I’ve been active in social media for some time now, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The key is to be active on a frequent basis. In other words, you have to embrace social media and make it a part of your daily routine. Only then will you start to see ROI.

I make social media a dedicated part of my routine, and within the past few weeks I’ve earned a new client and had two existing clients reach out to me through social media channels. One client posted on my Facebook page that she needed an extension. I was able to immediately reply, “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!” I also posted a re-tweet to LinkedIn, reminding clients of the deadline to file corporate returns and extensions. A client responded, “Thanks Jody. This is a timely reminder!”

My point? Social media represents another channel to reach clients and respond to them in real time. In both examples, my clients were very happy. I was able to file an extension for one, and for the other provide a much needed reminder of the looming tax deadline. Through social media, I have the ability to communicate with clients on a regular basis … outside of phone calls, emails and my website. And the more touch points we have with clients, the “stickier” the relationship. And you want that stickiness!

Communication has to go both ways. As our clients’ trusted advisor, it’s important to touch base and see what they are up to from time to time. With social media, it takes seconds to reach out to clients, offering helpful information or a simple jolt of praise to share in their successes. We are their advisors, so knowing what is going on in the life of the client is critical.

Remember, we are also a referral-based profession. Clients that feel connected to me are more likely to refer others to my firm. And don’t be fooled, small business owners expect this level of interaction and use of social media tools. Today’s entrepreneurs are those in their thirties and forties, and they are all aware of social media and its importance. Just this week, I acquired a new client who was referred to me. The prospect had identified three other CPA firms, as well, but she picked me because of our reputation for service and because I have a Twitter feed!

It only takes about 10 to 20 minutes a day to maintain a solid social media program. I do it over coffee! Once up and running, firms will see a return on investment.

If someone asked you “Did you backup today?”, your reaction might
include:

• Getting a little personal, aren’t you?
• No problem – the reverse in my car’s transmission works fine.
• I’m macho, dude – I don’t back up or down for nobody!
• Do you mean my computer system?
• Well, I’ve been meaning to get around to it, but I don’t really
  want to think about it.

Let’s discuss why and how you should backup your computer systems.

Why? First, we tend to treat computers like the electric utility, our bank
or our car – we expect them to be there and available whenever we need
them. Our computers are the same and they resemble our bank because they maintain
very valuable or needed information. On a personal level they may have our tax
returns, our budgets and financial data and important letters plus files that
we like such as songs or movies. Our business computers are even more critical.
They will usually contain extremely important information like payrolls, general
ledgers, accounts receivable, contracts, customer lists, calendars that could
actually cause us to go out of business if we lost them.

So, what types of losses could occur? There are basically three types of losses
that we are concerned about.

First is the “O fiddlesticks!” event. This is when we do things
like making a serious mistake and then saving the file so that it is permanently
set with the incorrect information. This is so named because you end saying
“O Fiddlesticks” or maybe even words that are a bit more graphic.

The second is that something happens to your computer. The most common problem
is that the hard drive, which is where the information is actually stored, stops
working. You will hear that referred to as a disk crash. This means that the
computer cannot get to the disk drive to run its programs or access your information,
so it can’t do any work.

The third type of problem is that a major misfortune occurs such as your home
or office burns down or there is a regional disaster such as an earthquake or
flood that affects your area.

Each of these requires a different type of protection and planning.

In the first case in which you made a mistake, your information became corrupted,
so backups don’t actually do any good. They will simply be backups of
bad information. In order to be prepared for that, you will need software that
can remember several versions of your documents. If after hours of work, you
finished the only copy of notes from your meeting with your boss at 10:00 in
preparation for an 11:00 review and then made a mistake at 10:15 which ruined
everything, you normally would have a serious problem. However, this type of
software keeps copies of older versions, so you simply go back to recover the
10:15 version. You will hear the computer geeks call this CDP, which stands
for Continuous Data Protection.

In the second example, the hard drive on your local computer broke right after
your hours of work. The computer itself is dumb and does not know anything if
the disk drive is not feeling good. In order to retrieve valuable data such
as your Romanian Tossed Salad recipe, you will want software that keeps your
key information on a tape drive that is connected to your computer. Then, when
the problem occurs, you will need to repair your computer, buy a new one or
see if cousin Freddie still has that left over machine in his closet. You will
need to reinstall the software that allows the computer to do work you need
such as writing letters or balancing checks. When that software has been re-installed,
you load the data from the backup tape that had been attached to the original
machine. That is a bit of work, but is far less effort than having to re-create
every thing you lost. Your computer friends will call this direct attached storage
backup.

The third example is a bit like the first, but with one major difference. In
this case, the whole house or office was destroyed, which meant that you not
only lost your computer, but that little tape drive with all the backed up data
is now a piece of burnt or soggy toast. You now have bigger problems than just
the lost data, so you need a plan on how you will recover your business and
personal life. Once you use that preparation to work through the slight problem
of having no house or office, then you will need to replace your computer, reinstall
your software and recover your data. However, in this case you will need to
have stored the information remotely in a location that would not be affected.

Also, since you lost your office, you will need to have backup copies of your
software at the recovery location. Almost all software licenses allow you to
keep one copy, so that should be allowed. You will need to have sent your backup
data at a remote location. This could be another office or a special service
that holds these for you. The information can be sent by shipping tapes or by
using your business’s computer network. When you talk to your computer
friends, they will call your overall preparation a Disaster Recovery plan and
your backup is a remote backup.

Ok, so what should you do? Well, the first step is to figure out your exposure
by asking what will happen if I lost this information and then pick a course
of action that is the easiest way to meet those needs.

• If your Romanian Tossed Salad and other recipes could be recovered by going
  to the local library, maybe nothing.
• If you only had a very few files that are critical, then the simplest approach
  would be to email them to yourself so that your email service provider would
  then have them on their system.
• The next step up is using data storage that may be offered by your email
  service provider.
• If your data is more critical, but you don’t live on the San Andreas
  fault, in Kansas along tornado alley or on the Florida coast and you are right
  next to the local fire department, then you may think about simply acquiring
  an extra tape or disk drive and some backup software. Incidentally, there
  are ways to make the backup very efficient by only backing up changed information,
  but we will save that for another discussion.
• Finally, if you do live in a higher risk area or you just want to feel
  safer, you can look at setting up systems to ship your tapes to a remote location
  or use your company network to send the information there.
• Don’t forget that the first problem of being able to correct your
  own mistakes requires a different type of software (see CDP above), not backup
  software, so be sure to consider whether or not you need that.
• If you are thinking about the backup options and don’t have computer
  experience, it would be a very good investment of time and money to have a
  professional with storage experience help you select the right solution for
  your specific needs.

In summary, we saw there are three occurrences that will cause you to consider
backing up your data.

1. You make a mistake and want to correct it.
2. Your computer fails
3. A major disaster occurs and your whole office/home and computer equipment
   are lost.

You want to take a level of response that is appropriate to your situation,
so your options are to:

1. Do nothing.
2. Email files to your self or store them with your service provider
3. Buy backup software and a tape or disk drive
4. Set up a system to send tapes or data to a remote location.

In all cases you will need to decide whether to get software that also protects
against mistakes (real-time data protection) and you should definitely ask for
help when acquiring new systems.

Gary Parker is the Sr. Product Marketing Manager for BakBone
NetVault: Backup solutions. He has over 25 years in storage marketing and
sales experience. Prior to BakBone, he was a top sales rep and sales manager,
setting all time company records while at Sterling Software’s storage
management division. As a product manager at StorageTek (Sun), Mr. Parker tripled
product sales, received numerous commendations and set up StorageTek’s
user group as marketing manager. He has a BS in Business with honors from University
of Arizona and an MBA from Golden Gate University. Mr. Parker has also had executive
marketing training at Harvard, Wharton and Columbia.

When firms adopt a systematic approach to marketing and selling, the results are far more effective than if using a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-approach. The logic is simple: A systematic approach is far more predictable and consistent in delivering the results desired.

Systematic Approaches Are Used Everyday

Consider leading athletes. The best athletes use a systematic approach to deliver consistent, superior results. In basketball, the systematic approach used by Steve Nash, Dirk Novitski, and J.J. Redick for free throw shooting is far more effective than the approach used by Shaquille O’Neil and Ben Wallace. In golf, Tiger Woods and Phil Michelson use a systematic approach for every shot—and just look at what they’ve accomplished!

Whether it’s a system for processing payroll or interviewing for a job, there has to be a process in place to improve the end result and offer the best possible outcome. Think about it. Would you process multiple client payrolls using an off-the-cuff non-standardized process? Would you go into an executive interview with the company’s president and just wing it? Of course not…

With this in mind, why would you go about marketing and selling services without having a system in place? Building your firm without a structured, well-designed system is like driving a car with your eyes closed.

Identify the Most Effective Sales System

The first step is to define what is meant by a system. A system is simply a series of steps designed to achieve a specific result. It contains a set of principles, processes, strategies, and approaches to deliver consistent, positive results on a daily basis. The second step is to identify systems that are critical to a firm’s growth strategy.

Because the world is constantly changing, it’s important to update the sales system to stay current with today’s marketplace. The popularity of the Web and e-based communications nullifies the use of dusty, out-dated sales systems and requires firms to re-evaluate how they communicate and interact with prospects and existing clients. For firms serious about growing business, the following are imperative for success:

1. A System for Lead Generation
2. A System for Converting Prospects
3. A System for Selling More to Existing Clients

The best way to identify and develop an appropriate sales system is to learn from others who have extensive experience with marketing and selling and have tested the effectiveness of their systems. The best advice is to seek out these firms, ask questions, and observe how they operate. From there, you can begin to build your own advanced selling system. And once you do, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to consistently grow your business.

————— –

Hugh Duffy is co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer for Build Your Firm (BuildYourFirm.com)—a practice development firm dedicated to the accounting industry. Build Your Firm works with small accounting firms providing accounting marketing, practice management, and CPA website development services. Hugh has 25 years of marketing experience and holds an MBA degree in Marketing from the University of Rochester.

You know the New Year is kicking into gear with the sight of new gadgets being touted at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES; www.cesweb.org) where a cadre of The CPA Technology Advisor’s contributors converged to see and experience the latest and greatest digital products. While many of these products are targeted to the consumer rather than business user, there
are opportunities for use in accounting firms when you look at them with the right perspective. Here is my 2009 line up of the coolest new tools and technologies
and how they may show up in your firm some day!

Lenovo W700 Dual Screen Laptop
The most practical application of technology I witnessed came from Lenovo (www.lenovo.com), integrating a 10.6” screen into the lid of a 17” laptop. This screen slips out in a vertical format for easy viewing of secondary documents. While there have been dual and even triple monitor laptops, Lenovo is the first major vendor to release a product that tax and accounting professionals would actually
use.

Solid State Disks Become Mainstream
A number of laptop and camera manufacturers rolled out versions of Solid State Disks (SSD) to replace traditional disk drives, bringing faster performance
and lower battery consumption. One opportunity for firms with laptops that are in their third year of use but running slow by comparative standards is to give them an “extension” of another year by replacing their existing hard drive with an SSD. SanDisk (www.SanDisk.com) touted 60GB replacement SSDs for $149 that are five times faster than the drives inside and cost much less than the $500 to $800 annual capital cost of a new laptop, which could be attractive in this tough economy.

DisplayLink Integrated Monitors
Adding a third or fourth monitor can be kludge if they are different sizes or capacities, which causes most firms to “batch” similar models together for ease of use. While Matrox’s DualHead2Go (www.matrox.com) has been the mainstay for most tax and accounting firms, they are not effective at mixed displays in a vertical (“portrait”) mode. Last year, DisplayLink (www.displaylink.com) rolled out an easy adapter to work around this issue, and this year they built their adapter directly into a number of screens from vendors such as Samsung (www.samsung.com), Lenovo (www.lenovo.com) and Toshiba (www.toshiba.com) so they are as easy as plug and play. The great thing about DisplayLink is that they can connect up to six different screen sizes and formats simultaneously.

Easier USB Backups
SanDisk (www.SanDisk.com) rolled out their latest “Ultra Backup” USB fobs with capacities of up to 64GB of storage. The twist this year is that these devices are being touted as backup storage devices with integrated backup software to make it easier to backup your critical files. For larger capacity backup needs, ClickFree (www.goclickfree.com) has a series of drives with “easy” integrated software. Or you can use their USB Transformer cable to connect a computer to any other kind of external hard drive, giving the user the benefit of the automated ClickFree system. The USB Transformer was rated as one of the Top Ten Last Gadgets Standing. The beauty of this device is that it can be used with your existing USB Hard Drive, which may have already come with software but been difficult to use. This was the case with our home family computer so I bought one on the spot ($60) to see if it can streamline those backups!

Microsoft Windows Plan
I attended Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s first CES keynote, and the strongest message sent was regarding Windows 7 (www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7), which Ballmer stated would be the most secure and stable version of Windows. The main announcement was that they were allowing people to download the Beta immediately, so this signals Microsoft not trying to push Vista much more. While I have been recommending that firms standardize on Windows XP Service Pack 2, I feel it would be worthwhile for your IT personnel to download the Beta and try it on a machine if they have some downtime during the busy season.

Netbooks
One of the strongest trends at the show was the explosion of mini-notebooks that have limited hard drive and applications built in, but have maximum communications capabilities to access web-based information and applications. These devices are usually in a smaller format with screens in the 8- to 11-inch range but are super light and have long battery life. As the accounting industry vendors roll out their entire accounting suite of applications and document storage on the web, we can expect tax and accounting firms to pilot the use of Netbooks as a low cost and convenient alternative to the traditional laptop. To see what we are talking about, take a look at the Dell Mini (www.dell.com/mini) or the ASUS Eee PC (http://eeepc.asus.com).

Sony Vaio Lifestyle PC
Sony takes the evolution of the portable computer another step with its VAIO Lifestyle PC (www.sonystyle.com/vaio), which won CNET’s Best of CES award (www.cnet.com). This mini-laptop has an 8-inch screen and a very functional keyboard even in such a small package. The only thing I didn’t like was that it uses a “track nub” rather than a touchpad, so I would have to opt for an external optical mouse.

LiveScribe Pulse Pen
This product (www.livescribe.com/smartpen) was touted at the annual CES Last Gadget Standing press event and integrates note taking with audio in a format that can be captured and replayed digitally. Imagine taking notes with a client and making recommendations that can all be saved in a client file on your network. These notes and conversations are all recorded and queued to the specific event to be accessed whenever you want. The Livescribe allows the user to click on specific points within their notes and listen to a recording of exactly what was said at the time the notes were made. One cool feature is that you can draw a calculator and then actually use it, but the catch is that you must do this all on their special paper.

LG Touch Watch Phone
Calling all Dick Tracy fans … oops! Two-thirds of your staff members probably don’t know who he is! While a number of phones have been built small enough to go on the wrist, LG (www.lge.com/us) is the first major carrier to bring an actual one out. For a really upscale appeal, LG has created a Prada Link Bluetooth version. Fully loaded, the watch phone integrates a quad band GSM phone with a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, a full
HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth, FM Radio, Document Viewer, and 60MB storage, all viewable through a 3-inch touchscreen. Probably time to upgrade my eyeglass
prescription.

Micro Projectors
Prototypes for micro projectors have been around for a few years, but you can finally buy one that will fit in the palm of your hand. Devices such as the Nextar Z10 (www.nextar.com), MicroVision PicoP (www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays) and 3M Mpro (www.3MMPro.com) are available and will eventually be built into cell phones. Financial reports and tax returns could be easily reviewed with clients by projecting the information on a small screen or wall.

Roman’s TOP CES Gadget Picks

• Lenovo W700 Dual Screen Laptop
• Solid State Disks
• DisplayLink Integrated Monitors
• USB Backups
• Microsoft Windows
• Netbooks
• Sony VAIO LifeStyle PC
• LiveScribe Pulse Pen
• LG Touch Watch Phone
• Micro Projectors
• Digital Paper
• 3D Opportunities
• Personal GPS
• EmWave Personal Stress Reliever
• iClubby Workstation

Read about more about Roman’s top gadget picks from CES 2009 at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2310, where he discusses Digital Paper, 3D Opportunities, Personal GPS, Stress Relievers & the Ultimate Office Chair.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP is president of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. and works exclusively with CPA firms to implement today’s leading best practices and technologies. He can be contacted at roman@cpata.com.

How would you or your client like to place this ad in the Employment Section of your local newspaper?

Help Not Wanted:
Our accounting department doesn’t need another person to keep up with the Excel spreadsheets or do data entry. We’ve been paying $40k for this job, but now we have a system that is so efficient at handling our processes that we eliminated a position. Do not send your resume.

ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR A RESTAURANT GROUP
A restaurant group with 25+ locations said they eliminated just such a position when their new business management system got up and running. It wasn’t part of their plan, but it was a direct result of eliminating so much manual work that there was no need for the position. That type of help was no longer needed.

For the restaurant group, the system came first and then the reduction in workforce. That’s not the picture we see in companies where the economic downturn has resulted in a drop in sales and the inevitable layoffs that follow. The work must still be done. Some businesses will just pile more on the folks still there, but forward-thinking companies will see this as an opportunity to fine tune their processes and look at upgrading, replacing and revamping their internal business systems.

THE WAKE UP CALL FOR A ROOFING SUPPLIER
Consider the roofing supplier who never had an inventory system he trusted so he relied on Bob, the warehouse foreman. Everything they needed to know about inventory was in Bob’s head. When he walked through the warehouse and saw he was low on something, that was when he ordered. That got them by in the good times, but Bob was on the layoff list when the slump in the housing market took its toll. That was a wake up call when the owners realized they really had no clue of what was in stock, what was a big seller or which clients bought what.

The answer was clear: They needed to get a handle on their inventory, and it had to be a system in which they could have a high level of confidence. As it turned out, the investment in an integrated business management system with inventory control was less than it cost to keep Bob on the payroll for another year. It also automated their knowledge, which made them much less vulnerable to the comings and goings of employees. The unexpected side benefit to them was much improved customer service because they knew immediately what was in stock. Now they use the system to forecast needs, which has also reduced their inventory carrying costs and improved the bottom line.

Strong internal systems will always help a business do more with less, but it doesn’t always have to be based on technology. An improved system can be just good old attention to detail and old fashion analysis.

INVESTIGATIVE ACCOUNTANT STRIKES GOLD FOR A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
Consider the case of the health care provider who really wanted to keep all their people during what they hoped was a temporary drop in business. They encouraged their team to use their downtime to look hard at all the many aspects of their business and see what efficiencies or savings they could identify. An enterprising accountant decided to pull out the files filled with the thick phone bills that come each month and do an analysis at a level that had probably never been done. Bingo!

On the company bill they identified an extra phone line they had been paying for that was no longer needed. On the cell phone bill, they discovered monthly charges for a GPS add-on that enabled users to find local restaurants or businesses when they were traveling. That was fine if they needed it, but many of their employees did not. Turns out the cell phone company added it on to all new phones as a free trial for a month and nobody ever bothered to stop it after the 30 days had elapsed. Yes, you do need to go check your cell phone bill.

The accountant next attacked their credit card bills. They struck gold again. There was a recurring charge for an old dial-up Internet account that had not been used in years. Ka-ching!

A HOMETOWN BANK RETURNS TO ITS ROOTS
Finally, there was the case of the local hometown bank. Customer service and customer acquisition is the lifeblood of the banking industry, and with the bad news in banking this regional player saw an opportunity. Going back to its roots, the bank decided to target customers of the larger banks with a focus on their customer-friendly atmosphere and variety of services. Unfortunately, like their larger counterparts, they too had to make do with less after some layoffs.

Their bank officers and managers knew they were dropping the ball on selling their mix of bank’s products to new and existing customers. With less staff, they needed a better way to target and track prospective customers and build on their relationships with prospects and customers so they could improve their sales and bottom line.

What they needed was a systematic way to help prospects and customers better take advantage of the bank’s offerings that could bring value. They found their answer in ACT!, a lower-cost contact management system that brought the structure and process flow they needed. With information documented and organized, they were able to make up for less people by using technology to do more targeted marketing and follow-up that was fine-tuned to the individual needs of their prospects and customers. It worked and business improved. So too did customer satisfaction.

THE HELP MAY ALREADY BE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU
Tough economic times are always a wakeup call for businesses to build efficiencies and fine-tune processes. Improving internal systems should always be a priority, but it seems to be less so when times are good. Well, it has our attention now. So take the opportunity to help your clients find the goldmines in their business operations by looking at all aspects of their operations for ways to save money and increase revenue. Truth is, the help you wanted may already be right there in your office.

Some firms don’t yet see the benefit of moving off their local desktop/LAN systems because they have in-house technical people to keep everything running smoothly, and they’ve figured out other remote access solutions to facilitate the accountant/client collaboration.

However, even if firms have all that figured out, they are most likely providing less security for their data than companies who switch to some online solution. Also, although the offline firms may be able to produce good results for the next five years or so, I predict most of us will, in the near future, be using some type of online solution for nearly everything surrounding accounting and business management. For more on this trend, see my August 2008 column (Taking Your Practice Online) at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2023 and the October 2007 column (Software as a Service – The Future for Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Clients) at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/1760.

What is an ASP?
To lay the framework of our discussion, let me first define some terminology and help you differentiate the buzzwords you keep hearing in the online world.

The term ASP refers to a category of companies who provide access to computers (servers and desktops) “in the sky” that run a variety of Windows software for customers who access those computers via the Internet. Applications available on ASPs include MS Office, QuickBooks, QuickBooks add-ons, and other software by customer request.

ASP services ensure that the software and hardware is managed, backed up and always available via the Internet.

What is SaaS?
Software as a Service (SaaS) is another term you’re hearing a lot about, and although ASPs provide services that include software, there is a slight differentiation between ASPs and SaaS vendors.

ASPs provide:

• Desktop applications installed and managed on the ASP’s computers.
• Hosted software is typically purchased as a desktop application, but then hosted by the ASP. In a sense, you “rent” access, but you typically purchase the software that is hosted. But the term rent is used loosely here.
• Hosted applications (and the data that goes with them) can often be moved to your local computer(s) to run locally if you decide to stop using the ASP.

SaaS vendors provide:

• Usually Web-native applications running on the service provider’s computers.
• The software license is part of the service. Think of it as “renting” the software along with the service.
• You access the application via the Internet, usually using a browser.
• The SaaS application cannot be run on your desktop computers, because the software license is not available other than with the service.

A Brief history of QuickBooks Hosting
Intuit has been nearly silent on the issue of hosted QuickBooks for years. The legalese in the QuickBooks software license agreement purportedly prohibits hosting, but there are probably over 100 companies who are and have been hosting the software since the late 90s. In the past, if you called Intuit support and said you’re using a QuickBooks hosted by an ASP, they would tell you that you were breaking your license agreement, and that they could not support you.

Of course, there were probably several thousand users with that situation, so it really became one of those stand-offs between users and ASPs on the one side, and Intuit’s license agreement on the other hand.

Because of this legal ambiguity and lack of licensing enforcement from Intuit, many of us in the consulting and accounting profession just steered clear of using and/or recommending hosted QuickBooks to our clients. Most of us saw the compelling benefits, but we were concerned that without clarification on the licensing from Intuit, we might somehow end up as unwitting participants in the violation of Intuit’s software license agreements. That was a risk many of us just didn’t want to take.

A Clearer Roadmap for the Future
The good news is that now we have a clearer roadmap for using QuickBooks on an ASP. There are two hosting companies I am aware of who have jumped through the technical and legal hoops to be considered worthy of providing the level of service that Intuit requires for their QuickBooks customers. These Intuit-authorized, QuickBooks hosting companies are InsynQ (www.cpaasp.com) and Right Networks (www.rightnetworks.com). Of course there may be other authorized providers in the future.

Ok, so back to the question of why hosted QuickBooks makes sense. Even though I predict that ultimately the SaaS products will be all we talk about, in the short-to-medium term, I think the ASP has some compelling benefits for accounting firms and their clients. There are several reasons why I think the ASP solution is compelling.

Probably the first and most compelling reason is that PEOPLE LOVE QuickBooks. They’ve built their internal procedures around the product; they’ve trained their staff how to use it; they can get top quality support for it from a number of sources; and nearly every accounting firm in the country has someone who can help set it up, troubleshoot problems, and even prescribe workarounds when a particular feature isn’t quite right for the client.

The second reason is that QuickBooks has literally hundreds of add-ons that directly integrate with it. Many of those add-ons are now part of the internal systems of QuickBooks users everywhere, and to switch away from them would be a huge undertaking. So the add-ons are now just about as entrenched as QuickBooks itself. And the good news is that most of the add-ons can also be hosted by a QuickBooks ASP.

The third reason is that ASPs help you go online quickly, without switching software, and you can always switch back if you don’t like it. So your data remains YOUR data. The risk of switching to something new is mitigated by the fact that you can always go back if it doesn’t work out.

It’s worth asking why one would use QuickBooks on an ASP as opposed to switching to a web-native SaaS accounting product such as QuickBooks Online Edition (http://oe.QuickBooks.com), NetSuite (www.Netsuite.com), Intacct (www.Intacct.com), or any of the five or so other options. That’s a great question, and in my opinion, it’s only a question of when that switch will be appropriate for your business.

In the short term, hosted QuickBooks allows the masses to keep what they have while also realizing the benefits of online, anytime, anywhere access, plus the ease of sharing data between accountant and clients.

Are you concerned about the amount of confidential information in your organization that is being delivered via e-mail attachments? Is it being delivered securely? Is it being delivered to the proper recipients? Are you keeping track of who
is sending which files to whom?

If you’re not comfortable with your answers to these questions, then it’s time to give serious consideration to deploying a portal in your practice. This article provides you with an understanding of what a portal is, how it can benefit your firm, what you should know about portals and how to develop your portal deployment strategy.

WHAT IS A PORTAL?

So what is a portal? Well, it is a term that is very broad in scope and meaning. Let’s begin with a basic definition of a portal as it relates to accounting
and tax professionals: It is a gateway to a collection of electronic information and files that is accessible over the Internet via web browser.

For accounting, tax and financial professionals, the most prevalent application is a portal that provides clients with secure, online, self-service access to their information. It’s the information that you deliver via your portal that ultimately determines its value. The information that can be provided on
a client portal can range from simply posting static (PDF) copies of tax returns and financial statements at one end of the spectrum to a collection of real-time,
client-specific information such as portfolio valuations, bank account balances and KPI’s (key performance indicators) from the client’s accounting system on the other end. The quality of the information you publish on the portal and the ease of access are the two key value drivers for your clients.

ALTERNATIVE PORTAL STRATEGIES

You can choose from a multitude of approaches to develop the form and content of your portal, so I would like to outline some of the key strategies you can
choose for your portal solution. I’ve organized the discussion into three topics: form, content and technology. Let’s start with form. While there
are many different forms a portal can take on, I like to frame the discussion by describing three alternative forms, which can, in fact, be combined to provide
a more comprehensive portal site.

ONE-WAY OR ‘PUBLISHING’ PORTAL

This is the most common form of portal being deployed by accounting and tax firms today. The nature of this portal type is to post electronic documents
and files such as tax returns and financial statements that can be accessed securely and confidentially by clients.

The driving force behind the increased deployment of this portal type is the corresponding increase in the deployment of document management systems (DMS) in accounting and tax practices as they work through the transformation to a
digital (paperless) practice model. The publishing portal is a natural extension of the DMS, and the value becomes more apparent as the volume of electronic
documents and files continues to expand exponentially.

TWO-WAY OR ‘FILE TRANSFER’ PORTAL

This is a portal that allows your clients the ability to securely and confidentially upload electronic documents and files for your retrieval. The classic example
is to upload a QuickBooks data file instead of sending it via e-mail attachment, CD or flash drive.

Actually, this type of portal has been deployed for many years in the form of an FTP (file transfer protocol) site that allows files to be uploaded and transferred back and forth between the accountant and the client. The primary difference with this model today is the design of more user-friendly html (hypertext markup language) web pages to navigate the file transfer process.

REAL-TIME PORTALS

Real-time portals are designed to provide access to a collection of dynamic information that provides value to the client, such as current portfolio valuations,
bank account balances, KPIs (key performance indicators) from the client’s accounting system, or industry-specific news and information. This type of portal
is a little more sophisticated, primarily because it typically involves integrating with other applications to feed the information to the portal.

The evolution of real-time portals in accounting and tax firms is likely to be slower, if for no other reason than the fact that we are typically working with historical information. However, financial planners and investment advisors are more likely to deploy real-time portals due to the nature of the time-sensitive information with which they routinely deal.

ESTABLISHING YOUR PORTAL CONTENT STRATEGY

In the classic scenario of “the chicken or the egg,” your content is going to determine the form of your portal. Alternatively, the form of your
portal will determine the nature of the content you can provide. The prudent approach is to decide what sorts of information you want to ex-change via the
portal and let that decision determine the type of portal you will need. This decision-making process can be relatively simple.To help you through the process,
I have provided a checklist of the typical types of information that you may want to consider providing on your portal.

As you plot your portal con-tent strategy, keep it simple and don’t try to do too much too quickly. Your portal model will evolve over time, and the technology solutions will evolve, as well. They will become more robust and easier to deploy, manage and use. I think it’s reasonable to expect that the portal you deploy today will look much different many years from now.

PICKING YOUR PORTAL TECHNOLOGY

Once you have established the form and content of your portal model, selecting the appropriate technology solution will be a more strategic process. You will know what you want and be better prepared to participate in vendor presentations of their solutions. Many different options are available for your portal technology.

You can deploy a “home grown” solution based on a portal development platform such as Microsoft SharePoint. Alternatively, you can utilize an accountant-centric portal designed specifically for tax and accounting professionals. Most of the accountant-centric portal solutions are delivered in an ASP (application server provider) model, which means that the vendor provides both the portal software and the hardware/infrastructure platform via remote access to a secure data center. For most small firms, this is my recommended strategy since you are
unlikely to have the depth of IT infrastructure and personnel to develop, deploy and administer the portal in-house.

A vendor-managed portal provides for a much simpler deployment and will generally provide a more secure platform via the data center model, as well as a more cost-effective solution through a “shared services” model. On the other hand, if you are a larger organization with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a qualified IT services team, then developing your own in-house portal solution may be a viable alternative. The primary benefit of the “in-house”
approach is that you can design the portal to your individual specifications.

The supply of vendor portal solutions is expanding with the market demand. I am a proponent of the accountant-centric portal solutions that are offered by vendors who provide accounting, tax, practice management and document management solutions designed for the unique needs of accounting and tax professionals. You should take a thorough look at three to five solutions to gain a better perspective on the range of functionality available. If you have deployed a DMS, your provider should be at the top of your list of potential portal solutions.

The integration between the DMS and the portal is key to controlling the efficiency of managing your published portal content. Also, integration with your tax and accounting software will allow you publish tax returns and financial statements directly to the portal. Regardless, you have to establish a structured process for posting information to your portal, along with the appropriate policies to control the quality and security of the information.

It’s important to remember that the portal is most likely the first time in which you are providing clients with direct, self-service access to your electronic information, so you should proceed with caution.

BENEFITS OF PORTALS

I’ve discussed how a portal can be used to exchange information with your clients. This is a good point in the article to articulate the benefits to help you appreciate the value of a portal for your organization.

SECURITY

In my opinion, this is the number one benefit of deploying a portal. Since most electronic information is exchanged via email attachments, you are subject to two key vulnerabilities — sending confidential information to the wrong person and having the message intercepted by an unauthorized third party during transmission. The latter is why we have seen increased regulations prohibiting the transmission of personal data via e-mail., i.e. social security number.

From a practical perspective, sending the email to the wrong person is the much more probable breach of the privacy of the email communication. With a portal, you can significantly reduce the amount of email attachments you send.

CLIENT SELF-SERVICE

We are knee deep into the area of self-service access to electronic information. Since accountants are responsible for some of the most critical and confidential
information that businesses and individuals rely on, they cannot afford to ignore the growing trend towards using portals to give clients control and options to access information on their own initiative at anytime, from anywhere.

FIRM VALUE

I firmly believe that deploying an effective portal solution for your clients can have a direct and positive impact on the value of your firm. The reason is that as you establish an “electronic link” to your clients via the portal, it becomes an important supplement to the personal relationships you have with your clients. Your firm’s identity with your client will be strengthened by the fact that whenever they interface with the portal, your firm’s brand and the value of the services you provide them will be continually reinforced. The more you can enhance your client relationships via automation, the more you increase the value of your firm to a potential suitor.

EFFICIENCY

Many firms are beginning to realize that using email as the primary method of exchanging electronic documents and files can be very inefficient. Generating an e-mail to transmit a file requires composing a message and navigating through your network storage to find and attach the file. And you have limited ability to track the access.

Deploying a portal that is directly integrated with your tax, accounting and DMS software can eliminate many of the labor-intensive steps required to exchange information with your clients, particularly if you consider sending printed documents through the postal system. Just stop to think about what’s involved in sending a client a paper copy of their tax return in comparison to posting it to your portal.

FIRM BRAND

A more indirect benefit of deploying a client portal is the impact it has on enhancing your firm’s image in the marketplace. Make no mistake about it; the evolution to a more virtual marketplace for the exchange of business information is going to expand rapidly in the near term. A portal demonstrates that your firm understands the importance of this characteristic of the 21st century business model. That will help you attract young entrepreneurs as clients as well as young staffers entering the profession.

A ROADMAP FOR DEVELOPING YOUR PORTAL STRATEGY

Hopefully, I’ve provided you with a meaningful perspective on the value and role of a client portal for your practice. If you think this is an initiative you want to pursue, the following guidelines will help you develop your portal deployment strategy.

DETERMINE YOUR PORTAL CONTENT REQUIREMENTS

Analyze the nature of information you exchange with your clients to determinewhere the greatest opportunities exist to share that information via portal technology. Also consider the opportunity that a portal provides to share information with clients that may not be practical under traditional methods.

One example is to post a copy of an organized file of supporting tax return documents in PDF format so that the client has access to copies of their K-1s W-2s, 1099s, etc. Give some thought to expanding the scope of your portal information a few years out, after you have developed a track record.

EVALUATE PORTAL SOLUTIONS

Develop a short list of potential portal vendors. I recommend that you focus on accountant-centric solutions that are developed by vendors who target the accounting profession such as many of the other vendors listed here. Schedule a demonstration with each vendor of their portal solution to learn about their unique features and functions and to provide you with a base of comparative information.

DEVELOP PORTAL DEPLOYMENT PLAN

Once you have procured your portal solution, it is imperative that you spend the time to establish the processes that you will use to publish information to the portal. I recommend that you conduct a CRP (conference room pilot) whereby you gather a sample set of client files and documents and walk through all of the procedures necessary to get the information on the portal.

An integral part of the process is establishing each client’s secure portal access account. Throughout the CRP process, you should focus on identifying all of the issues that need to be addressed and deal with them. An extension of the CRP is to select a representative sample of clients and do a pilot deployment of the portal for them. This will allow you to walk through the entire process and get a good sense of the types of issues clients will have when accessing the portal.

The more you can refine this process before you roll out the system to all of your clients, the better prepared you will be to avoid costly and potentially embarrassing false starts with the deployment.

TRAINING

Once you have established your portal policies and procedures, train your staff on the proper usage of the portal and address any questions or issues that they identify. Inevitably, your staff will identify issues that you missed in the planning process.

MARKETING

Use the deployment of the client portal as an excellent opportunity to reach out to your clients and let them know you’re enhancing the services your firm offers them. Consider scheduling a client briefing in your office to demonstrate how the new portal can benefit them. This will give you the chance to expand your client’s awareness of the entire array of services your firm offers and to meet the staff that they may communicate with on a regular basis but rarely have a chance to meet in person. One firm I am aware of promoted their portal as an integral part of their “green” initiative, which is at the top of mind for many people these days.

PORTAL ADMINISTRATION

Be sure you assign responsibility for administering the portal to the appropriate person(s) in your office. Someone needs to have responsibility for managing the information being posted, administering client accounts and login info, and troubleshooting client problems. Don’t underestimate the importance of this role. The last thing you want is to post a file to the wrong client portal account.

We’ve covered a lot of information here, but I hope you have developed a better understanding of both the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology. In my opinion, it’s not a matter of “if” you should establish or portal, it’s a matter of “when.” And I believe the time for most accounting and tax practices is “now.”

————————-

Mr. Higgins is Strategic Advisor of CPA Crossings, LLC. He specializes in advising accounting, tax and financial professionals on how to leverage technology to improve productivity and profitability. Contact John at johnhiggins@cpata.com.