What do we mean by "Redefining Practice Management?"

Traditionally, accounting firms have viewed Practice Management simply as time-tracking and billing; two necessary but mundane tasks. And so the applications that supported Practice Management were, for the most part, mundane as well.

As expectations for practice management software began to grow, vendors began to add some elements of workflow and contact management. But they were poorly integrated, awkward to use, and not the functional equivalent of well designed stand-alone packages.

The expanded and redefined mission of practice management software is to integrate these other elements into a single system, including:

  • Workflow, aka project management: What's the status? Is it on budget? When's it due? Is it bottlenecked somewhere in the process? Do we need to call the client with a change of scope? You need real-time, accurate answers to these questions, without having to pry the data out of too many separate databases. Thus, workflow does not belong in a document management system, or in Excel, or in a separate database, or even in an "add-on" to Practice Management. It needs to be at the core of the Practice Management system. APS is designed around a simple yet elegant workflow model from the ground up, a fundamental design shift that impacts every aspect of the system, from timesheet entry to billing to scheduling.

  • Resource Planning: Sure, we're talking about staff goals and staff scheduling. But out of this come some bigger questions: Do we have the staff we need? What should be the qualifications of our next hire?

  • Client Relationship Management (CRM): Who are my clients and related contacts? How are they related? Where are the opportunities and how do we gain the advantage? Many of your opportunities lie within your existing client base. Like workflow, CRM belongs in the Practice Management system.

  • Client Evaluation: Which clients do I need to cultivate ? Which clients need to be transferred to other people in the firm? Which clients need to be counseled out? Client evaluation leads easily and naturally to evaluation of client managers. Who needs help to transfer clients to another partner or manager? Who needs more clients to manage? Which partners maintain WIP and AR balances at properly low levels?

  • Document Management: It has become increasingly clear that document management works best when it is tightly integrated with practice management.

Suppose all of this was built into the very core of your Practice Management System? Suppose you could tell quickly where everything stood using business intelligence that showed you this information for your jobs, your clients, your team, your department, your office, your region, or your firm? Suppose your vendor was your partner? Somebody who could help you take advantage of the tools now at your disposal. Someone with integrity and long-term commitment who listened, and who had answers. This is Accountable Technology.

Especially now, in a challenging economy, you can no longer afford to relegate Practice Management, Workflow, Resource Planning, and CRM to the back office.

Welcome to our world. This is what we mean by redefining Practice Management.