To this end, it surprises me when I speak to accountants around the country on the process they undertake when advising clients in the domain of accounting system recommendations. The responses are varied – fundamentally, though, they appear to fall into one of three categories:
- We only recommend one (or maybe two) products – this is all we can manage, and keep our staff trained up on. Plus, there are the benefits we receive from the 'partner programs'.
- We don’t recommend software – our clients are still on Excel.
- We try and keep complex spreadsheets to track the products as they emerge and change but it’s becoming a great battle. An alternative to this is we Google it each time to analyse what the features are.
After semi-retiring from practice, I put my thoughts around how to overcome these issues and thus Saasset was born. Saasset is a cloud-based system that analyses the products of the major accounting software suppliers. Starting with an analysis of the business’ needs, Saasset compares the needs to the features and benefits of each product, and then supplies the accountant with the top three recommendations.
The accountant can then download a fully customisable professional software recommendation report, implementation plan, training plan, quote and engagement authority they can offer to their clients – all branded with their own firm’s logo.
Suddenly, Saasset has turned your ‘off the cuff’ software recommendation into something that your clients are prepared to pay for. In addition, Saasset has assisted your practice in formalising the implementation and training of the product – a part of the solution that is often overlooked, thus missing the opportunity for further income to be derived from this process.
Just as importantly, though, it provides the practice with a process that removes the ‘guesswork’. Akin to the financial planning industry, if we as an industry are not disclosing the benefits we receive from the providers (some of which may be passed on to the client), our industry is at risk of providing advice without transparency as to the ‘why’ this advice is being provided, especially if your firm is receiving gains through commissions or rebated practice software.
It doesn’t matter whether your firm offers advice in relation to taxation, audit, insolvency, estate planning, financial planning, software or any other advisory piece, there need to be appropriately trained staff, good tools and strong systems to ensure your practice is providing the most appropriate advice.
If you’d like to know more about Saasset, visit the website at www.saasset.com or give us a call on 1800 Saasset (1800 722 773).
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