Update on Document Management Experiences

Source: Practical Accountant

Interviews with several firms that have made the transition produced the following useful advice and ideas:

·          Paper will always be a crutch for some people. Remove it so that partners and staff have no option but to use the document management system.

·          You can conduct virtual meetings with each attendee having access to the digital files from a remote place. Scheduling the meeting is easier, and you don’t have to wait for files until someone is finished with them.

·          Clients may be apprehensive about a paperless engagement. But it reduces paperwork for the client too. Data can be sent to the firm via e-mail. Paper documents are scanned into the system.

·          Document management means faster answers to client questions—less back and forth time on the telephone.

·          Training is a major part of the transition. You can’t simply demonstrate the system to staff and expect them to be able to use it.

·          Network storage capacity, a daily back-up system, and a secure network are crucial.

·          Dual screens reduce costs. Going back and forth between screens is wasteful.

·          Firm administrative documents can also be part of the system.

·          Set up a naming system so files are easy to find. You might adapt the system you were using for paper files if it is a good one.

·          The system clock helps provide evidence of when the work was done.

·          People in the firm who fail to make the transition to the new system may be invited to leave the firm. The cost-saving benefits are too great to ignore.

From Practical Accountant, May 2005. Click on the link below for the complete article:

http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=12762&;pg=pracacc.