Accounting
/ CPA Firms
In addition to the need for general IT support for servers,
workstations, software, site-to-site connectivity, and
infrastructure, accounting firms often need some special
considerations. A few of these unique needs we have engaged for
accounting firms are mentioned below.
MULTIPLE TOOL SUPPORT
Like many professions, Accounting long ago left behind pencil and
paper. Computers carry the load of storing data and crunching the
numbers. Many accounting firms support small businesses who
themselves use Quickbooks or Peachtree on a daily basis to manage
their own customer accounts. The accountant occassionally reviews
the data and makes recommendations, offers tax considerations, and
prepares tax forms for things such as sales tax reports, workman's
comp payments, and payroll in some cases. Some accountants have
customers on larger systems such as Great Plains, BusinessWorks,
MAS90, or some other commercial heavy-duty product. Whatever your
mix of tools, we can keep your services to your customers flowing
smoothly.
CUSTOM SOFTWARE
A few accountants are engaged in services to industries that do not
easily lend themselves to the general-purpose products mentioned
above. In these circumstances, we often find that the accounting
firm is using a package that was developed either internally or as a
custom package by a third party. Such tools are generally based in a
database product such as MS Access, SQL, or FoxPro. We help these
customers analyze their custom
tools to identify limitations that are hindering
productivity. We then work together to develop and deploy
improvements to these existing tools, or perhaps replace them with
more modern and more integrated custom tools. Custom software can be
extremely powerful because it can be made to do absolutely anything
that you need to support your processes, but if not kept current it
can become a heavy burden. Is your custom software hindering your
progress?
REMOTE ACCESS FROM YOUR OFFICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
No matter what tools are being used, we have found that many
accounting firms are able to greatly improve efficiency by having a
streamlined way to access their customers' networks directly. Remote
access lets bookkeeping and analytical tasks be performed directly
and seamlessly without having to deal with the pain of moving files
back and forth via thumbdrive, email, wheelbarrow, or any other
manual method. If you or your customers have never tried it, let us
show you the advantages for both of you. If you have considered it
but been leery of it due to security concerns, let us show you how
those concerns can be easily and thoroughly mitigated.
DATA SECURITY
The nature of accounting inherently includes access to
sensitive data. In an age where information is power for good guys
and bad guys alike, protection measures are a must, and all the more
important when the sensitivity of the data is high. Imagine the
difficulty you would have if your customers' data were compromised
in some way while it was in your custody. Do you have the right
protections in place in order to substantiate that you took
reasonable precautions to protect your customers data? There are
accepted best-practices that govern such matters. A process and
technical review should be periodically performed to keep you
legally protected.
CLOUD-BASED SERVER
The accounting industry often brings a unique need to the
table for cloud-based computing. A cloud-based server can be
established for the firms' customers to connect to for their own
accounting needs, rather than using Quickbooks or other tools on
site at their own business. That secures the data, and puts it all
in one place when you connect to it to do your portion of their
accounting work. Of course, your customers are separated from each
other completely. Refer to our discussion on cloud
computing for more information or call us for more
information.
TAX-TIME CRUNCH
Tax-time is coffee and Redbull time for most accounting firms.
December to January is generally a good time to check all internal
systems in preparation for the upcoming work marathon. Let us check
your systems for potential weak links in your technology
infrastructure. The last thing you want the first week of April is
to lose two days due to a server failure that might have been
prevented.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT THAT YOU CAN RECOMMEND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
We have found historically that many businesses ask their
accountants who they recommend for IT support. There are two reasons
for that: 1) by definition, people trust their accountant, and 2)
people know that an accountant MUST have good IT support to succeed.
Our accounting firm customers have historically been a great source
of referrals for us. We take referrals very seriously because in a
sense we are representing you to that common customer. We will serve
your customers well!