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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Tech Tips for Back Office Support

BONUS: A case study with LOTS of specifics.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

I love the question I get when I set up someone on back office support systems. “What do I need to have to get this started?”

MORE: Accounting Tech Tools to Minimize Your Pain | Strengthen Client Ties with Workflow Tools | Understand Your Online Marketing Options | Narrow Your Prospects by Choosing a Vertical | Build Your Team, Then Choose Your Clients | How Back Office Support Adds Value
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I tell them I need to know your name, address, phone number, EIN/SSN and your passwords. Except for the guy who closed his bank account and had to have the old statements mailed to him, I run with a Chromebook and make sure there is accessible Wi-Fi when I go onsite. If I need to collect documents that have never been digitized, I just have them download Dext and start snapping pics. No paper, no pen, no mess and typically a stunned prospect who wants to become a client. See, I can’t sell, so I let the technology do the selling for me.
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Accounting Tech Tools to Minimize Your Pain

a businessman with some jigsaw puzzle pieces in his hand

Concrete ways that small to midsized firms can build their back office support.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

Obtaining the source documents is the most difficult aspect of being a virtual back office support (BOS). Waiting for documents is the death knell for this type of work.

MORE: Strengthen Client Ties with Workflow Tools | Decoding Accounting Tech (and All Those Acronyms) | Digital Marketing Strategies Level the Playing Field | Eight Tasks to Delegate Today | Advisory Services Done Your Way | AI Is Not Your Enemy
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Luckily, technology has provided tools to take away this pain.

Here are just five of the tools we use currently to collect information from our clients:
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Strengthen Client Ties with Workflow Tools

BONUS: A solution for authentication code headaches.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

Managing tasks and workflow through email, handwritten notes, telephone messages or walking down the hall is a recipe for disaster. A web-based tasking app, preferably linked to your document management system, allows the back office support to inspect what they expect:

  • Recurring tasks done on time and accurate load leveling of resources
  • Audit trail of work
  • Set up, review, make notes, share information and complete tasks while maintaining the relationship with the client

MORE: Decoding Accounting Tech (and All Those Acronyms) | Do Your Apps Play Well with Others? | It’s OK to Have Favorite Clients | Ten Questions for Teamwork | Yes, You Can Be an Outsourcer
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Tasking applications come on the market regularly and there are a few that are specific to the accounting industry. They can run the gamut in price ranges and capabilities. From Advance Flow to 17 Hats, a firm large to small can find one that will work and fulfill 80 percent of their needs. Below are some we work with and that get high reviews with our staff:
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Decoding Accounting Tech (and All Those Acronyms)

How to choose what’s best for your team and clients.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

With accounting software and add-ons, from the standpoint of the person maintaining the “books,” the accounting program is the focal point. However, consider the focus of your business-owning client.

MORE: Do Your Apps Play Well with Others? | Understand Your Online Marketing Options | Digital Marketing Strategies Level the Playing Field | It’s OK to Have Favorite Clients | Narrow Your Prospects by Choosing a Vertical | Eight Tasks to Delegate Today | Ten Questions for Teamwork | Build Your Team, Then Choose Your Clients | Advisory Services Done Your Way | Yes, You Can Be an Outsourcer | How Back Office Support Adds Value
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Their focus is operational. So, consider that for the business owner, the add-on is the accounting program. Having the correct package of cloud-based programs turns the accounting program into a basic general journal that you, in your accounting hat, use to find any inconsistencies.
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Do Your Apps Play Well with Others?

Be careful as you gather your ideal technology.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

Software is always changing, and new products come to market quicker than ever before. Twenty-five years ago, software such as QuickBooks, Peachtree, ACCPAC and MAS changed how we did accounting. Ledger books became a thing of the past as we could now review ledgers on a computer screen. In the last nine years, cloud-based systems have radically changed accounting once again.

MORE: Understand Your Online Marketing Options | Digital Marketing Strategies Level the Playing Field | Eight Tasks to Delegate Today | Advisory Services Done Your Way | How Back Office Support Adds Value | AI Is Not Your Enemy
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The technology landscape can be confusing, but that will always be the case. Your goal is to find what works for you and train your team and clients on a limited number of products that can become the base of your work. We call this our Little Black Dress.
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