What's New On the Technology Front: Roman Kepczyk Answers IPA's Questions On This Ever-Changing Arena

IPA sat down with Roman Kepczyk, CPA, President of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. and asked him about current technology trends and what's new in the technology arena for the accounting profession.

Q: Microsoft Vista is all over the news. What's the latest thinking on adopting this in CPA_. firms?  We are recommending very slow adoption of Vista with firms beginning implementation most likely in May 2008. While Vista has some eye-popping graphics and amazing search capabilities, the upgrade cost for early adopters will be very high both in equipment costs and lost individual productivity (particularly in regards to accounting applications). We transitioned to Vista earlier this year and have spent a significant amount of time remediating issues with existing equipment including printers, scanners and smart phones. Another significant cost of going to Vista will be replacing workstations, as most of the units within firms today do not have adequate processors, RAM or graphics capabilities. Accordingly, we are having our firms optimize their current productivity with the tools they have and planning the transition to Vista once their accounting vendors have certified their applications for both Vista and Office 2007, and when they schedule their next major workstation purchase. 

Q: What's the current state of paperless audits? With today's engagement tools that incorporate all the audit requirements in a digital format, the current state is outstanding!  From importing trial balances, work programs, and any documents prepared by clients through the delivery of the financial reports, the entire process is digital with proper planning and use of the document container applications. 

Q: What is the next big trend on the horizon? Expect to hear a lot about accounting vendors integrating work flow capabilities into their tax and document management applications as well as incorporating dashboards to help owners better manage their practices. This will eventually evolve toward enhanced knowledge-capture and better information management. We expect to see lots of integrators also building their own information systems based on Microsoft's SharePoint server. 

Q: When you visit CPA firms around the country, what are the most common problems you see related to technology? Not optimizing tools they have, i.e. lack of training and understanding of applications. Often, this is due to inadequate resources being allocated such as internal and external IT as well as allocating hours for capturing firm best practices and training others. The challenge for firms is allocating their best personnel to capture optimized processes, documenting them and providing training to the entire staff. 

Q: What has been the biggest lesson learned by the profession regarding technology in the past five years? Buying a document management application does not make your firm "paperless." Firms have to change their processes to take advantage of today's best practices.

Q: How do you coach your clients on understanding ROl from their technology investment? The reality today is that information technology impacts every production process in the firm and has become a major component of the firm's overall budget along with salaries and facilities costs. While IT was previously limited to computers and software, it has expanded to include all communications, copiers and support services. My advice is to document the baseline for firm spending and approved projects and then break out proposed items by separate line items.

Q: What are the three most frequent questions people ask you as a technology consultant? Care to share the answers to these questions?

ü Are we on the right path? This depends on how the firm compares to today's leading best practices. IT's role is traditionally viewed as keeping the status quo as stable as possible, so it is critical to look beyond the current environment to understand whether the firm is on the right path.

ü Do we have the right people? Usually firms have good day-to-day maintenance personnel, but where they lack adequate resources is in the area of training in leading-edge, “one shot” implementations.  Accordingly, we outsource all the tough implementations and expand training and documentation resources within the firm.

ü What should we be doing to be on the "stable," not bleeding edge? This depends specifically on the firm’s client base and current processes. By understanding where the firm is today and what is on the stable edge, they can change procedures to move forward. 

Q: What would you like to see leaders of CPA firms learnt, understand or relate to better when it comes to technology? The realization that technology is required to help firms serve their clients better and that everyone in the firm needs to be able to use it. With good practices and training, firms will be able to service their clients more effectively and efficiently, which ultimately translates to growth and profitability. 

Q: What is the most exciting thing you see on the horizon for CPA firms?  I think the concept of true knowledge management, which was once exclusively in the domain of Lotus Notes for CPA firms will explode as firms begin to understand how disparate data can be integrated and workflow optimized with applications such as SharePoint. n

Roman is the lead Technology Management Strategist for InfoTech Partners. His primary focus is helping firms throughout North America understand what technology can do for them and directing a path towards today's Digital Firm. Roman may be reached at (480) 706-1728 or via e-mail at ITPartner@itpna.com.

INSIDE PUBLIC ACCOUNTING is published monthly by The Platt Consulting Group. INSIDE PUBLIC ACCOUNTING (ISSN 0897-3482) is the profession's authoritative independent newsletter for reporting and analyzing news, trends, strategies and politics in the accounting profession and is publishing by The Platt Consulting Group. For information regarding INSIDE PUBLIC ACCOUNTING: The Platt Consulting Group, 4000 West 106th St., Suite 160-197, Carmel, IN 46032-7730, Phone: (317) 733-1920, Fax: (317) 663-1030 e-mail: info@plattgroupllc.com.