Growing your firm's client base can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be accompanied by another, less optimal kind of growth: an ever-expanding tech stack. An overly large tech stack has some steep costs and can result in excess spending, applications that don't talk to one another, double data entry, and frustrated employees and clients.
Strategic, efficient firms make time to regularly clean out the underbrush of technology applications that regularly accompanies firm growth for several key reasons:
1. Product upgrades. The technology you use in your firm is going to have a huge impact on your overall productivity. Legacy software applications lag behind new and improved versions, and unless you upgrade your technology, you are likely to be missing out on these benefits.
2. Financial savings. There are significant financial costs related to legacy systems that weigh down your profit margin. Failing to invest in newer and updated technology may result in missed opportunities to consolidate the number of applications used in your business and the associated financial savings.
3. Fulfilling client service expectations. Failing to upgrade your technology can become a disservice to clients who patronize your firm. Customers have become accustomed to modern, secure, easy-to-use software, and their tolerance for legacy software is lower than ever. They expect to be able to perform most required tasks on a phone or computer and are less and less willing to deal with confusing, legacy software.
Failing to address the above can result in missing out on critical growth opportunities for your firm. The way to avoid these mistakes is to plan ahead to streamline your tech investments now.
Accountability Services, an accounting firm with offices in Washington and Colorado, followed this strategy and reduced the number of apps from a high of 14 down to just five. They did this by replacing several apps with one practice management solution that integrated most of their work, resulting in satisfied customers, happy employees and a better bottom line. Investing the time and effort to do this was well worth it for them, and it will also be for you.
"Software and technology is a huge part of Accountability Services," said the firm's operations director, Autumn Lamb. "We believe that using technology to essentially be an AI, like the technology is another person on the tea. Having that critical person on the team in the form of functioning technology and software allows us to do our job and put our brains and our expertise where it matters the most."
