Now's the Time to Invest in Technology

Source: Accounting Today

In today's tough economy, one of the biggest challenges for CPA firms is “doing more with less.” In this article, Gary Boomer shows how increasing your investment in technology can help you accomplish that goal.

Boomer urges every firm to increase its technology investment by one percent of revenues, focusing that investment on workflow, processes, and, in particular, training. According to Gartner Research, every hour of training you provide to your staff generates five hours of increased capacity. Boomer offers the following example.

A firm with $3 million in revenue and 20 full-time employees uses one percent of its revenues, or $30,000, to provide each employee with 40 extra hours of training. According to Gartner, the additional training will produce 4,000 hours of added capacity or, assuming an average billing rate of $140, $560,000. Even after accounting for the opportunity cost associated with the training ($112,000), the additional one percent investment yields a 294 percent return.

For the complete article, click here and select the article “BOOMER'S BLUEPRINT: The 1 percent advantage” under Technology in the October 19, 2009, issue.

From Accounting Today, October 19, 2009, SourceMedia Inc., One State Street Plaza, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10004, 800-221-1809.