Taming Your Firm’s Paper

Accounting Technology
by Carly Lombardo
August 2005
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Moving to automated document management “has provided us with obvious cost savings; flexibility of staffing; the ability to back up all workpapers, tax returns, and permanent files; and savings in space requirements,” he says.

In fact, the firm was so successful that it has offered paperless consulting services for about two years. The income from that source was 5 percent of total revenue the first year, and is expected to represent 15 percent of the total this year, with professionals billing $225 an hour.

Services for smaller firms that lack IT departments can involve product selection and implementation. With larger firms, HKMP primarily consults on CaseWare and helps develop in-house templates.

“Three or four years ago, paperless was innovative, but now it’s necessary. It’s not, ‘Should I go paperless?’ but ‘When?’ The longer a firm waits, the further they fall behind,” says Kranzler.

That is the message coming through loud and clear among vendors and CPA firms alike. Whether the firm’s priority is cost-cutting, client satisfaction, or regulatory compliance, paperless document systems are not so much the way of the future, but more the way of today.

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