Revolutionize Your Workflow

Observing how tax and accounting professionals work led to major breakthroughs in the next generation of ProSystem fx solutions
 
 
I’m Brian Diffin, CPA, and vice president of software development at CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business. I want to share with you a behind-the-scenes look at how we developed the next generation of ProSystem fx®, so that you get a better feeling for how the software dramatically increases efficiency and productivity for CPA firms.
 
We started the project with a blank sheet of white paper. That meant investing our time and going deeper than the typical wish-list approach. It required something called “contextual design,” a methodology that builds on a thorough understanding of how customers work. We assembled cross-functional groups from product management, development, design, support and quality control and visited hundreds of accounting firms across the country.
 
We watched how people worked — what they did first thing in the morning, how they went about their jobs, the physical surroundings of their work environment, who interrupted them, and where the work flowed when they were done with it. 
 
Our goal was to find a way to automate work steps that require someone to physically do something. Here are some examples of what we found and were able to address:
 
• When a preparer finishes a return they no longer need to take it to a reviewer. The preparer clicks a button, and a dashboard on the reviewers’ screen tells the reviewer that the return is ready — all online and automated. Simply clicking the tax return link on the dashboard will open the return. 
 
• Clocks run in the background that capture the time involved and automatically post it to an invoice. People don’t have to worry about stopping to record their time; it just happens.
 
This type of efficiency is similar to improving a manufacturing process by looking for opportunities to eliminate bottlenecks. We looked at work streams and exploded them at the perimeters. We asked, “What are people doing 10 minutes before they prepare a return and 10 minutes after?” and “Can we capture those activities in the application — and continue to expand the perimeter?” 
 
Now, what used to take five people 15 different steps happens automatically as people are working in the software. You can learn more about the next generation of ProSystem fx and discover a sampling of the efficiency savings it delivers by clicking here.
 
Sincerely,
Brian Diffin, CPA
Vice President, CCH Software Development