While 2020 was a year of crisis for many businesses, accountants found that their services came into sharper focus. In a remote world, outsourced accounting becomes easier to deliver to more clients; and in a world where businesses have been forced to temporarily close or shift their operations significantly in some way, accountants find themselves being propelled faster into an advisory role.
All this is contributing to the changing face of client accounting services, where strategic advising is becoming a larger part of the conversation. Here, three firms discuss the technology they use to deliver outsourced accounting to their clients in this year of upheaval and change.
SHOWING THE VALUE
Accounting software: Sage Intacct
Firm: Antares Group
On the record: Partner Frank McLaughlin
Selection: Frank MacLaughlin has been with Antares Group for 15 years, having previously been with a different firm that was merged into Antares, and where he had experience using Sage Intacct — then simply Intacct. When the time came to select a solution for CAS at Antares, the question was whether the firm wanted to invest in a platform that is industry-specific to its food-franchise clientele, or find something more broadly applicable, and then customize it. “With a more industry-
focused software, we would have very defined limitations on capability,” McLaughlin said. “Sage Intacct allowed us to create exactly what we need, instead of being hemmed in by what features were available.”
Implementation: McLaughlin was involved in implementation at both his previous firm and Antares. Implementation at Antares was expected to take about a year, all told, due to the high level of customization the firm wanted.
“At the previous firm, we may have rushed implementation. We may not have thought through how exactly this product could help us,” McLaughlin recalled. “It’s not just about deliverables, but about how fast you can serve the client. Within industries, people talk. We needed to make sure that the product we deployed was at the same level for all our clients. Having set data sets allows us to do that. Variables destroy automation, so we made sure we eliminated all variables.”
Highlights: Sage Intacct’s ability for customization is a big favorite at Antares, but the platform’s open API also allows the firm to take advantage of a variety of industry-specific apps that connect to the software. Secondly, while the features of the platform work well for the firm, the dashboards and reports allow Antares to clearly show its clients exactly the value of the work the firm is doing for them.
“I can tell you I’m the best accountant, and I will know the data to back that up, but if I can show you all the metrics and KPIs and how I’m going to leverage my expertise, that’s where the power of Intacct really does show,” McLaughlin said. “There is nothing in the marketplace that compares to the dashboards and the reporting capabilities.”
Challenges: “The biggest challenge is also the reason we chose Intacct,” McLaughlin said. “It’s not just built for our industry, and the development behind functions is not just for what we’re working on — they build features in for the construction industry, or whatever other industry they’re building out at that time.”
However, McLaughlin appreciates that while a smaller software company might be able to listen to every specific request a firm might have for functionality, Sage Intacct has the advantage of the deep development resources of Sage, which bought the company in 2017.
Firm growth: “Intacct is our system of choice. It’s part of every proposal we do,” McLaughlin said. “It allows us to build automation out, which enables us to do everything faster. Every software has its advantages and disadvantages, and I think every firm needs to figure out what they want to achieve, especially in this COVID world. How are they going to differentiate themselves in the marketplace? For us, that next-level reporting and dashboarding shows what we know, what we bring to the table.”
BUILT FOR THE CLOUD
Accounting software: Xero
Firm: Aprio Cloud
On the record: Managing director and partner Bruce Phillips
Selection: Bruce Phillips ended up at Aprio Cloud when Top 100 Firm Aprio acquired the firm he co-founded, Harshman, Phillips & Co. HPC became the “Cloud” part of Aprio Cloud, enabled by the fact that the firm used Xero as its accounting software of choice. “Built in the cloud, for the cloud,” the message Xero likes to tout, resonated with Phillips when he first heard about the software at a Xero user conference a decade ago, when the cloud was still a new concept.
Phillips knew at the time he bought into Xero that “cloud accounting was going to be the future.” Now, Aprio Cloud outsources some bookkeeping to the Philippines, via a firm based there that they merged in. Xero enabled this, and not only with its cloud software — Phillips met the New Zealander who founded the firm in the Philippines via the Xero community.
“There are no geographic boundaries in Xero,” he said. “You’re working in one ledger with your client.”
Implementation: “Back then, there weren’t any guidelines or documentation, so we figured it out as we went along,” Phillips recalled. “We had a few staff working closely alongside Xero.”
Now, Xero does have an implementation team if a firm requires it.
Highlights: For Phillips, the biggest highlights are that Xero is built for the cloud, and that it has an open API so companies can build apps for the platform. “Having an open API infrastructure was huge,” Phillips said. “I don’t know how many companies are in the Xero marketplace that do bill pay, payroll reporting. All of these companies popped up because of Xero’s open API. And I can take the best-of-breed software tools and connect them to my ledger seamlessly, in a timely manner, and correctly.”
Many of Phillips’ clients are global entrepreneurs and tech-related in some way. Xero’s story is an international one from its inception, having been founded in New Zealand, then established in Australia; it now operates in the United Kingdom, United States and several other countries, and supports 160 currencies.
“When it really found its feet in the U.S., Xero did multicurrency better than any accounting software ever had before,” Phillips said. “They had multicurrency from the get-go just to survive. It does accounting for the translation for you, and you can run your same financial reports in different currencies easily.”
Challenges: Early on, doing the exact types of reports Phillips wanted to do was difficult in Xero, but that problem has been remedied with apps in the Xero marketplace. Now, Xero has custom reporting that has improved over the years, Phillips said.
An inherent problem in cloud ecosystems, Phillips explained, is when one does an upgrade or security update, the connections might break. Phillips said this mainly happens with bank feeds and credit card connections. Sometimes it’s a matter of redoing the connection yourself, or reaching out to Xero support. Aprio Cloud has a great relationship with Xero and support is “never a problem,” Phillips said.
Wish list: If Phillips could make one wish for Xero, it would be for an in-built to-do list.
Firm growth: “Our goal, whether at HPC or now Aprio Cloud, is to serve global entrepreneurs and help them live the lifestyle they want to live,” Phillips said. “The way to do that is take a lot of this stuff off their plate by providing them timely, accurate and meaningful financial information. Xero allows us to do that relatively inexpensively; it’s relatively easy to use; it’s got a great user interface and looks great; and generally, clients love it.”
Phillips said Aprio Cloud has been growing at a minimum of 25 percent a year, enabled by Xero’s software. He sees cloud and outsourced accounting growing fast, and in tandem.
“When you look at what happened this year [with the COVID-19 pandemic], people who weren’t in the cloud needed to get in. People who thought they couldn’t do business remotely changed their tune. We are poised to take advantage of that, and frankly to help more people do what they want to do. There’s a big advantage in it for us, having done accounting this way for years.”
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THE CLOUD GOES MAINSTREAM
Accounting software: QuickBooks Online
Firm: Automated Accounting Services
On the record: Founder and CEO Monique Swansen
Selection: Monique Swansen founded her firm, Automated Accounting Services, in 2009 when the firm she used to work for got acquired. She took her smaller bookkeeping clients that the new reseller wasn’t interested in, and started providing outsourced bookkeeping mostly on-site with her clients.
Back then, clients were using different software, mainly QuickBooks Desktop. But when a very good client was moving away and wanted to keep Swansen as her accountant, Swansen had to consider new options.
“Cloud accounting was on my mind, but I wasn’t sure how it would change the way I was practicing,” Swansen said. “It would be great to not drive to two to three clients a day and plan everything so it was segmented by day — who would get service when.”
It was QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor program that convinced Swansen she would get the support she needed. She switched all her clients over to QBO in 2013.
Implementation: The transition to online went well for Swansen’s clients, once they got on board with the idea. She was primed for success, however, as she had been doing software consulting for many years at that point, for different systems. She understood how software worked — it was getting buy-in from the clients that was the hard part. “Back then, in 2013-14 when I made the big push, cloud accounting wasn’t as mainstream as it is now,” Swansen said. “So there were questions about data ownership, security, etc., that weren’t as clear to clients as they were to me. And the amount of freedom we would get — total freedom. We weren’t bound by not being able to log in at the same time, or anything else.”
Highlights: From Swansen’s perspective, the open API and large app marketplace is a highlight. From her clients’ perspective, the ability to work in the software at the same time is very valuable. But Swansen also likes the data security and disaster recovery options. She also mentioned that QuickBooks Online performs continuous updates with very little downtime.
QBO also allowed her firm, which now consists of seven staff, to go completely virtual early on. Swansen serves mainly project-based clients, like construction or engineering businesses. QuickBooks Desktop offered features that weren’t available in QBO when she first adopted the cloud software, such as costing functions, but she was able to supplement her project accounting needs with apps from the marketplace.
The native software has improved over the years in terms of addressing certain project accounting needs — for instance, now QBO users can use the tagging feature to create different types of reports.
Wish list: Swansen would love the ability to create sales reports by state. Currently she has to pull the data out and enter it in Excel. Any distribution or e-commerce company would need this, Swansen said. In general she would like better and wider native options for creating financial reports.
Firm growth: Swansen said that she continues to vet the best apps and solutions on the market. Right now, QBO is the frontrunner for her needs, and all her staff are QuickBooks Online Advanced certified.
The last word: “Many business owners think QuickBooks Online is a DIY program, and I wish for them that instead of thinking they can do their own accounting, they seek advice and get an engaged accountant professional in their corner from the start,” Swansen said. “I have dealt with many completely messed-up accounting files, and it can leave a business owner with no real knowledge of their finances. That is something I think we could all do a little better — give these businesses the ability to know they can have good financial help by using the right tools and the right accountant.”
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