Category: Business Process Automation

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Why #Accountants Should Implement #Cloud Services | QuickBooks and Beyond

Why Accountants Should Implement Cloud Services

Most professional accounting service providers, accounting pros included, are recognizing that customers are increasingly demanding lower costs for service but want more flexible methods for obtaining the service. Where the business value of the service provided used to be enough, providers are now expected to deliver their services how and when clients want them delivered.

Evidence of the mobile and social impacts of technology is visible everywhere, and no business is immune to the requirement to adapt or perish. Rather than viewing the shift in technology application and use as a threat to previous well-rehearsed process models, wise practitioners are finding opportunity to change things around a bit, facilitating workflow and process improvements and creating new opportunities where they didn’t previously exist.

Breaking Down Time and Distance Barriers

via Why Accountants Should Implement Cloud Services | QuickBooks and Beyond.

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A Higher Level of Customer Relationship Management: Building Closer Customer Relationships

A Higher Level of Customer Relationship Management: Building Closer Customer Relationships

Most businesses recognize the importance of creating a quality experience for customers doing business with them.  The thing that many business owners overlook is how their internal workflows and information management systems serve to either support or impede the delivery of a well-rounded positive customer experience.  Growing businesses must adjust their processes and improve their tools in order to have the necessary information available to workers at various levels of the organization, providing a centralized means for collaboration, data sharing and analysis.   With the right information systems and process support, even small businesses are able to function at exceptionally high levels and provide the consistently high-quality service and customer experience that establishes long-term value in each and every customer relationship.

Businesses which excel at providing very high levels of customer service tend to have a few common characteristics – features of the business that identify it as an organization geared towards growth and success in driving the customer engagement and business value.  Among these characteristics is the recognition of the need to use technology better – leveraging automation to a greater degree to create consistency in work performance, and improving information collection and integration to provide more context and depth to the data. Added efficiency which affords employees time to focus on customer oriented tasks and elevating the customer experience even more is the payback.

total-business

Many CRM solutions describe the benefits of a “360 degree” view of the customer, yet these solutions often orient themselves to supporting only sales and Contact Management and do not address product and/ or service delivery (fulfillment of what was sold/ordered)  or project management, contracts and agreements tracking or other aspects of doing business with the customer.

Granted, customer interaction occurs most frequently with sales and service teams, but there are potentially vast number of processes and tasks performed within the business which operate with the same information as sales and services, and which would benefit by integration within the same information and workflow framework.

By selecting a solution that addresses the wider variety of business and information management requirements rather than focusing solely on sales and support, business owners and managers find that they are better able to address internal workflows with streamlined process automation.

The result is significant improvement in the quality and completeness of the information available to users throughout the organization, ultimately improving the quality and nature of customer engagement and interaction. Perhaps even more impactful is the ability for the business to better understand  the context of and motivations for customer interactions, and (most importantly!) having the capability to take immediate action based on that knowledge.

With the right customer relationship and business management solution in place, and with a focus on systematic approaches to enabling process and workflow automation, businesses can become more flexible and responsive to changing customer needs and expectations.  Creating the complete view of the customer relationship and capturing the data which helps users understand the dynamics of the entire relationship serves to build closer customer relationships that will strengthen and grow over time.

When a business needs to implement a Customer Relationship Management solution to address sales and support needs, it makes sense to also review information management requirements for:

  • Delivery of products and/or services  – i.e. fulfillment of what was promised by sales
  • Scheduling of Work/Service Orders and integrated billing based on completed work
  • Time and personnel activity management as well as time reporting and billing
  • Project or job resource and time management and reporting
  • Documents, contracts, before & after pictures, and agreements of all types
  • Products and services, proposals and quotes, price books and channels

Additionally, since the processes are so closely related in terms of the information collected or used, it makes sense that the CRM solution would also work with:

  • Marketing campaigns and activities, lead generation systems and e-newsletter solutions
  • Accounting solutions which also utilize customer, product, job, time, cost and other data
  • Expense spending management, approvals and reporting

To be truly useful, the solution must also support remote and mobile workers since field service personnel and other workers are often not in the office when they need to get something done.  Whether the access is via hosted solutions providing full remote desktop functionality, or via web-based application extensions allowing device independent access (or both!), the solution should be designed to allow users to access the system and perform their work from wherever it is required.

Even more, a comprehensive approach to managing business activities and information, particularly with a focus on providing all departments with all the information and capability they need to get their jobs done properly, requires that everyone in the company be on board.  There really isn’t a great way to centralize and manage critical business data when the approach is to give a few people some information and functionality, leaving it up to human beings and individual initiative to connect the dots (and the data).  The result is almost always a series of gaping holes in various processes where information and requests get lost.

Among the best solutions I have found which delivers the foundation for all of this functionality is Results CRM.  Thousands of users have successfully migrated from ACT!, Goldmine, Telemagic, Salesforce.com and other SFA and CRM solutions to the Results CRM platform, and have benefitted from better workflow automation, more logical company and contacts associations, and a broader range of functionality supporting everything from sophisticated quote and proposal development to comprehensive project, time and expense management.

At the end of the day, it’s the reporting that wins.  If the data isn’t in the database, you can’t report on it.  If you can’t report on it, you can’t measure it. If you can’t measure it, you can’t make good business decisions and grow the business.

Make sense?

J

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Client Experience and Perceived Value: It’s Looking Cloudy for Accountants Working with Small Business

Client Experience and Perceived Value: It’s Looking Cloudy for Accountants Working with Small Business

Every day it seems there is another professional accounting or bookkeeping firm asking questions about how to get new clients for their new “online accounting” business.  Most of these professionals are likely missing the point that their current clients are probably already looking at online accounting solutions and services. Just like in the days when QuickBooks was beginning to take the lead in the market; today’s increasingly popular online accounting solutions are gaining popularity with the direct users, and are bringing those solutions to the professional community (not the other way around).  Professionals who wish to build their businesses on what the market demands would do well to recognize that the push to the cloud coming from their clients is a reflection of past activities, and firms riding the wave are much more likely to see success than those fighting it.

In reflection, remember that QuickBooks, unlike the other business accounting and financial products at the time, was a retail product marketed to and sold via retail and direct-to-customer outlets rather than via a channel or reseller approach.  At that time, State of the Art Software (which became Peachtree and then Sage 50) was the solution preferred by most accounting professionals, yet more and more small business owners would come to the professionals with the QuickBooks product already in hand, so accountants threw up their hands and adopted (if not embraced) the software.  Over the years, QuickBooks became the “go to” software for small business accounting, and many professional firms didn’t just gear up to work with it, but went as far as developing standards and practices based on the product.

With the introduction of high-speed broadband access, business Internet connectivity and affordable remote/mobile service, businesses are now finding that their options for shopping for, purchasing and implementing various solutions to business problems is possible at any time and from anywhere.  Even more, social computing and the blurring of the lines between personal and business use has made it all but assured that new business owners will seek online solutions where they can access business information and perform business-related activities regardless of location or mode of access.  This is what they have come to expect as consumers of information and services, and the expectation extends no less into their small businesses.

Professional firms must recognize that these evolving paradigms represent opportunity, taking advantage of cloud-based, real-time collaboration models to provide more timely value to their clients.  Where the more traditional on-premises and paper-based models have flourished, the online working models representing lean process and sustainability become the focus.

The movement to the cloud for small business accounting started with the consumer, who ultimately became the small business, and who may eventually become the big business. The professionals who recognize the value of and wisely adopt cloud technologies and online application services in their businesses – specifically in terms of how they work with clients and deliver value – are the firms which recognize that the client experience and perception of value delivered are the most important elements of all.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J

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Security and Users: Change is the Only Constant

Security and Users: Change is the Only Constant

Managing user accounts and access to business IT assets is challenging, particularly as cloud and social computing models introduce new wrinkles in security and identity management. Information has become “mobile” along with the users accessing it, yet management of user behavior is even more complicated that trying to manage a digital resource.

If you look at the history of security breaches, you’ll find that many of them started with a user making a mistake – like losing a laptop or clicking on a phishing email, downloading bad software, or forgetting to report an employee termination to the IT dept – something which inadvertently created a vulnerability that could be exploited.  It’s tough to stop breaches because there are so many possible ways for them to happen.

If most security breaches start with a user mistake, then IT departments have their hands full because users aren’t static, unchanging objects to monitor and manage.  Users change, sometimes a lot.  It is this constant change which undermines the ability for some IT departments to meet the demand to adequately secure company information systems and data. Now is the time to take control of user security and identity management, creating automation and controls to protect business assets in a constantly evolving environment.

It is not simply employee turnover that challenges security management.  Certainly, IT departments have been dealing with user account creation and termination for a long time.  And sure, users have sometimes been promoted and demoted, resulting in the requirement for IT to increase or perhaps decrease access to information and applications.  These are normal and expected activities for a business IT department.  Unfortunately, IT often doesn’t hear about the user’s change in status.  An account isn’t disabled, access isn’t restricted, and the system is left vulnerable.

Just to pile on, think about what happens when a user is more than just a single system user.  It may be manageable when where a single identity and set of credentials governs their access to applications and information.  But the proliferation of web-based services and SaaS solutions has made it commonplace for users to have multiple applications and services available to them, each with their own approaches to identity management.

For even a small business IT department, the security of all of these access points and applications must be managed and monitored – no small task when the department may not even be aware that the solution is in use.  It is not unusual for file sharing, data sync, or other applications to be implemented in businesses without the knowledge or participation of the IT department.  Actually, many services attract users due to their simplicity and ease of use, leveraging the fact that they can be deployed without the “assistance” of IT.

Users are becoming increasingly mobile, accessing information and applications from public and private locations while using any number of possible mobile devices.  Vulnerabilities which may exist in public networks and the increased potential for device loss or theft are high on the list of concerns of IT departments managing remote and mobile user access.  Mobility is driving many changes in how information technology and access to systems is provided to users, and it is changing user demands for what they should be able to easily accomplish while being mobile.

Businesses need to recognize that their continued existence may rely on keeping their information systems and assets safe and secure.  Disaster recovery and business continuity applies not only to loss of physical systems, but also to losses of various forms due to data breach. The disaster recovery and continuity plan (you have one, right?) should not only address situations after they happen; planning by definition is proactive.  It is not enough to have a plan to recover from loss or failure; the business must actively engage in activities which will prevent loss and reduce vulnerability. 

Part of this plan necessarily centers on managing users and user identities, ensuring that the company knows about all access or user accounts involved and employs strict processes and guidelines for making sure they are constantly up to date and have the authority to do what they’re trying to do.  In short, the plan must also be a plan for change, providing change management processes to guide the business as the evolution of information technology and the dynamics of user interaction continue to change.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J

read more about IT Security and Engaging users to reduce vulnerability

read more about Mobility and the Cloud, Managing BYOD and securing company resources

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Degrees of Success: Improving Productivity and Performance through Process Automation

Degrees of Success: Improving Productivity and Performance through Process Automation

Few businesses use just one solution to get all their work done.  In most cases, the business must at least communicate, produce information and account for financial activities – and each of these functions has a software product or service associated with delivering the required capability.  While every business uses technology at some level, some businesses have more success than others in developing streamlined and efficient processes guiding the various tasks and activities performed throughout the day.  Sometimes the problem stems from a lack of understanding of the importance of process automation, and sometimes it’s the software.

integrated

The success (or lack thereof) in streamlining a business process is often enabled by the tools supporting it, yet the truth of software and systems is that not everything  is easily integrated and not all business workflows actually “flow” smoothly.  In many cases it is left to the human user to connect the processes and keep the work flowing, creating the opportunity for missed deadlines, duplicated or erroneous data, and a greater dependency on individual worker knowledge than is good for the business.

The better alternative may be the adoption of workflow and automation tools to assist with bridging and scheduling of repetitive tasks, building the knowledgebase of process and task flow supporting business sustainability efforts and easing the burdens of training new employees.  Process automation helps to improve productivity, it’s just that simple.

If the time is taken to really consider the variety and numbers of repetitive tasks employees perform throughout the day, the cost in time, lost productivity and data errors or omissions would likely add up to far more than initially expected.  People tend to adapt to using the tools they are provided, and will find ways to get things done (whether it’s the most effective way or not).   The end does not always justify the means, and many businesses ultimately find that it is here – where individual worker initiative and unguided action are most prevalent – that the operation fails to accomplish stated goals.

In order to create a sustainable operation with consistently high levels of production and performance, the business must establish a complete framework for process automation and support.  Where existing application and software functionality is not able to meet the requirement, the business should implement specialized tools to bridge the gap and embed the process knowledge in the system.

Scheduled reporting, customer and product data synchronization, import/export routines, data maintenance routines – these are among the tasks and processes which represent the regularly-performed work that may be sucking the user productivity and performance out of the business.  It’s a matter of degrees of success, and productivity improvements introduced through comprehensive process and task automation can make the difference between a little success and a lot.

Make Sense?

J

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Happy Holidays from CooperMann

Ninjabread cookies in the kitchen, an appearance by the Christmas Elk, and Minty Fresh (fresh cat, not canned) looking for Frangos all clearly indicate that the holiday season is here.  2013 has been an eventful year – some would say it was “fraught with peril” while others see opportunity in change. It’s all a matter of perspective – pursuing goals and taking action rather than resting on ones’ laurels and trying to wait it out.  This cloud stuff isn’t going away.

With technology and social computing adoption increasing at almost alarming rates, I can’t wait to see how 2014 goes!  This certainly isn’t a time for the tech-timid, as it appears as though the nerds and geeks do rule the world (aren’t we all a little nerdly, really?).

I hope you and yours have a wonderful season.

jmbunnyfeetCheers

J

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Read the Best of CooperMann.com from 2013