The Accident

On Tuesday, May 3, 2011 a pickup truck, traveling at speeds exceeding 70 mph hit and killed a pedestrian, continuing down the street for one block before crashing through the side of the building and into the office of Grooms & Harkins P.C. Fortunately, no one within the office space was hurt.

The accident rattled the quiet town of Casper, and devastated the office space. In addition to the obvious building and structural damage, desks seemingly exploded upon impact and the truck leaked fluids and damaged water pipes which created a muck and stench that permeated the space.

"Thankfully, I have never experienced a tornado, but I now have some small sense of what it must feel like to clean up after one," commented Deanna Pickering, CPA, PFS, at Grooms & Harkins, P.C.

The ability to efficiently recover

In 2007, Grooms & Harkins P.C. incorporated Doc.It paperless technology into their accounting firm. Because Grooms & Harkins P.C. is a paperless office, the majority of their clients' information was electronically secure and remained undisturbed. "We are so fortunate to be paperless, where the majority of our clients' information is maintained digitally rather than in paper form," continued Pickering.

"You cannot imagine how many clients came to our office immediately that day out of concern for us and the security of their private information. Thankfully, because we are paperless, we were able to reassure them that their information was not at risk," continued Pickering.

Grooms & Harkins P.C. shareholders agree, this event was tragic for the death of the pedestrian, but not a tragedy for their accounting firm. They were incredibly fortunate that so many employees were out that day, because sheet rock and desks can easily be replaced. Because of their investment in paperless technology, they could recover from this unimaginable disaster and get back to business quickly.

In 2003, we were searching for a tool to better manage our archive. We met Howard Brown, Doc.It's CTO, who came to our office. Howard promised a suite of products, which is exactly what Doc.It is delivering today. Additional factors contributing to our decision include the following:

• We believed Doc.It technology would take our firm to where we wanted to go.
• Doc.It does not require a long-term agreement. Doc.It's billing meant we could remain flexible into the future by not being forced into a long-term contract.
• Doc.It bills on a price-per-user basis, which is appreciated.
• Doc.It has a low entry cost and provides us with a usable archive that stores non-proprietary PDF files.
• Integration is important, and Doc.It integrates with Caseware, which is another critical tool in our firm.
• Integration is important. Doc.It Suite® integrates with Caseware, which is another critical tool in our firm.

During the busy tax season, my life is now much easier and I am working in the way I want to work. From my home office, I login to my office server through a Citrix connection to review and correct tax returns with the tax preparation software viewable on one screen, while viewing all of the client's scanned documents on the other. When I finish reviewing a return, I click "print" and our accountant's copy is preserved as a PDF file in Doc.It, the government copy is queued for e-Filing, and the client copy prints on our office printer, regardless of whether I'm working from home or at the office.

Working with a Competent and Experienced DM Technology Provider

Doc.It is a competent and experienced DM technology service provider that designed the right hardware configuration for our practice. There are a variety of vendors offering paperless document management software, with only a select few including Doc.It, providing all of the features and capabilities we define as highly desirable.

The Practical Benefits of Doc.It's Paperless DM Technology

One of the many practical benefits we have experienced in using this technology includes not having to jump up from our desk to go to the shelf to find a needed file. To retrieve a file I click into our DM system to view in seconds, our client tax returns, financial statements, workpapers, correspondence, engagement letters and billings.

Examine the Hardware, Software, and People

If you have dreamed of working in the way that I have described, the successful transition to becoming a paperless practice can be a reality in your firm. I recommend contacting Doc.It and performing due diligence by examining the three major components that will be most highly impacted by your firm's paperless DM evolution: hardware, software and people.

Since adopting paperless practices, Harris & Partners staffing levels have remained the same even as they experienced a 40 percent uptick in business. "Without Doc.It, I would have had to hire at least one person, and possibly 1.5," says Jay T. Harris, CA, CIRP, president of Harris & Partners in Markham, Ontario.

The Practice Before Using Doc.It

Harris & Partners focuses strictly on bankruptcy and insolvency issues. In a typical matter, Harris's trustees, managers and staff send forms on behalf of clients to creditors that are owed money, and those forms are returned with information about those claims. The system is designed so that paper goes out of the trustee's or manager's office and paper comes back in, Harris explains. "The more work you do, the more trees you lose," says Harris.

About three years ago, the firm decided to try to increase efficiencies and started sending out more documents electronically and by fax. "By using methods other than snail mail, our timelines shrink dramatically," says Harris.

Life with Doc.It

Harris ultimately realized that if their firm could transmit documents electronically and via fax, they could receive documents in those formats as well. Eventually, the firm decided to explore ways to reduce the amount of paper it generated through faxed responses and determined one solution was to "turn off" the print function on the fax machine and store faxes electronically.

With Doc.It technology in place, Harris & Partners ensure these electronic files are being managed effectively. Harris suggests the benefits his firm experienced that go far beyond saving trees include:

TORONTO, CA - Robert Gold, MBA, CA, has his eye on growth, practice management and operations, as well as technology, hardware and software. Yet, as tech-savvy as Robert, himself, may seem, he knows the best use of technology will only have a negative effect on his staff of 15 if there is no gain in time and resources. "What you don't know can hurt you, and if you don't know there are ways to improve what you're doing, you don't know how to improve," he says. "When you're working in an environment of multiple documents, you don't know your inefficiencies because you haven't thought through any alternative."

Paperless DM Environment Brings Direct ROI
and Efficient Processes

The justification for any accounting firm to adopt something new, or change its current hardware and software, requires substantial case examples with an almost immediate direct return on investment (ROI). By using Doc.It to streamline a firm's document management, Bennett Gold not only improved its processes, but also realized many tangible benefits - ROI in staffing, firm morale, operations and client communications.

The more efficient a firm is, the more time the staff can spend recruiting and retaining clients. While many firms look for ROI only in terms of monetary savings, there are many more ways to measure how an investment in technology pays off. Bennett Gold enhanced Doc.It's capabilities as a stand-alone program by making a dramatic change when it switched to two, and eventually three monitors, per person. "Because we work in a digital environment, the hardware and software contributes to us being far more productive." Robert says Doc.It gives him a library and controlled structure to maintain the firm's files, including a solid archival and management system, access and change information, knowing what gets deleted, notification of a file about to be deleted and even 10-year notices, something firms need in a controlled environment.