Search results matching tag 'accounting'

Accounting in a world of straight through processing

futurewa — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:49:00 GMT

Translation from one human language to another or from one machine language to another is an inefficiency in relation to human or machine communication. In a perfect world humans would speak a single language and in an even more perfect world we'd speak a language that enabled easy communication with machines too.

Much of today's public practice accounting industry lives on the back of these communication inefficiencies. Accounting practices thrive on manually processing data from one system (client's internal accounting system i.e. MYOB), into another system (financial reporting application of the accounting practice i.e. Handiledger) and then on into the final system being the form reports that submit data to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). STP or straight through processing destroys the inefficiencies just described by allowing for data to be keyed in only once. The ATO & treasury know this and are banking on their SBR (Standard Business Reporting) bringing massive efficiencies and cost saving into the business community. Was it not said by a treasury official when questioned about potential job losses in the accounting industry as a result of SBR that many accountants would serve a better purpose being teachers? Such commentary is telling of what can be expected to occur in the public practice accounting landscape over the next 18 months to 3 years.

Many readers may scoff at the idea that our industry could change so radically so quickly but every phase transition is exponentially quicker than the last. (Read - Accounting trends, technologies & concepts to get an idea of how exponential rate of change will and have impacted accounting. ) 20 years ago manual ledgers were still being used for recording accounting transactions. Think pen & paper! The introduction of the GST forced even the smallest business owners into using software to record their accounting transactions and that was less than 10 years ago so an estimated timeframe for STP to become mainstream of 18 months to 3 years is very realistic.

The old paradigm was one of dumb data and smart software. The new paradigm flips the old one on it's head and now we have smart data and software that can simply understand this smart data. The new business machine language of XBRL is all about smart data that can easily be understood by any software that understands the language of XBRL.

XBRL smart data is smart primarily because it can sort and validate itself. It can sort itself into the appropriate period and ledger. It can validate itself within complex relationships with other smart data. For example, the ledger bank balance will validate with the reconciliation report and the reconciliation report will validate with the actual bank balance if all three data sets are in an XBRL format.

Straight through processing and data auto validation will be achieved by the majority of businesses across Australia within a very short timeframe but there will be challenges and within that set of challenges many of us will find opportunities.

Forward thinking practitioners are now considering how to engage with this inevitable future. A future that is at once radical and exciting. This is also a time where we will witness mass extinction as slow moving accounting firms are either decimated or consumed by the more agile.

What makes a professional website for an accounting firm?

futurewa — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:53:25 GMT

As a greater percentage of the population moves online it becomes increasingly more important that accounting practices pay attention to their ‘digital presence’. Clients and potential clients will make immediate judgement calls about an accounting practice based on appearance, content, navigability and crispness of page loads of a practice website.

Most firms will have their website focus on the services offered by the firm such as tax, accounting and audit but potential clients will show up at your website already having a pretty good idea about the services offered by an accounting firm. Instead of focusing on the what, focus on the how and for whom. Remember the old saying ‘what’s in it for me?’

So if it is not about your practice then it has to be about your client and this means having really good knowledge about your target market so that you can demonstrate that you have specific solutions for their concerns and requirements. If you have specific knowledge about some particular facet of the financial requirements of your target market, write about it and try to include knowledge that will be recognised as expert as this automatically will put you in a position of authority.

It pays to be very specific & very precise with the target markets that you select, less is generally better. Don’t be afraid that by narrowing your focus, you’ll end up with less new clients coming via your website. Accounting websites that have a wide focus are as common as stars in the sky. By narrowing your focus you can also ensure that your keywords are dense enough that your website will light up like a flare and attract the attention of the search engines.

Use your website to connect with your target market on current issues. Create & incorporate regular content that focuses on the problems that your target market may be facing as well as demonstrate your ability to help with resolving those problems. Find opportunities to write for the industry publications that are used by your target market, write blogs, use Twitter and Facebook and create a name for your firm as an expert and trusted advisor for your target market. Use your website as a platform for projecting your expert advisory service into your target market.

Create a visual message around your content to highlight your unique position as a service provider to your particular target market. The graphics and design layout of your site will create the initial impression on your website visitors even before they’ve read a word of your content. The look and feel of your site is the equivalent of how you dress so make sure you put some serious thought into the image that you’re attempting to project.

Be sure to keep your website current. Nothing projects business staleness like a site that has fallen fallow. If you’re blogging, make sure your blog is updated regularly and if you’re adding your newsletters be sure to have systems in place that get the newsletters linked.

Use these tips to create a website that keeps current clients informed and brings new clients through the door on a regular basis.

Teaching Technology to Partners in Accounting Firms

futurewa — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:18:50 GMT

Many firms continue to miss the benefits, to both the firm and clients, of some of the technological improvements because of their unwillingness to embrace new technology.

There is also a gap among clients. Many of our older clients need to be walked through such technologies as portals or Web site tools.

Embracing technology must come from the top down.Training on technology has to be made a priority. Without that, you will have a very difficult time convincing partners of the value of training. If you can show them how training will save time by making staff more efficient, and therefore save money and increase revenue/hour for the firm, this helps. You can also show how training staff to get more out of the technology can also leverage the many thousands of dollars invested in technology every year.

Paperless and document management technology are two examples of technology that senior staff have encountered and embraced in the past few years.

Useful tips

Top-down works. Get support from the upper management team and have that drive new technology deployment and training. Consider additional one-on-one training for the partners to help them through the transition.
Have senior staff reach out to their colleagues and schedule a brief meeting to discuss the technology or software that they're using and what's new, and have a brief tutorial with the technology.
Get buy-in across the board up front and be sure to keep all staff members in the communication loop as you roll out implementation.
Provide various levels of education and explain specific benefits that mean something to each group. Make sure your administrative staff understands the technology, as they can help staff less technologically-oriented feel more comfortable with the processes. Offer frequent additional, personalized training for partners and senior staff who need it.

Key Findings from the 2009 CCH Accounting Trends Survey

futurewa — Sat, 23 May 2009 07:48:40 GMT

Opportunities & challenges in the modern accounting practice. This is the full report!

Search Up & Coming Accounting Related Seminars and Events - Darwin

admin — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 06:31:40 GMT

Every month, many of the national accounting and tax organizations hold useful training seminars and events in Darwin and also in surrounding regional areas of the Northern Territory.