one of the most critical steps in transitioning a firm to a paperless environment is capturing information in a digital format at its root source as that information enters the firm.
at the base level, this means having clients provide you information in a digital format, which can be done via email, digital fax or through a portal rather than with a physical document. while email is currently the most prevalent tool utilized by clients, it is anticipated the security concerns will help clients transition toward portals.
email has been the most frequent tool used as most clients are comfortable attaching a spreadsheet or document and sending it to the firm. this method allows the digital file to be easily accessed and saved into the firm’s file storage applications. read more →
for the next few years it is anticipated that accounting firm clients will continue to deliver a significant amount of their organizers and supporting tax documents to the firm in a physical format. to utilize this information in a paperless environment, it must be effectively scanned and managed at the lowest possible cost.
early paperless adopters scanned the tax return and the supporting documents at the back end of the process when a return was complete. this is still usually the first step when firms transition from a completely manual environment. read more →
there’s hardly a business that will remain unaffected by blockchain technology.
^ play the video
with steven sacks
in blockchain basics for business, steve sacks interviews jack shaw on the elements of the technology, its early beginnings, the industries impacted, and the practical business applications.
jack shaw is an innovation and change management consultant, who has been voted one of the world’s top 25 speakers and one of the top 5 technology futurists. jack integrates his executive experience in industry, technology, and consulting to speak on innovation, change management, and transformational leadership. and, he has decades of experience designing, developing, and implementing emerging technologies and how these will impact business and society.
jack has advised key decision-makers at such fortune 500 organizations as mercedes benz, bosch, ge, coca-cola, johnson & johnson, ibm, oracle, and sap. jack has delivered over 1,000 keynote presentations and executive forums in 26 countries and every state across the u.s. he is a yale university graduate, and holds a kellogg mba degree specializing in finance and marketing.
jack’s expertise is in the strategic impact of leading-edge technologies, including blockchain technology, 5g, the internet of things and artificial intelligence. he can be reached at https://jackshaw.io
workflow fails when admins are the only ones updating status.
by roman h. kepczyk
the most important aspect of transitioning the firm’s tax process to a digital environment is managing electronic files that are no longer physically viewable in assorted stacks around the office. this requires a digital tax workflow system that lets everyone know the status of every return and easily connects that person to digital copies of the return and the source documents.
under traditional manual tax systems, firms utilized due date tracking databases that identified when a return was due, but not what information was missing, or the preparation, review or extension status, which was often recorded manually on a physical routing sheet. read more →
managing digital files is in many ways similar to managing paper files in that the firm must have standards for who can create a document, add to or edit a document, file it, and eventually purge the file. unfortunately, as digital files are on the network and “out of sight,” many firms are not really aware of what files are stored, the most current versions and whether or not they should be deleted.
as firms transition to the “less paper” environment, it is recommended that they implement a digital document retention policy and make users accountable for adhering to this policy. read more →
the network drive in most firms is not very well organized and requires the most cleanup. this happens because it is usually managed with microsoft windows explorer, which allows almost anyone to create or access a file anywhere on the drive.
unfortunately, there is seldom a firm standard that is adhered to, allowing users to create files with any naming convention they want and store it anywhere they choose. the result can be files that are hard to find and slow to search across the network. read more →
firm knowledge and information is usually stored in one of four “buckets.” the most obvious is within the accounting applications themselves where tax, audit and accounting programs store client files in a format that can only be accessed with that program. files are usually indexed and accessed in designated directories so there is not much the firm can do about moving these files.
the second bucket for more advanced firms is a document management application where final documents can be archived in alignment with a comprehensive document retention plan and easily searched. the 2019 cpafma survey pointed to 30 percent of firms utilizing their document management application for intranet purposes. read more →
we’ve said that firms should strive to capture all data in a digital format at its “root” source. this goes for services such as the firm’s fax and voice mail systems as well.
traditional inbound faxes are usually printed from a fax machine and then hand-delivered to the recipient’s desk. in some cases, this fax image is actually rescanned and emailed to the recipient. while this is a step toward digital delivery, today’s digital fax systems deliver a digital image to the recipient via email, so they can access them within their email. read more →
recruiting and retention have consistently been the top concern for the last two years, 33.6% of firms citing it this year, up from 28.8% of firms in 2019, according to the new accounting firm operations and technology survey. second place: raising profitability at 23.4%. third: cybersecurity and data privacy at 22.4%.
referrals – new clients who are referred to a firm by someone they trust – remain the top channel or source of new clients for firms. a higher percentage of firms report that they are receiving referrals from other sources, such as other professionals and firm website and search engine optimization, over each of the last three years.
exclusively for pro members. 
