CPA Practice Advisor - 25

FROM THE TRENCHES
Continued from page 5
desk space and all the tools of the
trade. Even managing small entrepreneurial businesses from home
requires the right tools, as noted in
my article https://www.k2e.com/
articles/starting-online-shop/. Indeed,
we have learned the deficiencies of
our work-at-home setup. Perhaps
there are tools from the past we
don't need anymore like calculators
or phones, but probably not.
A few apparent changes will
occur. First, retirements that were
imminent because of the healthy
stock markets will be delayed.
Postponing retirements will alleviate some of the immediate need for
staffing. Unfortunately, some firms
have made plans to furlough team
members as soon as they can plan
their future workloads. Some firms
have reduced partner draws. Other
firms have increased client service
and billings at this time, keeping
their clients and their firm ready for
when the business climate improves.
Appropriate staffing will continue
to be a practice management issue.
Second, work-at-home is likely
to become the "new normal." While
there had been a trend to more
remote working, work-at-home was
more of the exception than the rule
for most CPA firms. The pandemic
stay at home orders forced firms to
work-at-home and proved that this
does work. Maintaining the culture
of the firm for the long haul will be a
challenge that must be solved.
Third, forced remote work has
proven that cloud technologies can
scale. Microsoft Azure had a 755%
increase in load in March of 2020
compared to April. Microsoft had to
turn off features such as synchronization and icon rendering to keep
the system working under pressure.
Azure performed admirably, and
Microsoft's management of the
system stress was notable.
Fourth, it was clear that some

technologies didn't work at first
and had to be adjusted. VOIP, video
meeting tools, and many others
suffered under load. During the
early conversion to the work-athome environments, most remote
systems that I used had failures
of one kind or another. However,
the management and IT teams at
these companies responded and
addressed most issues within a
couple of weeks.
Fifth, there are likely to be systemic changes. For example, many
practices proved that they could
work-at-home effectively. So, will the
need for expensive real estate and
fancy offices drop? Can we mostly
eliminate the 30- to 90-minute
commutes that many have routinely
been making? Do our expenses drop
when we don't have to sit in traffic
and pay for fuel?

AND WHAT TOOLS HELP
US MANAGE THIS NEW
PRACTICE?
Practice Management systems that
have workflow capabilities, billing,
scheduling, electronic payment,
portals, and integrations into our
document management system,
tax, and A&A tools would be best.
Whether your firm does value billing
or bills by the hour or project, you
still need to get the invoices out and
get paid in a timely fashion. While
there are useful practice management tools for smaller firms such
as Accounting Power, OfficeTools,
Clarity Practice Management, and
TPS Cloud Axis, new competitors
such as Canopy, Karbon, and Pascal
Workflow are trying to break into
the market. Products for larger
firms like CCH Axcess Practice,
Onvio Firm Management, Practice
Engine, or STAR are all quite aware
of the need for managing remote and
work-at-home professionals.
But Practice Management software is only part of what is needed
to manage a remote or work-at-home

group of professionals. Other remote
tools should include:
■ P r o duc t i v it y s o f t w a r e w it h
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office), Zoho
One, or G Suite
■ Phone support with voice over IP
(VOIP) from providers like Vantage
Unified Communications
■ V ide o me et i ng s w it h G o og le
Hangouts, GoToMeeting, WebEx,
Zoho Meeting, or Zoom
■ Document management w it h
Doc-It, CCH Axcess Document, or
GoFileRoom
■ Portals with Doc-It, CCH Axcess
Client Collaboration or SurePrep
Tax Caddy
■ Workflow with XCM, CCH Axcess
Workstream, or FirmFlow
■ And more

DECIDE THE RIGHT THING
TO DO
What is the right thing to do for
your firm and your clients? Can your
team members effectively serve
clients if they work from home? Are

MAY 2020 ■

you providing the right tools with
the proper education? Have you
planned expertly for all the remote
tools listed above? Have you focused
on your client and team member
experience? How do you and your
partners manage people effectively
when you can't walk down the hall,
or you don't have a partner in charge
of an office location?
Visibility in your Practice Management system, combined with
effective document management
and workf lows, are the keys to
practical remote work. Yes, we'll
still have issues managing things
like due dates and scheduling teams
for engagements. Flaws in your
practice management, document
management, workflow, portals, and
other tools became evident during
the stay at home orders. But if you
can't get the bills out and get paid,
how would your firm stay around to
continue to help clients? ■

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CPA Practice Advisor

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