how it helped me grow my practice, michael magee, partner westboro

IT in the practice

• Michael Magee– Westboro Partners

How IT helped us grow our practice

And the challenges of succession planning going forward

04/14/23 2

Why me

o Phone call from Ian Lucey

o Give a general overview of our practice from an IT perspective

o Where we see the practice going with IT / ICT

o How the practice will evolve

04/14/23 3

Practice Overview

o Formed In - o 1983 By J. B. O’ Sullivan

o Offices in - Westboro House

Montenotte

o Our Divisions

Westboro Partners

Westboro Wealth

Westboro Capital Westboro Publications

o 30 staff, 4 partners o Were an associate practice of BDO

Simpson Xavier for 7 years prior to our re branding last year

o No IT

oTypewriter and Dictaphone

oSecretaries did everything

oManually prepared accounts

oComputers of the day

oTrainee role

oPayroll services

In The Beginning

o Late 80’s early 90’s When we started using technology

oPractice of 4 people

oVery slow basic computero Word Processingo Accounts Packageo Time recording

o Fax Machine

o As the practice grew, faster machines arrived on the market

Technology Usage

oThe arrival of the mobile phone and text messages

o Networking

oLaptops

oThe Internet

oRemote access

oEfficiencies arrived in all facets of the practice

Technology Usage

o35 User Network with Mirrored servers

oBroadband with full on line usage for everybody

oEmail account for all staff

oUp to date virus checks and computer policies

oAutomated back up systems

oRemote access usage for key staff

oMicrosoft office and Drive as the key software applications

In Summary Today

o Practiceo Sage 2008o Statuary accountso Excelo Template APGo Master Accounts sets

o Projections Scout

oClientso Sage various versionso BRBo TAS Books

o Disk, email, memory stick

Accounts production

o Income Tax o Did have Tax Packageo Now ROSo High % on line filed

oROSo For client management

oVATo Accounts packages

o PAYE/ PRSIo Thesaurus / Proll

oCorporation taxo No CT Packageo Excel

Taxation

o Relate software/ Vision-neto Annual returnso All company formso On line co searcheso Company formationso On line account

oWord o Templates for A.G.M, E.G.M

Minutes of meetings

Company Secretarial

o Weekly meetings to overview

o Exception reports foro Debtorso WIPo Cash flow

Each partner also has direct access to reports along with key staff membersOn our CRM Package

Practice Management

o CRM – Driveo My Diaryo My Taskso Time sheetso Clients and contactso Staff detailso WIP and Feeso Marketing Campaigns o Data Miningo Accounts, Purchases Ledger, o Bank and casho Communications

o Phoneo Emailo Texto Correspondence

Practice Management

o Use of in house IT consultant

oAssess cost

oSee the Demo

o Review use by other accountants

oGet Direct Testimonials

oAssess resource requirements

oGive it time

oTraining

Choosing software

oIncreased efficiencies

oWork Turnaround / Faster billing

oTime based billing

oPremium Rates

oMarketing

oProfessional productions

oSpeed of communication

oService

IT Role in practice growth

oWeb Site

oEzine

oNewsletters

oBrochures

oDatabaseso Clientso Contactso Prospectso products

I.T and marketing

o Training

oClient knowledge

oType of work

oScanning

oDealing with queries

oClient confidentiality

Outsourcing our experience

oCertain size in house IT consultant

oOut sourceo Responsible o Pro active

oDaily procedureso Back ups, updates, security

o IT log for problems

oTraining

oHardware/software acquisition

oRemote access

oFirewalls

Servicing our IT

o Paperless

oTwo screens

oGrowing use of CRM

oVoice recognition

oCPD online /webinar

oEncrypted data keys

oCommunications on the move

Going Forward

Document Management

Relate Software

This is the key project for the next few months.

Going paperless> less paper

Document Management

All information produced has a structured filing system on the network for each client or project.

Keeping hard copy the problem over 1000 boxes in storage

Filing cabinets also take up too much space

Filing takes time and non productive

Managing for the future

Steps we are taking

for the future of the

practice

o2 equity partners in practice over 25 years

o2 New Partners younger age profilesoWill Need To plan for exit / buy out

oGoodwill

oCapital Account

oNew Clients age profiles

oMerger and acquisitions

oBuild specialist areas

oThe challenges of change

Future of Practice

oThank You

oOne Point Of Benefit

oQuestions

Conclusion