May 2018accountants in it stimulating collaboration

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Welcomeait is very much a hive of activity at present. Unfortunately the directors lunch

held earlier this year was hampered by the ‘Beast from the East’ (all parts!),

but we are pleased to say this months technical meeting made up for it. We

had 15 accountancy firms attend and there was a great buzz throughout

the day. Looking forward, as you know we are once again holding the

annual conference at the 5 star dedicated conference complex at Luton Hoo

Hotel. It is going to be a great couple of days for both our accountancy

firm members and sponsors to network within such great surroundings, so

far 40 delegates have registered. The aim of the conference is to allow all

delegates and sponsors to network, exchange ideas, and discuss issues

in a relaxed and non-pressurised environment. The Wednesday evening

reception and dinner is a particularly important part of the conference and a

time where both technology partners and firms can gain benefit through peer

to peer discussions. The conference sessions have been designed to give

variation with lots of opportunity for discussion. We look forward to meeting

you all at the conference, and we will continue to distribute updates over the

next few months.

Contents

www.aituk.co.uk

4 Time to use data more strategically

6 Cloud Best Practices: Audit Checklist for Endpoint Security

8 ait Annual Conference

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For too long time recording has been seen as a back-office activity, and not one of strategic value. In this article, Colin McArdle, Tikit’s Senior Account Director for the Accountancy sector in EMEA corrects that view by arguing that timekeeping can actually become a critical component of strategic planning – if practices use the right tools to exploit its potential.

In my last article for AIT I wrote about how time recording data is a huge asset to the practices which use it in the right way. This is because when you have a time recording system which collates, analyses and reports on time data, it can generate information that is of great use to the practice. For example, it’s possible to gain a very clear view of the actual cost of a given project by using time data. This empowers the practice to make more accurate forecasts of what a future similar project will cost. It leads to stronger, more confident bids for future work and avoids the real danger of under-pricing to secure a piece of work. However, this is just the beginning of how this data can be used to help the practice run more profitably.

Resource AllocationThe next thing you can do with this data is use it to inform resource allocation and management. This can be applied on two fronts. On the one hand, it’s hugely useful when costing bids, which I spoke about in the first paragraph. Remember that time data can be analysed in terms of who did what. It gives the practice the visibility with which to ensure that future bids reflect an optimised allocation of personnel. This way the practice can assemble bids that are keenly priced based on an accurate view of the skill blend required. And going forward, remember time recording data is very current. It gives an almost real-time snapshot of activity. This creates the opportunity to fine-tune the blend of personnel deployed and to reorganize this if necessary to achieve the client’s objectives in the most efficient way for your practice.

In addition, analysis of this data also gives you insights into performance and loading across the whole practice. What work patterns are

Time to use data more strategicallyemerging? Are there areas of low usage and are these alongside other areas that are under too much stress from too much work? This kind of visibility of workloads and utilisation of talent gives the practice the opportunity to either redistribute the workload or alternately (or simultaneously) revisit either the talent balance within the business, or the type of clients and type of work that the practice bids for. After all, the best outcomes both for the practice, and for its clients, will result from work which is a really good fit for the skills and experience you can provide. At the same time, rebalancing workloads is likely to do no harm to internal practice morale.

To add to this altogether more strategic use of timekeeping data, the next iteration is to run data through forecasting models in order to make projections about future work allocation and distribution. These can feed into truly strategic decisions about the future direction of the practice.

The Right ToolsOf course all these uses of timekeeping data are contingent on having the right time management software in place. You’re going to need a time management system which is capable of conducting analysis and generating reports fairly easily and frequently.

At the same time you want a system that will capture very accurate data upon which to base sizeable decisions. For this you need a system that provides contemporaneous capture. Tikit’s Carpe Diem – the most popular in the professional services and legal sector – not only provides contemporaneous time capture, but does so across the whole range of devices – desktop, mobile, tablet. This not only enables remote working but also maximises the opportunities to capture time and consequently maximises the time captured.

It makes for a ‘win/win’ scenario for practices who want to make more strategic use of timekeeping data in the ways I’ve suggested. Revenue is increased – plus sophisticated management reporting can make a critical contribution to the practice’s growth-focused strategic plans.

About Tikit and Carpe DiemTikit is a world-leader in technology solutions for professional services firms. Carpe Diem is its flagship timekeeping software product. Developed and refined over 20 years, Carpe has long been one of the most widely used timekeeping solutions in the world.

To learn more about Carpe Diem and its capabilities, contact Colin directly at colin.mccardle@tikit.com.

Colin McArdle is a Senior Account Director at Tikit. He has worked in the professional services and legal software sector for 15+ years and is passionate about helping firms adopting modern technologies that enhance their reputation, increase their bottom line and help them provide an outstanding service to their clients.

Join Colin for a webinar on 28 June, 2018, 10am, to find out how time recording can help firms increase revenue and through sophisticated management reporting can make a critical contribution to your practice’s growth-focused strategic plans.

Click here to register.

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Contact us:T: +44 (0)20 7400 3737 E: info@tikit.com | www.tikit.com

Powered byCloud On Premise

Carpe Diem

Delivered your way… Tikit Carpe Diem is now available in the cloud as well as on premise. This means there are more ways to enable your team to join more than 100,000 professionals already using Carpe Diem.

Making time work for you...

Simplicity:Simple and user friendly – Our intuitive user interface is so simple it requires minimal training.

Productivity: Own every piece of time – Contemporaneous time entry and passive time capture means no time is left unaccounted for and is attributed to an activity.

Consistency:Tikit Carpe Diem adapts perfectly – As the smart responsive design means no matter what device you’re using, phone, tablet or desktop computer, the user experience is exactly the same.

Transparency: Happy firm, happy accountants, happy clients – The powerful reporting dashboard provides a full overview of timekeeping performance in an easy to digest format, enabling you to gauge productivity and provide greater transparency to your clients.

Scalability: Easy to implement and fully customisable – Web based software that can be rolled out across multiple jurisdictions with ease. Users can also customise to their exact needs without involvement from IT.

Cloud Best Practices:AUDIT CHECKLIST FOR ENDPOINT SECURITY

Checklist # 1, 2, 3, 8 Enroll device in MobileIron: Use MobileIron to install a configuration profile on the device that allows IT to take the security actions necessary to protect business data.

Set security policies: Set the appropriate password and encryption policies in MobileIron. Use biometrics for authentication if available. If a device falls out of compliance, automatically quarantine or selectively wipe it. When employees leave the organization, do a full wipe on the device if corporate- owned or a selective wipe if employee-owned.

Put business apps under management: Use MobileIron to distribute business apps through the Apps@Work enterprise app store or Managed Google Play. When installed, these apps are managed through policy controls set in MobileIron. That means IT can prevent data sharing between business and consumer apps and delete the apps over-the-air when necessary. This puts enterprise data under the control of IT without compromising the privacy of personal data on the device.

Checklist # 4 Deploy per-app VPN: Use MobileIron to configure business apps so that they only connect to on-premises services through MobileIron Tunnel per-app VPN. This separates business app traffic from consumer app traffic, so that excess personal data does not flow through the corporate network.

Checklist # 5, 6 Allow only trusted devices and apps to access cloud services: Use MobileIron Access to block unmanaged, unauthorized, or non- compliant devices and apps from authenticating

to cloud services like Office 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, etc. MobileIron Access is a multi-cloud, multi-identity, standards- based solution that extends across the many cloud services and identity providers in an enterprise.

Checklist # 7 Detect and remediate zero-day threats: Use MobileIron Threat Defense to monitor for suspicious device, app, and network activity. When an issue is uncovered, trigger MobileIron policies to take the appropriate remediation action, like user notification, device quarantine, or data wipe.

Checklist # 9, 10 Don’t compromise on security certifications: MobileIron was the first solution to gain certification for the Common Criteria Protection Profile for MDM v2. MobileIron is also SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and has FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO).

Modern security is evolving and IT professionals sometimes ask if Microsoft Intune can fully support this checklist. We do not think it can, especially for checklist items # 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. MobileIron is committed to a multi-OS, multi-cloud, and multi- identity security architecture that supports the best-of- breed technology choices of modern enterprises.

To learn more or to trial MobileIron, AIT members should contact their Qual Account Manager.

Using MobileIron for Cloud Security MobileIron is a government-grade cloud and endpoint security platform. Here is how our customers leverage MobileIron technology to address the checklist above:

Summary Most organizations will face a security audit of some type, either internal or external, over the next few years. The goal is the same – protect data from both malicious compromise and well- intentioned loss – but the mechanisms to do so are very different between traditional and modern security architectures. A structured audit checklist can provide a starting point for the people, process, and technology investments that will enable an organization to quickly and securely tap into the innovation of cloud services.

In any cloud deployment, endpoint security must stay top-of- mind to satisfy the GDPR, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and similar compliance models. Modern apps on modern endpoints are how employees consume cloud services, but data will be lost if those endpoints and apps are not secure. How much data is lost will depend on how quickly organizations implement an end-to-end, multi-cloud security solution like MobileIron as they move to Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, and beyond.

IT professionals sometimes ask if Microsoft Intune can fully

support this checklist. We do not think it can

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Alongside your firm’s own processes and controls, Onvio and Digita software helps you to securely manage and process your clients’ personal data and assist your practice with GDPR compliance.

Create a secure digital tax environment in which sensitive client data is protected every step of the way — from requests for client information to e-signature by your client, to final digital submission to HMRC.

Discover trusted answers on GDPR at tax.thomsonreuters.co.uk/gdpr-for-accountants or contact us today on 03450 180 907 to find out more.

©2018 Thomson Reuters. TA542843A_May 2018_sb

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