Powerful CPA Firm Technology Strategies from Roman Kepczyk

I’ve always believed “when you don’t know something, find an expert who does.”  Clients ask me questions about technology all the time and I refer them to the #1 CPA firm IT expert in the country, Roman Kepczyk.

Six years ago, I started an annual seminar series in Chicago where I bring all my local clients together for a morning session with Roman.

This year’s seminar is June 24^th. 

Here are some technology best practices that Roman recommends:

Application updates at the server level.  It’s common for tax, audit and accounting applications to be behind on their compatibility testing with new server versions.  A highly effective practice is to use Microsoft Windows Server Update Services to automatically download the updates and then notify your IT personnel so they can manage the updates.  This ensures that everyone operates with the same software version to reduce conflicts when personnel have different versions running on their local workstations.

Use remote access technology wisely.  If your firm has ten or more personnel that wish to work concurrently from external sites, a cost effective solution is Citrix or Windows Terminal Server or transition to cloud-based applications.  The advantage to these technologies is that once the remote user has gone through security screens to access the system, all work is done within the firm’s secured network.  This approach minimizes the risk of losing data.

Use a document management system to organize files.  Firms with dozens or more personnel often have weak standards for creating, naming and storing files, making it difficult to search for files across the network.  Two-thirds of all CPA firms address this issue with document management systems.  Smaller firms commonly use systems such as Thomson Reuters File Cabinet and Lacerte DMS.  Larger firms use more robust databases such as CCH Document, Doc-IT and Thomson GoFileRoom. Roman reminds us that cloud-based systems can be used for all backups, disaster recovery and expansion of space.

Get 32 recommendations from Roman that will increase your firm’s profitability in his best-selling book Quantum of Paperless:  Partners’ Guide To Accounting Firm Optimization.