Tax Workflow Software for Accountants & CPA Firms Presented by Jetpack Workflow
Defining Workflow It’s critical to think through how your firm will define workflow. For example, is it taking a holistic approach at everything that moves through the office? Or will you be focused solely on client work? It’s also critical to reflect on past experiences building out workflow and systems. What’s gone well? What hasn’t gone well… and why? Laying out these foundation questions can give you a jumpstart on launching a sustainable, workflow solution for your firm.
Benefits of Optimizing Workflow • Increase client services and billable time • Improve team efficiency and company morale • Create a system that can scale and grow • Improve profitability and cash flow • Create freedom in your firm
3 Ways to Improve Workflow
Our Story David Cristello David@jetpackworkflow.com 412-543-8571 2325 East Carson Street Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Foundation
Foundation Mapping it out, pen and paper or mind map No need to map out everything Pick the most time consuming, frequent, and/or profitable jobs you do.
Return 1. Receive client work 2. Scan it in 3. Pass it along to X 4. Prepare the return 5. 1st review 6. Send notes and complete review 7. 2nd review 8. File 9. Invoice client 10. Receive payment
The Good News The more information you put down, the better. It can be a list It can be a visual Even post it notes or a white board (our personal favorite) Pick Three workflows that are common / time consuming / annoying/ painful / most profitable
Maximize
Maximize Elimination
Elimination • Perfect isn’t addition, it’s elimination • Each Step Earns it’s place • Duplicate or Inconsistent Work • Multiple workflows for the same job • Bottlenecks identified (which make is unnecessarily long?)
Elimination • Perfect isn’t addition, it’s elimination • Each Step Earns it’s place • Duplicate or Inconsistent Work • Multiple workflows for the same job • Bottlenecks identified (which make is unnecessarily long?)
Elimination Grade each step • A: Efficient, easy to understand • B: Efficient, not easy to understand • C: Not efficient, easy to understand • D: Not efficient, difficult to understand
Elimination Most Time Consuming Jobs: • A: Efficient, easy to understand • B: Efficient, not easy to understand • C: Not efficient, easy to understand • D: Not efficient, difficult to understand
Optimization
Optimization • Date in procedure • Review procedure • Feedback procedure • One off jobs and tasks? • Pulling time sheets?
Technology Checklist After you’ve gone through the workflow process, you’ll then want to look at what a potential “ideal” workflow application would look like.
Needs to be cloud based Ability to sort and track hundreds of clients Able to assign team members work Easy way to see which work needs reviewed Ability to add custom recurrences Time tracking capabilities And so on
Putting together a simple checklist will dramatically improve the odds of finding, or selecting, the best workflow software for your firm.
Your End Vision After outlining your checklist and current workflow, the next step is defining what “success� looks like. Are you looking to cut down unbillable time from X to Y? Are you look to complete all returns before a specific date? Or have your team work only so many hours per week? Or even for you to be able to have more free time (read: any free time) during busy season?
Bringing Your Team on board Now that you have a great foundation, the final step would be communicating the workflow roadmap (ie implementing a new system) to your team. You can get their feedback on the current process (after all, they could provide great insight into bottlenecks!), as well as communicating WHY you’ve decided to prioritize workflow. Chances are, they will appreciate your concern of work/life balance, focusing more on client work, and building a stronger, more efficient practice. As long as your team sees it’s a move to better life balance, and not a way to add more work to their plate, you’ll set yourself up to implement a great, sustainable, workflow solution.
Bonus: Inside Look
Create custom work views
Setup custom work views so you know exactly what you need to be working on.
Easily setup recurring client work
Track, sort, filter, and search for relevant client jobs.
Email notifications to keep you on track
Quick see what is falling through the cracks, which client, team member, or category of work is falling through the cracks.
Can you quickly review work?
Using our preloaded filters, simply use the “needs review� function to see work that needs your attention.
Is it proven?
Jetpack Workflow has tracked over 85,000 jobs and tasks, and works with professionals from all over the world.
Is it secure?
Jetpack Workflow uses top of the line encryption (SSL Certified), as well as manages multiples backups every day.
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