Office Tools Professional - Blog

How CRM Software Improves Your Customer's Relationship with Your Staff

2012-08-24T23:11:33Z

I keep hearing that accounting firms are beginning to warm up to CRM software. What's all the fuss about? Why are accounting firms considering employing CRM software? Why are they hiring marketing interns or directors and creating new client service policies?

After our economy experienced the recent downturn, firms are beginning to think about recovery, even building again. Firms who recently saw a loss of clientele are now looking to shore up and consider building again, not only building bigger firms, but building more successful ones. Considering CRM is something I believe is necessary for growing and sustaining better firms.

There are two major characteristics to CRM software. While each characteristic is unique and provides completely different things, I believe they must be used in tandem to be completely successful. One component helps firms build and the other helps firms sustain. Both characteristics are useful alone, but inseparable in the most successful firms.

CRM, is most commonly known as Customer Relationship Management which I believe is far more important in sustaining firm success than growing a firm. The key word is "Customer". The most common use here is maintaining good relationships, even marketing those who are already our customers. Ultimately, this use is how we treat and interact with existing customers.

One of CRMs lesser known features, is the ability to market and manage marketing success. This is most commonly done with "prospects", those whom we want to begin doing business with. This is essential for the growth of any firm.

I never thought I would be writing about marketing to accounting firms. Over the years I have seen most firms simply do good work and get referrals from existing customers as a way of gaining new customers and sustaining growth. This method, while still necessary, is not enough to grow and sustain a successful firm in today's market. With the advent of H&R Block, Intuit and other firms stepping up their marketing approach,all firms have to rethink their marketing strategies. If we don't market to prospects in our area, others will. If we don't increase our communication to our existing customers, someone else will.

A firm's long term success is tied to growing. Without growth, firms will eventually become "old" and less relevant and simply fade. I see this in the area of technology, management methods as well as team dynamics. None of us can imagine our firms fading, so one potential option is to review CRM software. Implementing CRM software is the foundation for finding, engaging and retaining new customers. Ultimately, growing and sustaining a firm.

When reviewing CRM software as a marketing tool, it must provide the following features:

Name & Addresses
Company Information
Unlimited Classifications
Multiple Sorts
Telephone Book
Built-in-Word Processor
Automated Mailing\Email Campaigns
Tickler System
Track Notes
Personal Calendars
Scheduling
Hot list of To-do's

When reviewing CRM software as a sustaining tool for continued firm growth, in addition to those items listed above, they must include the following features:

Status System
Call History
Reminders
Portals

When looking for these features in a CRM system, be sure that these abilities exist in your Practice Management software. It is far better to eliminate the number of databases in your firm and not add another database to manage. With this minimum list of features, you are set to continue to grow and sustain a better firm by using CRM systems.

Tips & Tricks: Using the Practice Management Software - Saving Reports

2012-07-23T19:56:15Z

This video describes how to save custom reports.

Transcript

The reports in Practice Management provide users with a wide arrange of options, filters, and sorts. To make running reports easier we have added the ability to save your report settings as a custom report.

On any reports tab in the reports screen you'll see an Add, Edit, Save, and Delete button. To save a custom report, simply select the report you would like to save the settings for, choose your filters options and sorts, and the click on the add button to create and name your custom report. The edit button will allow you to rename a report. The save button will allow you to save changes made to a custom report. If you decide to, you can delete a report by selecting it first and clicking the delete button.

For example, let's say that you wanted to run a report that gave you totals of all staff PTO tracked within a period. Typically the best report to run for this would be the Timecard Utilization Partial report, sorted by staff, filtered to only display those work codes you have marked to be Paid Time Off. Once these settings are in place, clicking the Add button prompts me to name the report, let's call it "PTO Partial Detail" you can see that now our report has been added to the list.

Using this new feature you can shorten the amount of time it takes to run the specific report you are looking for, making information even more accessible.

Beyond Blogging: Real Marketing for Accountants

2012-07-12T18:30:04Z

Blog, blog....blah, blah. What's the point? Certainly we blog to improve our standing and ranking in search engines, but is this type of marketing for accountants the best option? Are we truly imparting critical information, needed wisdom and providing resources or are we just sounding off. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good rant as much as the next person however, too many blogs are either rehashing old subjects, simply lacking depth or have become a stage for emotional rants. Does our blogs reek of self-promoting, announcing the latest company creation or does it offer real value to its readership.

I have been writing blogs for a couple of years now and I believe writers need to apply a filter to their work. It's time we put some meat to the bones. Stop rehashing old topics and bring to life "todays" news and happenings. If we spend the time researching or become experts in a field share that knowledge. In the fast paced information age we sure could use the resource of someone's advice and wisdom.

When a corporation writes about itself exclusively the readers recognize this marketing and self-serving approach and they simply turn off. If you are writing, give the readers something to sink their teeth into and hopefully they will come back for more. While press releases announce important info they should not be the sole content of a company's site. Create separate blog categories and power your blogs with selections other than marketing and company news. When necessary take and create different blogs that share the same space. Cover areas like news, reviews, case studies and your blog. This kind of separation gives readers a variety and a choice.

Here are my 7 tips to successful blogging:

Always provide personal insights. If you have experienced something personal, the chance that others have too will give you a connection to your readers. Wisdom is always welcome.
Separate news from your blog. Don't be confused. Blogging is not announcing new happenings or products your company has. While you may sprinkle "news" in a blog, it cannot be the entire blog.
Keep blogs short. mall digestible portions are best, but if you must write long break your blog into two or more parts to be release at a later date.
Give your readers interesting facts or video. While you hope readers are transformed by your writing most will remember very little. Help them with a few facts or interesting video that sticks out and hopefully it will stick with them.
Provide a list of information for a quick read. None of us have as much time as we would like. A list provides readers for a quick read option.
Give it away, don't ever charge! However you can require an email address from readers. Otherwise you will never be able to measure the success of your blog or reach your audience in the future.
Always use Keywords. If your business is Practice Management for Accountants or How to Save $20,000 on Your Return, then be sure to use keywords in your blogs.

Office Tools Professional: Practice Management Resources - Matt Holdsworth on Cloud Computing

2012-05-23T18:38:17Z

Transcript

So here you have Office Tools Pro. You recognize this interface. There's no change in the user experience as far as anything you need to do differently regarding Office Tools Pro. Everything is here. I saved my presentation in the Office Tools Pro contact, and we have Microsoft Office loaded on.

So I'm going to get ready to do this presentation, and we are doing it from the cloud. So everything you're seeing is being hosted out of a data center in Washington as we go through this. So the speed, you're really going to get a feel for what this looks like.

My saying with this cloud was good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. We, in the process of doing this, went through two different hosting companies. The first one obviously I'm not going to stand up here and mention names, but I'm just saying, the first one I learned every question that I should have known to ask before I moved to them.

So in this process, we basically worked on it for three months trying to get live on this network and untold lost hours of staff efficiency. In the process, I'm taking notes and pages of notes of things that I had expected to work. Nevertheless it's coming down to the wire, coming up to tax season, and I'm in November and I still can't print out of Lacerte. I can't print a tax return.

Obviously, that's an untenable situation. We had developed a work-around, which we would have to back up the Lacerte client. Fortunately my old network was still running, and I would transfer the file to my old network, restore it on the old network, and then print from my local Lacerte. So obviously that wasn't going to work.

So we ended up switching, but before I get into all the details of that process, I wanted to kind of back up. You hear everything cloud. What was funny was when I contacted the second company, they said, "You know, we've been doing this for 12 years, and we've had very slow and kind of incremental growth, and then suddenly someone starts calling this cloud and our phone is ringing off the hook."

The service that we're talking about here, hosted networks, has been around for over a decade. All of a sudden everybody starts saying cloud ,and it's like this big confusing thing. That means it's just out there somewhere. It's not on my network.

Tips & Tricks: Using the Practice Management Software - Searching the Activity List

2012-05-21T23:46:42Z

This video explains how to search details in your activity list.

Transcript

The activity list in Practice Management 2012 is an incredibly powerful tool that allows users to see a concise list of all tasks, due dates, alerts and appointments quickly. While this is convenient, during the busier times of year our activity list can become unwieldy and difficult to work from. The search box on the activity list has some added features to make finding exactly what you need easier.

When you type into the search box typically it will filter the activity list to display only the items that contain the words you search, however if you preface a word with a minus symbol the list will exclude items that have that word.

For example, you might search for 1040 to see all items in your list that have 1040 in the description, but let's say you want to exclude any of your "review" assignments, simply type "1040 -review" to see all 1040 items that don't have the word review in them.

This added search functionality will allow you to be very specific about what you want to see in your activity list. When combined with the existing filters and the ability to view items for all staff, the activity list becomes an even more powerful tool for managing workflow in your office.

Why is a Client Portal Important to the Firm of the Future?

2011-11-28T21:30:57Z

What an exciting time to be a business owner. New technologies are being introduced almost faster than we can digest. I remember a day when upgrading was an option. Now we can no longer buy software and hardware for more than a few years without considering major upgrades. As these days pass, we need to embrace things that can make a difference just to remain competitive. The one technology ready to take front stage are client portals and we better not ignore them.

Client portals can become part of the digital face of your firm. They become one of the connection points between you and your client. In these fast paced times of instant access to data and high demands on immediate service a portal can offer your firm a high tech solution for one more contact point with your client. This additional connection with our client's costs us very little time and money. This fast paced world has taken away some of the personal service we prided our business on, thus the portal returns one way to express personal service. The CPA Practice Advisor reported in 2011 that less than 30% of firms have embraced client portals. However, that number was nearly double from the year before. Use of portals is on the rise and this digital connection point is an opportunity we need to take advantage of.

Portals not only connect you and your clients, but provide a means of data transfer. The times of transferring information on USB drives or CDs is past. Just like floppy drives, other media devices are no longer needed. They have been replaced with digital connection through the web. Imagine sending a Form 8879 to your client through a secure portal and receiving the signed copy directly into your document management system, integrating it as a part of your workflow software. Portals allow the secure sending of final tax returns to a portal for your client to retrieve whenever they need to. Make sure your Practice Management software integrates due date and workflow. An integrated document storage system with a portal is even more powerful to the forward looking firm.

New ideas about client interaction and service are developing quickly. Taking advantage of these ideas make client portals extremely important to firms of all sizes. One of those ideas is driving your clients to your site, which is where they log into your branded portal. This provides one more opportunity for connection. More developed client portals create an environment to sell more services to existing clients. From your site you offer services like payroll and accounting services. A good portal allows other messaging as well. Messages about tax information, deadlines, firm announcements and even messaging about return status and estimate tax information can be displayed on your portal. The right portal does this all while being branded as part of your website with your colors and logo.

Some portals have added invoice delivery and payment and still others offer mass emailing and marketing campaign features. Technology is empowering owners to take control of their firms if they are willing to implement new firm practices and policies and let go of "old" technologies. New technology is causing us to look at processes and evaluate what changes could do for our practices. Embracing these new changes can also create a better life work balance. We will realize the benefits that drove us to business ownership when we first decided to venture out on our own. Benefits like greater freedom of schedule, less work and greater profitability. If technologies are implemented well, we will make these self-employment goals a reality.

The way we serve clients is changing. Portals by the very name connect us client to firm, creating long lasting relationships which help us retain our clients. Portals also help us cultivate more profitable relationships with our existing clients, while spending less time than traditional methods. Clients also spend less time and experience improved services. When our client can engage us when they decide and as frequently as they need, we provide a whole new value. Research conducted by 2020 Group USA with over 6000 accountants responding, show that the biggest complaints about Accounting firms is that they don't return phone calls. We are all very busy, but clients need to connect with us. Using a Portal can provide a place for the information the client seeks when calling us. This needed digital connection is a reflection of our services and firm, so don't ignore this opportunity to connect with your clients with a portal. Firms of the future are recognizing how important this is to a firm's success.

Value of Time Billing Software

2011-10-21T21:13:04Z

This year we raised the cost of our annual subscription to our time billing software, Practice Management 2011. While about 90% of customers renew year by year we always field a few calls and emails from customers concerned over the current costs. These conversations usually start out the same. "The cost is too high for us." I continue to listen to comments like, "it used to be less" and "this year's increase is way too high." After listening I usually respond by asking a question. "Are you fully using our Practice Management software?" The answer is always the same. "No." I go on to explain that our software was designed to transform firms and in many cases allow a reduction in staff and an increase in productivity, thus, saving firms thousands of dollars annually. This cannot be done by using our software simply for a calendar or time sheet. You can buy a calendar program or time billing program anywhere but they won't bring any new value to your firm.

The real value is in our comprehensive approach to solving the problems of excessive administration and resources it takes to track information in your firm. When these problems are solved, the costs seem insignificant. Every year we hear from customers that agree. Many of them are on our website and can be contacted through our users group on LinkedIn. With our annual fees running under a thousand dollars for a five user firm and around fourteen hundred for a ten user firm, the savings incurred is usually many, many times the cost. That's real value!

The solution to lowering software fees lays in correct implementation. Our software currently has over 10,000 combined features. You cannot just buy it off the shelf and instantly start using without an implementation plan and training support. We begin every sale with a comment like this. Our application replaces 3-4 applications in your office and to setup and implement that many parts of your firm will take careful planning and resources. Many firms get a good start but lack the resources and follow through to finish full implementation. We offer training, resources and a user's conference to help firms finish the task. While our software is far more comprehensive than any other product on the market and simply easier to use it still takes measured effort to implement it.

If it were just a calendar or time sheet you could just buy it and use it. However, this will not transform your firm nor save you any money. Combining work flow, time tracking, document management, due date monitoring, staffing and calendars, note taking, phone call and email management and firm billing into one arena, will save you money. With the correct approach the return on investment is seen within a few months and the continued annual savings begins.

The real value in our software is in how much it saves you if fully implemented. The cost is something you will never consider or think about again if the software transforms you firm.

Best Practices in Adopting New Technology

2011-10-19T21:52:42Z

As an owner or partner are you still teachable? If you aren't, then you better get out of the way because technology is pushing our firms forward, with us or without us. Younger partners and team members are ready to usher in new technology. Are we getting in the way? Things are not going back to the "way they use to be" so you might as well get moving forward. Just look around at the technology opportunities like Skype, the iPhone, Scan & Populate programs and the new client portals we see popping up everywhere. Someday we will receive all data electronically from employers, the IRS and banks. We will have to be paperless and will have to build a digital office. Is that time today? Maybe not it is inevitable. Technologies are changing the way we live, work and play. It may seem overwhelming. It is overwhelming, especially for the technology impaired of which class I am a part of. So, it is imperative that I jump into the deep end of the pool of technology, if I want to thrive in today's firm. Now, this doesn't mean jump in blind or in every pool. Pick what makes sense.

I have heard the voices of the accounting industry profess that if you are not in the cloud you are not "in". Spend time investigating cloud, workflow, paperless and portals. What makes sense for you and for the season your firm is in is not the same as every firm. Technology is not a "one size fits all" decision. You don't need to follow the crowd. Creative Solutions is not the golden child and Intuit doesn't rule the world. The options are many....so review and investigate. This is a big part of best practices.

When it comes to transforming my firm with technology and implementing best practices I want to engage and explore things that can change my firm. However, learning new things is not easy, certainly not for me and my age group. I remind myself of how I got here. It took schooling and hard work. I tell myself I am a chameleon. I am intelligent, I am pliable, I can still learn. I am not the "old dog" that can't learn new tricks. I am being pushed by younger forward thinking professionals. With each new application and mobile device I find myself getting more acclimated. With practice and invested time I am improving my skills. I try to empower the younger team members to take ownership of the changes in my offices reducing my invested time and improving the success of new implementations. I don't have to do it all. Remind yourself!

I am surrounded by twenty and thirty something team members that can't fathom a work place with paper. The other day I heard that someone who worked at Apple that there wasn't one piece of paper in their offices. It's almost eerie. Can you imagine an office without paper? I can. Now I know that this is not entirely possible in an accounting firm yet, but we are getting closer every day.

With the advent of better applications becoming available, comes new opportunities for improving our firms. With it are new horizons to explore and consider. After 25 years of consulting I am still learning, still inventing, still growing. That's the fun in it! Every firm I visit I learn something new. I try to implement the things my clients have shown me and add features to our software that's suits them. I regularly get asked about best practices with regards to practice management. I share what other firms are doing and their successes. Every one of them has embraced new methods of tracking phone calls, documenting client and staff interactions through documents and email. They have reviewed value billing and the related time we spend performing services. They have reviewed paperless methods, workflow changes and new client portal options. If a firm is willing to embrace best practices then Office Tools Professional's Practice Management Software can transform and renew their firms allowing them to make more money and find better work/life balance.

The most important advice I can give is to embrace technology, don't ignore it. Hirer and empower your staff to implement new technologies. You don't have to be 100% cloud or use strictly web software. You don't have to change your whole firm in one year. Decide what digestible chunks you can implement each year. Investigate and make a plan. Is it using an integrated app or purchasing a few one trick ponies? Is it one application or feature this year and another one next year? If you are willing and invest some time each year you can jump into the deep end and not drown. These efforts can help you implore best practices and turn your firm into one of the best practices around.

Increase Your Productivity and Profitability With Systems

2011-10-03T22:55:38Z

When was the last time you dedicated time to working ON your business instead of IN it?

The key to transforming your practice into a successful business machine is to transform yourself from being an employee in your business, to being a successful leader and entrepreneur. What does it take to do that? You need to shift your business from depending on YOU to depending on other people and processes. Systems are the tax materials you need to run your business efficiently and profitably.

Good processes in a tax business will lead to greater profit margins, greater employee satisfaction, greater accuracy, and greater control over scheduling and quality of work.

Many tax business owners mistakenly believe that tax businesses are impossible to systematize. But tax businesses actually present many opportunities for systematizing. Due to the fact that our work features repetitive tasks, we have an optimal environment for creating processes to streamline the work. And in spite of the fact that we have deadlines on our work, this creates an opportunity for creating controls.

Good processes include controls and safeguards that protect your business from uninformed or poor decisions or bad behaviors, so that essentially you control the outcome you desire.

External controls allow you to SEE that the right things are happening. If things are going wrong you see it instantly so you can fix the problem and keep things running smoothly.

Internal Controls control the work without someone having to remember to do something to use them. Processes that control variables are a good example of internal controls. If you establish protocol preferences in your tax return prep software for example, which limits the judgment required of your preparers you can control the quality of the work. Removing judgment is one of the variables that can kill a good process.

Most of the time tax business owners judge that our industry prevents us from systematizing due to the amount of variables we face in our work. The biggest variable by far is the PEOPLE. Clients delay submitting their information. Documents arrive in various formats and levels of completion and accuracy. People kill our chance at completely automating our processes.

One of the secrets to great systems, however, is designing a process that controls the variables. And YES, controlling the people can be done! Create a system for how you collect and distribute data. Clear communication with staff and clients will help make the process more effective.

Sticking to your procedures is essential to controlling the variables. Your clients will try to circumvent your standards, it is up to you to ensure control over your processes. If you discover problems with your systems, first analyze whether or not it is a true problem with the process or a problem with the people. If you find a problem with your process, it is easy enough to correct. If you find it is a problem with people, you may have to get tough, but the rewards are worth it! Take some accountant CPE on creating systems for your business. Then create them, sit back and let your business depend on someone else for a change!

Dominique Molina is President of the American Institute of Certified Tax Coaches, an organization of tax professionals who are trained to help their clients rescue thousands of dollars in wasted tax. In addition to her blogging and speaking engagements, Dominique provides CPA continuing education as a registered educator with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

2011 K2 Enterprises Quality Awards Winner

2011-10-01T23:41:03Z

Office Tools Professional is proud to have Practice Management 2011 named the 2011 K2 Enterprises Quality Awards Winner in the "Small CPA Firm Solution" category.

K2 Enterprises is the premier provider of technology continuing professional education (CPE) in both the United States and Canada. With seminars in 42 states in 2011, 1,000+ presentations, special events such as their turn‐key Annual Technology Conferences, CPE & Ski, K2 Enterprises ‐ Canada, they are the largest provider of technology CPE in North America.

For more information about K2 and the Quality Awards visit their website here.

Review of Office Tools Pro Time and Billing Software Program

2011-07-29T16:38:19Z

Over the years we have had many great customers who have chosen to use our Practice Management Software, and every day we are thankful that we can continue to make great software. Many of our customers have found that they have dramatically improved their firm by using our software, and every time I hear that it brings a smile to my face. It was my goal when I first ventured to create this company to help small firms radically transform the way they work while equipping them with the same features large companies experienced. Eleven years later and we're still reinventing how small firms can do their work more efficiently.

During phone calls or meetings I'm often asked about our refund policy, we do not offer any refund. In today's world that may seem abnormal but we offer a 30-day free trial period to use the fully functional software, no limitations are ever imposed on any aspect of the software. We also provide comprehensive demonstrations of the software in a one-on-one environment. We want all users to know exactly what they are buying before they buy. That said, we are always reviewing these policies and looking for ways to best serve our customers.

We currently have over eight thousand users who have a great experience with our software. We have received many "unpaid" reviews by Accounting Today (owned by Thompson, one of our competitors) and this year we received the "Readers Choice Award" from CPA Practice Advisor for "Best Workflow" software. This "unpaid" award represents the readers of CPA Practice Advisor choosing us as their Workflow choice over ALL other software by a two to one margin. We are confident that our product solves real problems for small firms.

I always invite discussion from any customer or prospect about questions they might have about our software or policies. You can hear what our customers have to say via our video section or if you would like, we have many referrals who would love to discuss their own personal experience with our software and our company. It is our goal to enable our customers to make the best informed decisions before they decide to buy our Practice Management 2011.

Our software offers thousands of features but occasionally there might be a very specific feature or report that you are looking for that we don't offer. This is where I always suggest you do your research and decide for yourself if our products and services are right for you. We never want you to be unhappy about your choice to use our software and we understand that we simply cannot provide a solution for every firm. That is why I always recommend that if you need to confirm if a feature works a specific way that you work, download our thirty-day free trial to confirm that it works the way you hope. As always, if you need help or have questions our staff is prepared to answer them and help you make the most informed decision possible.

Our software is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and 7 and Windows Server 2003 and 2008. It is important that you always check our technical specifications and how that relates to your current networks setup. Many people think that any computer can be used as their server and workstations, this couldn't be farther from the truth. While our software will run one almost any system it doesn't mean it will run optimally. If you want our software to operate properly it is important to ensure that the correct hardware and software is installed before running our software.

If there are problems with the software we suggest speaking with our technical support team, which is included at no charge. They are available to help you get the software running successfully. Occasionally, our team experiences very busy times, but our commitment to great customer support sometimes means that you might wait until we can have the right person to address the problem. We do not subscribe to the corporate idea of having herds of low level tech support associates address our customers, our goal is to have the right person address the problem and provide a solution as quick as possible, at no additional charge. This year we have moved into a new building, added new phone lines, more tech support and training staff to better serve our customers.

Should anyone have any additional comments, questions, please don't hesitate to email me at mikeg@officetoolspro.com or call our office at 661-794-2220 x210.

Michael Giardina

CEO

Office Tools Professional

Document Management is Best When it's Paperless

2011-03-08T16:30:00Z

The need to use a document management system (DMS) and go paperless has never been more prevalent. I was at a client's office last week and found myself trapped behind a desk that had 3 foot high stacks of paper. I found it difficult to see the person on the other side who I was training. Needless to say I really affirmed the owner on his purchase of our Practice Management software. I know there are more of you out there swimming in a pool of paper... shame on you! This blog is for you.

As your firm grows and add staff members, you add more and more data to the daily process of running your firm and automating your workflow is a must! Why spend thirty minutes looking for an email from six months ago in Outlook? Why send a tax return to the DMS within your tax software? That makes no sense, and here's why!

When utilizing the Document Management in our software, you can file all documents by client, by year, by project, by category, and by file name. This subfolder path empowers the user to locate the document within seconds because all subfolders integrate with each other as you use them to filter within the search. Ex: Choose the "Year" 2010 and "Project" 1040 tax return and the system will locate only the documents that are associated to these two filters; whether it is a PDF of the tax return or an email associated to this filter Practice Management will navigate the user to the desired documents.

Any file that can be stored to your computer, whether it is a word document, a PDF document, a JPEG, or an email...ANY TYPE OF FILE that can be stored on your computer can be navigated to by our software. See, the documents are not literally stored within our software; they are stored on your server! We are the link to the document. The Practice Management software is non-proprietary and the document is stored in its original format. These are your documents not ours, retain control over them by utilizing this non-proprietary resource!

Placing a document within the document manager is extremely easy. You may drag and drop or print to PDF and send to Practice Management through our free Adobe add-in. We also offer a free Microsoft Office add-in that allows you send over all pertinent emails or word documents to be stored. The beauty to the system is once the document is placed, you can do a number of administration functions with it. Ex: From the document manager area you can directly email documents to clients, or send documents through our web portal which is password protected and HIPAA, SAS 70, and FINRA compliant, or send them over to review by another staff member or partner: a myriad of possibilities.

Stop jumping around from software applications to accomplish the workflow management task at hand. Centrally locate all steps of your workflow, relieving the wasted time you spend trying to locate the information as well as the compromising of data within multiple databases.

Project Tracking for Accountants

2011-02-24T16:30:00Z

Project tracking really means due date and status tracking. A project is any particular service that your firm offers inclusive of multiple steps and potentially multiple staff members who will work on it. For example individual or corporate tax returns, payroll, as well as bookkeeping or audits. Not to be confused with a "To-Do" which is a single step/single staff member task, (i.e. order lunch for today's meeting).

Questions that need to be addressed when looking at tracking projects are, "What are my budgeted hours and dollars? How long did it take last period?, How much did it cost? When did we receive the work? And, when did we promise it?" Let's get started answering these extremely important questions.

When we developed Practice Management software it was our goal to create the single screen interface, which allows you to view budgets, received and promise dates, any missing information as well as the current status of who is working on it and what step they are working on without even clicking your mouse. Making the software intuitive as possible gives you the ability to track at a glance your budgeted hours and dollars vs. actuals as well as a view of your last period's performance for the projects that reoccur.

When you access the toolbar for the Project you have the ability to view the "Work List", that is associated to the project, showing you who has completed what and when they completed it. The ability to view all documents related to the project is simple with one click. Once the project is complete, you can click "Invoice Now" and bill out all time cards associated to the project. Finally with the ease of assigning projects globally for all clients based on entity type you can implement these tools in an organized, manageable, time effective way.

To prosper in the ever changing market place accountants need to find ways to implement and succeed at new workflow management methods. Integrating a single tool to run your firm's workflow is just that. Many owners use multiple software applications to complete the workflow task in their firm, in turn elongating the process and compromising the results. Our software brings all areas together; time and billing, paperless document management, company-wide scheduling, call tracking and customer relationship management (CRM).

That is why we consider Practice Management software the accountants workflow solution!

Capture More Billable Time

2011-02-21T18:43:57Z

Tracking tasks is the most pertinent step in an effective time and billing process. When we begin as new business owners it's hard to see the need to track everything. "I value bill everything, I only flat rate invoice!" Why would we want to include another process and possibly use one more software application in the already daunting task at hand as a CPA firm?

Let's face it; we operate in a world that demands the need to multitask. To survive and even get ahead you must be able to accomplish five things at once. Thus making it harder and harder to track our time, resulting in huge discrepancies in our utilization reports, (if we can even get our hands on them), as well as not observing the staff members who are really affecting our business positively and even worse avoiding the task altogether. This should stimulate the idea: "How many billing opportunities have I missed?"

Office Tools Professionals Practice Management software provides a time and billing solution that empowers you to capture billable opportunities to help your business grow. Within the customization features of Practice Management, we will determine the work codes we will use to track our billable and non-billable time. Our software has a standard billable rate per staff member as well work code, including three alternate tiers of billable rates. As we complete activities off of our work list whether it is a client telephone call, accounting, or bookkeeping we are prompted to track our time. When completing tasks throughout the day we capture more accurate records quickly resulting in a streamlined method that takes seconds to complete.

The bottom-line is so many firms are using sometimes up to five different software applications to complete the administration chore within their firm. This is frustrating, inaccurate and wasting up to one hour a day per staff member. You do not get paid for administration work but you must do it! Our Practice Management software cuts down how long you spend in administration work by managing the time, billing, paperless document storage, call tracking and CRM functions to name a few. Our system is completely integrated; by completing a call or assignment you automatically fill out a time card, which fill's in the work in progress for the client and then that time can be invoiced...all in one step.

That is why we consider Practice Management software the accountants workflow solution!

Time Tracking Diminishing Your Firms Value

2011-01-20T22:15:46Z

Why did I go into business for myself? That's a loaded question. I sometimes wonder the many what if's, like what if I hadn't been laid off in 1993 and started my own business. As the years have passed, I am now reminded that even though ownership has had many ups and downs it has truly been a blessing both in my business and personal life.

I remember how unrewarding it was working in a large company that never acknowledged workers real values and skills. Sometimes it reminded me of a high school popularity contest, so full of angst and pretentious pride. This never served the company or its customers well. I vowed if ever given the opportunity I would do things differently. I saw ownership as a way of saying, "Hey, people and their ideas are the real assets of the business." I had hoped if given the opportunity I would do better than my superiors.

I saw business ownership as a way to be my own boss, being in control, controlling my destiny. I also saw it as a way of controlling my time and daily schedule, taking time off to watch my children's dance, music and sporting events. This would also allow my family to home school and take more vacations. I never really liked someone ruling over me and my fortune 500 experience proved to be a real "Work hard for nothing experience." I also saw it as a chance to nurture my own ideas and creativity. To spread my wings, guide the ship and see if I could do a better job than others. Doing a better job than others meant unrestricted pay, right? At least I hoped so. Little did I know that ownership came with firm responsibilities that would control me if I didn't control them? I needed to get a handle on the time it takes to administer my firm.

Automation is the beginning of building a great firm. Today there are so many options for automating. Consider paperless as a first step, better workflow as a second, accurate time controls and tracking and lastly good hardware to support it. Office Tools Professional provides the foundation for administration software for any practice. It combines the most common things every firm does on a daily basis and simplifies them. It reduces the amount of time we spend in non-billable tasks and provides information not just to management but to the firm's staff empowering them for better decision making. Better decision making that ultimately takes fewer staff and creates better client relations at the same time. Now that's getting administration under control and saving money at the same time too. This provides real automation that can be measured through management reports and seen in action in the firm.

We have grown now over the years but have kept administration automation as the foundation for our Practice Management Software.