10 Things You Can Do
Today to Help Your
Clients Save Time and
Money
Use the Force Luke!
Douglas Sleeter, Founder and
President
The Sleeter Group
About Doug Sleeter
The Sleeter Group
700-member Accounting Consulting Group
Author – Textbooks and Reference Guides
Consultant to Software Developers
CPA Practice Advisor
Columnist, Successful Small Business Consulting
Top 25 Thought Leaders, 2011 and 2012
Accounting Today
Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting
for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
2
The Old World
Client
Live Data
Desktops/
Servers
Communication
Accountant
Travel or RDP
E-mail or FTP
Both Ways
LANs/
VPNs
• Expensive
• Complex
• Must Coordinate with Client
Accountant
Copies of Data
Desktops/
Servers
LANs/
VPNs
• Data Gets Out of Sync
• Security Lapses Everywhere
• Very Inefficient
The New World
Client
Manage Data
Operations
Communication
Internet
Cloud
Timesheets
Security
Bookkeeping
Software
Payroll
Job Costing
POS
Dashboard
• Anytime/Anywhere
• Enhanced Security
• Less Expensive
Accountant
Consulting
Taxes
Live
Data
CFO Services
Dashboard
• Data Always in Sync (Live)
• Simplicity
• Reduced Client IT Needs
Chunkification of Business Processes
Accountant Branded
Secure Web Site
GL,
Reports &
Dashboards
Zero Entry
Buyer
Customer Shops
and Places Order
Human Enters Order into Online
Shopping Cart, or into POS, or
Phones the Seller who Enters the
Order
Seller
Seller Receives Order
Electronically
Seller’s Cloud Solution Converts Order into
Invoice and Sends Electronic “Bill” to
Customer. Also sends order to fulfillment
Customer’s Cloud Solution Converts
“Bill” into a Payable Transaction and
starts the payment approval process
Human Review of Auto-Entered Data
(Account, Dept., and Job Codes)
Seller receives funds electronically in bank,
and the Cloud Solution records the receipt in
the accounting system
Customer Initiates Payment via
Electronic Bill Payment System
Bookkeeper Reconciles Transactions
(Human Review of Auto-Entered Data)
6
How Zero Entry Changes Everything
• For Bookkeepers
–
–
–
–
Very Little Data Entry (Not Zero, but Close)
Paperless Document Management Opt-in
Managing Data Flows Between Chunks
Reconciling the Pieces
• For Accountants/Consultants
–
–
–
–
Evaluate, Compare, Evangelize (sell)
Install, Configure, Connect, Test, Monitor
Change Management Catalyst
Become a Lego Master
Opportunity!
7
Leading Clients Across the Chasm
Technology Adoption Curve
Innovators
2.5%
Early
Adopters
13.5%
Early
Majority
34%
Late Majority
34%
Laggards
16%
Based on Geoffrey Moore - Crossing the Chasm
2013 Awesome Applications
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Avalara Avatax
Bill.com
BillQuick
Cloud9 Real Time
Concur small business
QuickBooks Online
SmartVault
Xero
Zoho CRM
www.sleeter.com
Setting the Foundation
1. Go Paperless and get your clients
paperless.
2. Organize Yourself - Use OneNote to
organize all of those bits of important
information that you need to remember
3. Improve meetings - Using LiveScribe to
produce full reports of client meetings
including audio recording of the
conversations.
Paperless
• Dump the File Cabinets
• Get Paperless – Stay Paperless
– SmartVault
– Fujitsu ScanSnap
– Cannon Scanners
– Adobe Acrobat
– www.totallypaperless.com
11
Microsoft OneNote or Evernote
• Digital Notebooks
• Secure sharing, collaborative, cloud or local
12
Improve Meetings
• Livescribe SmartPen
• Record everything you
write and hear.
• Tap anywhere on your
notes to replay the audio
from that moment in
time.
13
Virtualize and Collaborate
4. “Virtualize Your Presence” - Use online
meetings with clients including recording
client consulting sessions.
GoToMeeting.com, Google+ Hangouts
5. Collaborate - Use Google Docs for
collaborative document creation with
clients and colleagues.
14
Virtualize Your Presence
• Online Meetings
– GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar
– Google + Hangouts
• Remote Assistance Tools
– Remote Desktop
– GoToAssist
– LogMeIn
• Instant Messaging
– Google +, Yahoo Messenger, Zoho Chat
15
Google Docs – Zoho Docs
• Securely share collaborative documents,
spreadsheets and presentations
16
Secure the Fort
6. Secure Your Data Transfers – Use
Dropbox, Box.com, Skydrive, Sharefile, or
Google Drive to share files with colleagues
and clients.
7. Get your clients’ QuickBooks files hosted
in the Cloud or convert them to
QuickBooks Online or Xero
17
http://db.tt/pqhjD6d
• Files automatically sync across multiple computers, and
the Web when files change
• Version history
• Share folders
• 2GB free / up to 100GB paid
• Windows, Mac & Linux
• Secure –
– Transmitted via SSL
– Stored with AES-256 encryption
• SAS 70 certified
• Mobile apps available & integrated
Google Drive
• 5GB Free
• 10GB max file size
• Windows, Mac &
Android
• Integrated with Google
Docs
•
•
•
•
On-line file storage and sharing across devices
Supports Windows, iOS & Android today
Integrated with Office 2010 menus
7GB – FREE!
• 5GB free
• SSL transmission / 128bit encrypted storage
• Multi platform –
Windows, Mac, iOS
• Folder independent
• File versioning
• Outlook plugin
• Great user experience!
• Administrative control
Hosting QuickBooks in the Cloud
• Cloud9 Real Time
• Right Networks
• Many others
• Make sure you choose a Licensed Intuit
Hosting Company
22
Improve Productivity
8. Learn what CRM and project management
tools are going to help you in your practice.
Method CRM, Results CRM, Zoho CRM
23
Deepen Client Relatinships
9. Use Bill.com to take AR, AP, and Cash
Forecasting to the cloud.
24
Multiple data flows across systems
Accountant
Business
Link to bank
Customers
Vendors
Sync to accounting
software
Zero Entry  Cash Flow Forecasting
 Business Insight
Transform Your Value
10.Use Dashboarding tools to develop deeper
engagements with clients. QQube,
Profitsee, WebKPI, Corelytics
27
Thank You!
Douglas Sleeter
www.sleeter.com
925-416-6300
Doug@Sleeter.com
• Accounting Solutions Conference
• Ceasars Las Vegas – November 3-6, 2013
• Sleeter Group Consultants Network
• 700 Consultants in US, Canada
• Education (Seminars, Webinars, Books)
• Developer Consulting (Marketing and Product Strategy)