technology
Case studies: Mobile computing
technews
BY seth fineBerg
Mobile computing is no longer simply a novelty for the CPA
community, as more accounting firms are recognizing its pot
ential for improving business processes, as well as its use as a
powerful marketing tool.
Four firms share their experiments in mobility
According to the 2011 Top Technology Initiatives Survey conducted by the American
Institute of CPAs, the increased use of mobile
devices in the workplace has emerged as the
No. 1 technology for CPAs. In this series of
case studies, several firms reveal how they are
using mobile devices and applications as a
means to be more productive while out of the
office, and, in some cases, how it’s helping
them reach out to their target markets.
Thinking different
Firm: Fuoco Group / Hauppauge, N. Y.
Size: 90 staff; four offices in Florida and
New York
Product: iPad and iPad 2 (Apple)
Start date: Summer 2010
On record: Director of operations Joe Manzelli
Challenge/objective: The firm felt that
iPads were being used more for consumer
purposes than in-house accounting-centric
operations, but saw the potential for iPads
as business tools and wanted to have senior
management and partners utilize them for
presentations and accessing the firm’s database remotely — or as remote desktops.
Amount spent: Approx. $10,000
Process: Manzelli and the firm’s founder,
Lou Fuoco, were the first to start using the
iPads within the firm and speaking with other partners who had recently bought iPads
for themselves. They collectively discussed
potential business uses for the devices and
eventually began showing the senior management how they can connect to the office
database and quickly check on client information, a document or a firm brochure to
show clients. The firm then began buying
iPads for all senior managers and partners
to use, installing a free remote desktop application and a Citrix Receiver app so they could
access any useful information, particularly
for client presentations.
Results: “Everyone began asking, ‘What
else can we do?’ so I would show them things
like how I use WordPress for my blogs; it’s
easy as typing and e-mail,” said Manzelli. “We
are doing a follow-the-leader approach, and
[the staff ] are buying in quickly. Many people
here already have iPhones or bought their
own iPads, so for a smaller firm, that’s a good
thing. You show them how it can be used for
work and they will want to do just that.”
The firm also ran a contest to see who could
bring back the most leads from a trade show.
The winner received an iPad2.
“Any way we can get people here to use it
and think about ways of using them is going
to go a long way,” he said. “It’s not a tool that
was designed for the accounting industry.”
Next steps: The firm recently bought a majority share of marketing and communications firm LaBelVit, which plans to help the
firm better utilize social media and marketing
efforts. “They have already been sitting down
with senior management and the iPads to
help create their social media accounts and
showing them how to use TweetDeck and
HootSuite from these devices,” said Manzelli.
He also noted that LaBelVit will help create all
of the firm’s marketing collateral for presentation and use on the iPads.
In addition, Fuoco plans to create a firm
app for the iPad that will give direct information for clients and anyone who wants to
know more about the firm.
“We’re also looking at our vendors and
pushing them to create mobile apps for us,”
said Manzelli.
Challenge/objective: Did not initially see
the app as a necessary tool; thought they
would “play around with it” to see what it
could do.
Amount spent: Nothing to start, $4 a
month now.
Process: The firm was already a “power
user” of Practice CS. Thomson placed the
firm on the beta test list for Mobile CS and
Montgomery agreed to test it out, despite the
fact that he “failed to see the need for mobile
technology in the accounting profession.”
Mobile CS allows mobile access to Practice
CS, and installation was simple, according
to Montgomery, who immediately saw the
similarities in the look and feel of Practice CS,
particularly with the dashboards. One day,
while away on vacation in Florida, he decided
to use one of the dashboard features called
“Clients Near Me,” which essentially locates
a firm’s clients within a 100-mile radius. He
found there were three in his area and used
his iPhone to send them a text stating, “I am
in the area and thinking of stopping by.”
“From a client perspective, I know my ac-
countant is out of state, but when I texted
them, now they think he’s here on vacation
and he was going to come by, that’s huge,” he
said. “The more times you touch a client, the
more you cement the relationship.”
Montgomery was also impressed that Mob-
ile CS has a time tracker, so if any users go
offsite to a client they can start the timer from
their iPhone and it syncs to Practice CS. A
built-in GPS function also tracks mileage.
Results: Montgomery found that he and
his staff are reaching out to clients more often
through the Clients Near Me function. The
firm is also using the time tracker more.
Next steps: The firm would like to use Mobile CS more for the iPad, and plans to purchase the iPad 2 to install the app on it.
ERP X3 6. 2 EXPANDS MOBILITY
IRVINE, CALIF. — Sage North America unveiled Version 6. 2 of its ERP X3 product
with over 320 enhancements, including
simplified deployment, global accessibility, and added mobility features. The new
version of the mid-market-focused enterprise resource planning product allows
businesses to run a global organization
from one single instance of the system,
while complying with the local regulations and business rules of each country
in which they conduct business. Version
6. 2 also offers Sage Enterprise Web Top,
which enhances collaboration with mobile access to key areas. It also includes
user-defined dashboards and an embedded business intelligence engine.
THOMSON REUTERS UNVEILS
ONESOURCE AUDIT MANAGER
NEW YORK — Thomson Reuters has
launched ONESOURCE Audit Manager,
an online global application that helps
companies address the rising number of
tax audits and documentation requirements. The new offering allows user companies the ability to manage and monitor
examinations, information requests,
taxpayer adjustments, proposed adjustments and documents.
EPICOR NAMES NEW CEO
LIVERMORE, CALIF. — Pervez Qureshi has
been named president and chief executive of Epicor Software. Since 2006,
Qureshi has served as CEO and president
of Activant, which was recently combined
with Epicor following the acquisition
of both companies by Apax Partners.
Qureshi also served as Activant’s chief
operating officer and executive vice
president since 2004.
Reaching clients
Firm: Montgomery & Co. / Greenville, S.C.
Size:
9 staff
Product: Mobile CS (Thomson Reuters)
Start date: Started in beta in 2010
On record: Managing partner Joe Montgomery
Mobile marketing
Firm: Freed Maxick & Battaglia / Buffalo,
N.Y.
Size: 250 staff
Product: Mobile apps sponsored through
The Buffalo Business Journal and WNED-AM/
See caSe StudieS on
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E2B UNVEILS LATEST VERSION
OF ANYTIME COLLECT
CHARDON, OHIO — Business software
developer e2b software has released
Version 2.0.2 of Anytime Collect, its
cloud-based accounts receivable collections software, which integrates with
most accounting and ERP software. The
new version offers tabs for quick access
and uses a new communication wizard, as
well as a new customer portal module.
