, expert level
technical support, and a free online newsletter. Through a network of over 600
independent consultants and small- to medium-sized accounting firms, The Sleeter
Group serves over 250,000 small businesses each year.