Now that tax season is behind you, it is important to do a debrief of what went well, and what you may want to do better next time around. This includes considering the technology solutions you need to update or perhaps some new ones that will support your next round of goals for your firm.
As you explore potential new solution options, and evaluate them against your objectives and budget, it is critical to only invest in the ones that will truly help you solve a specific problem and can play well within your existing accounting technology infrastructure.
The following checklist can help you select the technology solutions that will best serve you in this pursuit and help you put in place new tools to help you succeed at an even higher level in the coming months and years:
Selecting the Technology Solutions Applications for Accounting Firms
This checklist of key evaluation criteria for IT can help you identify the solutions that will help your firm move forward with flexibility as well as the key feature and functionality your firm requires with maximum success.
No. 1 — Features and functionality
If you are vetting technology solutions to fulfill a need as we have discussed, then this may be the first criterion you consider: How many of the key features and functions does this solution address for your firm. Consider not only the baseline features and functions, but also how you can leverage them to your firm’s advantage in terms of time savings, service expansion, and efficiencies with other solutions.
No. 2 — Integration capabilities
No tech solution works in isolation, and no practitioner should either. To maximize efficiencies and your budget by avoiding overlap of solutions, evaluate potential new technologies by considering how you can integrate them with other components of your technology ecosystem.
No. 3 — Solution scalability
Creating a tech stack that can help your firm scale is a true game changer for your firm. By using your technology infrastructure as the basis for creating a scalable system for serving clients and growth, you will be turning an expense into a sound investment. But this is only true if the technology is exactly what you need to make this happen. Be sure to research your needs carefully in this regard.
No. 4 — Customization of the solution
This is one of the key benefits of SwizzStack technology, allowing you to customize solutions to your specific needs and to meet the compliance requirements based on the services you offer. Consider the degree to which you can customize your other technology solutions, too. If the “out-of-the-cloud” solution is not quite right for your accounting firm, and you cannot change it otherwise, be sure to look at other alternatives. Better to take a little more time than to make an investment in a solution that does not serve you well.
No. 5 — Budget bandwidth
Do you have a technology budget in place? If you do not, it is time that you did. How do you know what you can afford and how to prioritize your technology acquisition otherwise? Another key point when it comes to technology budgeting and expenditures - make sure you compare apples to apples to have a true appreciation of the costs associated with each potential new set of solutions before you choose one based on price or features alone. Don’t forget to factor in onboarding, implementation and support costs, too.
Now that you have the checklist above, you need a partner to help you implement your chosen solutions. Talk to us at Swizznet. Our team, along with SwizzStack, our full complement of outsourced IT services, can play an integral role in your firm’s response with IT and cybersecurity infrastructure designed to ensure that you and your team are as prepared as possible with Obsessive Support® and outstanding IT infrastructure. To learn more about SwizzStack, visit swizznet.com.
Sam Schuemacher is Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and an expert in developing and implementing cloud accounting solutions and strategies. Sam works with accountants and bookkeepers to conceptualize and implement innovative solutions to maximize return on investment and help grow their businesses. Sam can help streamline the accounting process and can make offering online accounting services easy.
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