CPA Practice Advisor - 9

FROM THE TRENCHES
But the main concern I'd like
you to consider in this month's
article is how you handle the main
operational systems of your practice.
How do you automate practice
management, document management and workflow to manage your
day-to-day work? And, how do you
plan to transition your practice over
the next five to seven years?

SO, HOW DO WE PICK
THE RIGHT STRATEGY
AND THEN MANAGE IT?
One of the recent pleasures of my
career has been to produce an annual
survey of Accounting Firm Operations and Technology (AFOT) that was
the idea of Leslie Garrett, currently
VP of Marketing of Newforma. Leslie,
Brian Tankersley and I have run this
free national survey for the last six
years, and we invite you to take the
survey when it is available this fall.
My Canadian partner, Alan
Salmon, has done a similar survey
in Canada for the last two years. Even
though there are good Management of
an Accounting Practice (MAP) surveys
done by Rosenberg, the AICPA PCPS
division and others, none contained
the level of detail we thought was
necessary to make operational
decisions based on statistical valid
numbers.
My individual learning from the
survey has been immense. A key
learning is that CPA firms below 15
and above 100 people are choosing
more best of breed approaches,
meaning they pick solutions from
a variety of vendors and integrate
them together. But now, how do we
take all those facts and turn them
into actionable items to help your
individual practice?
First, what practice management
products are available and the most
common?
■ BQE Core - BQE
■ CCH Axcess Practice and CCH
Axcess iQ - CCH, a Wolters
Kluwer business

One key learning for me in the past
year is that with so many changes in
our CPA firms, we must learn to
manage projects better.
■ CCH ProSystem Practice Management & ProSystem fx Practice
Intelligence - CCH, a Wolters
Kluwer business
■ On-Premise TPS - TPS
■ TPS Cloud Axis - TPS
■ Practice CS - Thomson Reuters
■ Practice Management - Canopy
■ Practice Management
- OfficeTools
■ Power Practice
- AccountantsWorld
■ APS Advance - Reckon Summary
on CPA Firm Technology
What other products are in use?
■ CCH iFirm
■ CaseWare Time
■ Client Track
■ Vohcom Page
■ Thomson Reuters DT Practice
■ Clarity Practice Management
■ Karbon
■ QuickBooks Online
■ QuickBooks Desktop
■ Templeton PracticePro 365
■ Practice Engine
■ Star
If we had point you to the dominant products by size of firm:
■ Small - BQE Core, OfficeTools,
Power Practice, QuickBooks, TPS
■ Medium - CCH Practice Management, Practice CS
■ Large - APS, Practice Engine, Star
If you decide that you desire new
practice management software,
consider these characteristics and
whether or not you need them AND
if they are included or an option in
the practice management system
you are considering (in no particular
order, but more popular current
interests are listed sooner):
■ Realization and utilization
reporting

■ Dashboards and KPIs
■ Published API (Application
Program Interface) to connect to
other systems
■ Management reporting
o AR Analysis
o WIP
o Industry vertical/niche/market
segmentation reporting
o Forecasting
■ Electronic payments
■ Integration to GL/AP/PR/Expense
reporting
■ Mobile entry and approval
■ Business development and/or
integrated CRM
■ Due Date tracking
■ Custom invoices
■ Time and Expense tracking
■ CPE Tracking
■ Scheduling
■ Project management
■ Portal
■ Workflow
■ Document management
We have discussed in other
columns the proper way to develop
a requirements definition, evaluate
alternatives, contract for the best
choice and manage the implementation. One key learning for me in
the past year is that with so many
changes in our CPA firms, we must
learn to manage projects better.
While project management skill
competency is represented by the
Project Management Professional
(PMP) certification, we can use some
of the principles of a PMP professional, just like we can use some
of the principles of IASSC Certified
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (ICGB)
certification to optimize workflows.
Further, most firms can only handle
one project per year or in larger

AUGUST 2019 ■

firms one project per department.
We also believe a year of planning
and a year of implementation is a
reasonable pace. (These projects are
an illustration, not a recommendation for your firm!).
But now I'm worried that change
won't happen quickly enough in
your firm to remain competitive.
Typically, most firms have waited
for the major publishers to develop
and debug applications and then the
firms adopted products that were
fairly tried and tested. At this pace,
competitive firms and the market
in general may move more rapidly
than you. However, can your team
accommodate a more rapid pace of
change.
Like all good managers, we are
going to have to determine what
is best for the practice, look at our
resources, and determine the return
on our investment. Then we must
build a project plan that is achievable that aligns with our business
goals.

ARE THE PRODUCTS UP
TO THE TASK?
Some are, many are not. However,
this may be less about the products than it is about the selection,
implementation and training on
your practice management product.
The vendors will want you to move
fast, but not all their products are
completely ready for the new world
and many contain shortcomings or
bugs. Additionally, you will need to
spend on implementation and training and what the vendor offers is
only the starting point of a journey,
not the final destination.
You'll need good change management, project management and
process management skills to do
your best practice management.
And I can assure you this: the only
constant is change. ■

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