Technology changes. It’s one of the few constants as accounting technology continues to advance at a rapid rate. Sometimes you can delay the change, even resist it, and sometimes you have no choice. We work with accounting firms that use a myriad of applications, both cloud-based and desktop software hosted on servers. We have the first-hand experience of this change in our own accounting firm and from working with the accounting firms around the world.
During a regular bi-monthly zoom call in late 2019 with one of our accounting clients, we were asked if we could take on something new. It would be a short- term project, but it may cut down on our workload in the long run. They told us the Thomson Reuters Creative Solutions Products for Engagement and Trial Balance would no longer be supported. We manage Fixed Assets, Trial Balance, and Engagement work within that application. While cutting down on work-load is typically code word for “automation”, we recognized that this would also be an opportunity to learn new skills that we could potentially use with our clients.
The scope of the project was to convert all their Trial Balance work from Creative Solutions to Thomson Reuters’ new cloud product Advance Firm Flow, and it needed to be done by the end of 2020. In the middle, we would take time out for Tax Prep work and we had to continue the regular bookkeeping, but could we possibly bring on another seat to manage the workload during the conversion?
Throughout December and January, we learned the conversion requirements and got to work. As with all new software, there were a few hiccups along the way, but very quickly we had it down to 20 minutes per conversion. The true test of the application was if it would save time on the Trial Balance work that we import for Ultra Tax. By mid-February of 2020, we had some results to provide the firm – the converted Trial Balances when compared to non-converted saved 12% of the time on the tax return.
It was at about the same time COVID-19 was starting to take hold in both the US and India, with shelter in place in the US, and lockdown taking effect in Tamil Nadu. Tax season ground to a halt. Thankfully that meant we could step up, on completing the reactive Solutions conversions, and at some point, we could get back to tax season. Like many accounting firms around the world, lots of adjustments were made in a very short space of time. We went remote in 24 hours. [See our blog posting on May 1, 2020 ‘Remoting in the Days of COVID19’]
June 1, 2020, the Chennai lockdown was lifted for our area and our office was open with new rules of engagement. We got back to work on tax returns and most importantly our team had gained a new set of skills. We’ve been doing desktop to QuickBooks Online and Xero conversions for many years and now are able to help our Thomson clients convert from Creative Solutions to Advance Firm Flow.
If converting from desktop to cloud-based software has been on yours or your clients’ to-do list and you don’t know where to start, please contact us, we’d be delighted to help.
MoneyPenny LLC offers accounting solutions for accounting professionals, businesses, and individuals who are looking to outsource day-to-day accounting hassles–paying bills, balancing checkbooks, payroll preparation, and filings, and desktop to cloud accounting applications conversion–while providing valuable financial and tax advice to help boost profitability and growth.
Call us (307) 522-1417 for an appointment or fill out our contact form and let us help you with outsource accounting back office, bookkeeping, accounting software integration, and accounting software regression.
