The popular Staples Rodway Land Transactions & Trusts seminars are now available on DVD for you to view anywhere, any time at your convenience.
If for some reason you missed the ‘live’ seminars, you now have the opportunity to view these at your leisure from a DVD. The DVD package also includes the popular CCH books; either ‘A Practical Guide to Taxing Land Transactions’ or ‘Taxation of Trusts’ In order to purchase the DVD & book package, download the Order form DVD seminar
(NATIONAL HARBOR, MD., October 27, 2009) – Creating a long-term sustainable business advantage is the key to success for accounting firms, in both good and challenging times, yet some firms do it better than others. What’s their secret?
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) commissioned an independent nationwide survey examining the practices of high performing accounting firms to examine what market leaders are doing today to achieve success and what their plans are for the future. The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), included interviews with 100 partners at accounting firms nationwide.
Across the board, the survey found that high performing firms are more likely to leverage technology to help them in the critical areas of staffing, client service and practice management to optimize performance.
“High performing firms look at technology as a fundamental part of their business platform,” CCH President Mike Sabbatis said to an estimated 1,000 tax and accounting professionals in his keynote address at the CCH User Conference. “Most of these firms include technology in their strategic plans and clearly see the critical role it plays in their success.”
For a complete copy of the white paper click here CCHWhitePaper_BestPractices2009 of High Performing Firms
Anytime, Anywhere Access to Information and Knowledge
The CCH Survey found that high performing firms are significantly more likely to leverage technologies that support paperless processes and mobile workers, including Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.
High performing firms say it’s critical that employees have the right tools to do their job and to have technology that enables anytime, anywhere client communications and interaction. As a result, the survey found these firms place an emphasis on supporting and enabling a dynamic, knowledge-driven work environment.
Mobile Workforce and Technology
Nearly 25 percent of high performing firms report having professional staff working remotely, and they are putting in place solutions to support a growing number of mobile workers. For example, 72 percent report supporting wireless laptops; 60 percent support BlackBerries, iPhones or other PDAs/smart phones; and 25 percent support wireless minis/netbooks. Within the next three years, approximately one-third of firms also say it will be important to have accounting-specific mobile applications including document management and tax and accounting solutions. Not only do high performing firms see equipping mobile workers as a way to boost productivity and better serve clients, but 71 percent also report deploying a mobile workforce directly benefits staff in such ways as improving work/life balance and improving staff efficiency and morale.
Paperless Strategy
The CCH Survey found that 75 percent of high performing firms already have a paperless strategy and 52 percent of them have been executing on this strategy
for at least the last three years. Within three years, 90 percent expect to have a paperless strategy.
At least 90 percent of firms include the following practices in their paperless strategy:
• A document retention and destruction policy,
• Policies and procedures for scanning and using scanned documents,
• Storing information digitally,
• Using tax software that takes advantage of multiple monitors, and
• Technology for secure remote access of digital information.
“These firms have a keen focus on productivity, efficiency and profitability that positions them for even greater gains as the profession shifts to a new work paradigm – working in the ‘cloud’,” said Sabbatis.
SaaS Adoption
Like paperless, SaaS – a form of cloud computing where dynamically scalable resources are provided as a service over the Internet – is another enabling technology that will have a game-changing impact on firms. It also is an area where adoption among high performing firms is gathering momentum. Today, about 30 percent of high performing firms are using one or more SaaS applications and that is expected to grow to 55 percent within three years, according to the CCH Survey.
Among the benefits these firms expect to realize are:
• Improved efficiency and time savings,
• Improved business continuity,
• Better client service and convenience,
• Lower total cost of ownership and reduced capital expenses,
• Improved application portability, and
• Easier software deployments.
“Many firms are recognizing that a combination of on-premise and SaaS solutions, based on their particular business requirements will offer the greatest results and return on investment,” said Sabbatis.
In his address at the CCH User Conference, Sabbatis told professionals that cloud computing and SaaS will usher in a new age of innovation.
“With new capabilities at your fingertips, greater access to data and built-in business intelligence, you’ll be able to accomplish a lot more work and focus on what you do best: Serve your clients,” Sabbatis said. “You’ll also realize additional benefits from this new paradigm that we haven’t even thought of yet as you look at your workflows and processes and innovate.”
The CCH Survey white paper offers more detail on SaaS trends, as well as a Glossary and a Technology Total Cost of Ownership checklist.
Knowledge Management Systems
High performing firms are increasingly seeing the need for knowledge management systems as being critical to ensuring employees have the information and tools they need to do their jobs,
“The numbers are staggering,” Sabbatis said. “It’s estimated that knowledge workers spend 15 to 35 percent of their time looking for information they need to do their jobs, and 40 percent of the time they never find it.”
High performing firms are taking steps to ensure this productivity drain is stopped.
Today, 32 percent use knowledge management systems, and that is expected to exceed 50 percent in three years, according to the CCH Survey.
“Several factors are converging that underscore the importance of having knowledge management solutions in place,” Sabbatis said. “These include continued staffing challenges, the demand for increased productivity, the impending loss of expertise from retiring Baby Boomers and the increasing expectation of younger workers for a collaborative culture.”
Optimizing Client Service, Staff Productivity and Practice Management
The CCH Survey found that high performing firms place an emphasis on harnessing technology to achieve their goals. Eighty-four percent report using technology return on investment and total cost of ownership analytics as a critical factor for optimizing technology. Other critical yardsticks they take into consideration include how the technology will enhance or improve client service, staff productivity and practice management.
In addition to the technologies mentioned above, other technologies in place and growing among high performing firms include:
• Document management systems,
• Integrated tax and accounting product suites,
• Practice management systems,
• Integrated information and compliance solutions, and
• Client portals.
Creating More Social Businesses
As more people become social media participants, it’s important for accounting firms to determine how they will become more social businesses, and leaders are already doing that. Forty-one percent of partners at high performing firms leverage social media for professional use, the survey found. These partners find the most value from online communities. As it relates to specific business purposes, the survey found that firms are using a range of channels appropriate to their specific needs. For example, the top tools used for marketing are firm
blogs, followed by LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and professional online communities.
About the Survey
The survey was conducted by phone for CCH by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) from August 6-24, 2009 and included quantitative interviews with 100 partners in U.S. accounting firms. The survey reflects experiences of randomly polled accounting firms ranging in size from firms with five to more than 100 employees. For a complete copy of the survey, please visit CCHGroup.com/HighPerformance.
About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill. Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal, and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands (www.wolterskluwer.com).
CONTACT:
LESLIE BONACUM NEIL ALLEN
847-267-7153 847-267-2179
mediahelp@cch.com neil.allen@wolterskluwer.com
CCH Nationwide Survey
Tickets are selling fast for the ‘Top Ten Tax’ issues in which TEO & CCH have teamed up. They are at venues near you in October & November. With topics ranging from land transactions to QCs, from the changes to Partnership dissolution rules to GST risks, this fast-paced, case study-based course has something for everyone. Go to TEO Top 10 Tax Brochure_ONLINE for more details and to register
CCH has just published what is believed to be New Zealand’s first tax eBook: Tax Avoidance Law in New Zealand by James Coleman. This will be launched at the NZICA Tax Conference on Friday, where delegates will also be able to see an eBook demo. For those who are not familiar with eBooks (ie, most of us!), they are digital books that can be read on laptops, PCs, iPhones and eBook readers. As well as being highly portable, they allow users to carry out searches, add bookmarks and notes, and vary the text size.
If you are attending the conference, come see our Representatives and have a look at the eBook!
The Taxation (International Taxation, Life Insurance, and Remedial Matters) Bill 2009 was given Royal assent on 6 October to become No 34 of 2009.
If you are a current CCH subscriber, you can click here to view http://www.cch.co.nz/nz/default.aspx
Splitting the technical support team in Cyberjaya has had many benefits for our customers. Having found it difficult to support ProSystem in Malaysia and general technical support for Asia due to language requirements and the span of hours, our team in Malaysia are now able to be of assistance in this area. They are supported by the team in North Ryde and both groups work collectively as needed to ensure a prompt and accurate resolution for the customer. Having the support team in Cyberjaya sharing some of the load with the local team has also meant we have been able to improve our service delivery to clients. This has been a critical aspect in our ability to manage the IntelliConnect migration as successfully as we have.
Improved Technologies – A large factor in delivering the above improvements has to be attributed to the technology investment we made as part of the RUCAS project. We now have a new and improved call software system which enables us to seamlessly switch calls between the team in North Ryde and Cyberjaya during peak periods. In fact, there is even an everyday overflow aspect to the software which ensures the customers calls is always answered by the very next available agent regardless of the location in which the agent sits. This was of particular importance last week when we experienced a lengthy power outage in Cyberjaya. We were able to take control of the phone system in Cyberjaya from North Ryde and re-route these calls back to the North Ryde team. This was something that would not have been possible without the technology that is currently in place. RUCAS aims to deliver further benefits for the technical team with its messaging capability and live meeting features which are due to roll out soon.
Here is some great advice for accountants on the subject of social media. There are tips on how to be safe when not shying away from cyberspace
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/20091830.htm
CCH is the proud sponsor of the 2009 New Zealand Law Awards in the Employment Law Category. The awards are the highlight of the New Zealand legal calendar. It is the only event that celebrates and rewards excellence in client services by law firms and barristers as judged by their clients, and by in-house legal teams, as judged by their legal peers. Winners represent the cream of their profession.
The nominees of the CCH Employment Law Category are as follows:
CCH congratulates the nominees and wishes everyone good luck for the awards evening.
“We have been with Brookers for a number of years and I thought it might be useful to summarise the key points why we chose to move from Brookers to CCH IntelliConnect;
Overall, very happy we moved to CCH Intelliconnect”
I was recently googling to find information on predictions and popularity on eBooks. What I found was this great article written by Jim Lundy. http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_lundy/2009/05/05/gartner-classic-research-what-we-said-about-ebooks-in-2000/
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