Accounting Today - July 2012

like to use Mobile CS to help keep
better track of projects more often.
She said that the app can do this,
and time tracking will be added
shortly, so she is looking for ward to
that, as well. In addition, clients will
soon have a firm-branded mobile
app for more collaborative work
with the firm.
Mobility
FROM PAGE 32

IntelliConnected

Firm: Johnson & Co. / Hastings, Mich.

Size: 3 staff

Product: CCH IC Mobile App (CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business) Commencement date: January 2011

On record: Brad Johnson, principal

Challenge/objective: Curiosity as to how accounting-related apps could help the practice and make them more responsive to clients. Amount spent: Free with CCH IntelliConnect.

Process: Johnson had been searching through the App Store for mobile accounting-related apps that could possibly help his practice, and CCH had also informed him that they had a mobile app for IntelliConnect. Since he had an iPod Touch, as well as the IntelliConnect service, he downloaded the free app and began using it. Johnson claims that he was able to put the app to good use fairly quickly by picking up a new client and impressing them through his use of a mobile device and the app itself.

He recalled how he was pitching
the client, who had been interested
in using a regional firm, but also
heard of his firm through a refer-
ral, and he began interacting with
them. Johnson claims that the cli-
ent would text or e-mail questions
to him at “odd hours” and different
times of the day. In one instance, he
was tending to a family matter at a
local hospital when a tax question
came through on his Blackberry.
He also had his iPod Touch with
the mobile app with him, which he
then used to look up and verify the
answer to the Tax Code question
and respond to them just minutes
later. Johnson claims it was this
activity that helped the prospect
ultimately decided to switch from
considering the regional firm.

Three clicks away

Firm: Green Collar / Washington, D.C.

Size: 35 staff

Product: Intuit Online Tax Mobile App (Intuit Inc.) Commencement date: Summer 2011

On record: Deon Jenkins, owner and tax accountant Challenge/objective: Needed some kind of notification of returns being accepted or rejected, and to see client information on the go, as well.

Amount spent: Free with Intuit Online Tax.

Process: Jenkins’ firm focuses
on tax accounting, business strat-
egy and e-commerce, with many
of his team working out of the office
with clients. He was already tech-
savvy, and was familiar with Intuit
Online Tax when he found out the
company would be designing a
mobile app for the product. Intuit
had asked him to conduct some
beta testing with the app, and he
even helped them with the design
of the user interface. He wanted the
usability to be such that any infor-
mation a user would need was only
two to three clicks away at most. He
quickly had two other accountants
at his firm using the app and seeing
what it could do.

‘The remote access has also been invaluable.’

return,” said Jenkins. “The remote access has also been invaluable to us, since we are in the field a lot.”

Next steps: Jenkins is hoping the app will have more alerts and some other dashboard features, but mostly he would like more people at the firm using it. He feels that adding workflow capabilities to the app would be very helpful — specifically, being able to see where accountants have checked in or checked out on a return or whatever they are working on. AT

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