Today’s Agenda

Workflow: Why Now?

Joseph P. Manzelli, Jr., CPA.CITPCoordinator of Outsourced Workflow

www.xcmsolutions.com Twitter: @JoeManz

Speaker

Joseph P. Manzelli, Jr., CPA.CITP

• New Coordinator of Outsourced Workflow, XCM Solutions, LLC

• Former Director of Operations at New York City-based Fuoco Group

• Led Fuoco Technology consulting group and firm’s strategic IT initiatives

• Led firm’s move to completely digital operation and helped to achieve rapid growth

• Frequent speaker and consultant on paperless initiatives and virtualization for better use of cloud computing

• Significant Productivity Improvements• Greater Employee Satisfaction• Enhanced Client Service• Improved Compliance

Why Workflow?

My Firm’s Journey• Full-Service Accounting & Consulting Firm• Five Offices: 2 in New York, 3 in Florida• Rapid Growth from 6 to 75 people in seven years• Focused growth strategy:

– Recruit quality staff; professional development– Engage in selective M&As– Take progressive approach to technology adoption– Continuous share/learn practice betterment cycle

Productivity

What is workflow?Process standardization & automationKnowledge managementAccountabilityIndividual work managementResource managementTeam collaborationCompliance & QCEase-of-use/ScalabilityImplementation & trainingSystem, integrationCost

Process Automation

Pre-defined statuses that can be turned on and offCustom statusesLinear and horizontal processesWorkflow mappingQuality control alertsManage re-occurring activitiesManage bulk processesAutomatic project creation/Roll forward

Knowledge Management

Robust reporting – standard & customException and bottle neck reportsProject-related files and detailsEasily searchable and actionable dataQuestions, review points, instructionsAutomated archiving and purgingAnnual comparisons

Accountability

Staff developmentStatus details on a particular projectView all WIP, or specific workloadFirm-defined user rights

Individual Work Management

Virtual desktopAbility to organize, assign difficulty and prioritySupport scheduling/work assignmentAssign individual or group roles, skills and expertiseTime summary support

Resource Management

Move responsibility within teamCross-team collaborationSupport question/review cycleReal-time workload balancingIntegrated schedulingBudgeting support

Compliance and Quality Control

Full tracking capabilitiesFull due date management capabilitiesCustomizable sign-offsQuality control checks and exception alertsExtension trackingE-File process managementCustomizable checklistsSupport for data retention policies

Ease-of-Use/Scalability

Intuitive interfaceLogical designSmall learning curveAdaptable to current process and anticipated future needsFlexible and scalable – roll out to additional users, processes, departments, officesBalance between built and build

System Considerations

Vendor’s reputationEasy maintenanceRemote user support & mobile accessMulti-office supportFirm-wide systemDocument storage integrationPractice management integration

Implementation & Training

Complexity of infrastructure deployment and administrationCustomary implementation timeIT involvementTraining – basic and intermediaryOngoing training and best use opportunitiesFlexible training optionsDedicated support resourcesFeature upgrades/enhancementsVendor reputation

Cost

Base product pricingLength of contractAvailability and price of optional capabilitiesAdministrative costsTraining costsPotential impact on head count/overtimePotential impact on user productivity and departmental efficiency

• Significant Productivity Improvements• Greater Employee Satisfaction (ability to

empower employees)• Enhanced Client Service• Improved Compliance• You do not want to be left behind• What’s out there for you?

Why Workflow NOW?

Resources

• AICPA, State Societies• Networks & Associations• Consultants, White Papers• Seminars, Webinars• Web Sites: TotallyPaperless.com,

CPAFirmTech.com• Media – Best Practices, Product

Reviews• Vendor Trainings, User Groups

www.cpa2biz.com/workflow

American Institute of CPAs

Questions?

Joe.Manzelli@xcmsolutions.comTwitter: @JoeManz

www.slideshare.net/joemanz13