Accounting firms face significant obstacles in providing clients with accurate and timely services in a profitable manner. Scarce and expensive staff resource, combined with an exploding demand for services makes it harder and harder to manage an accounting practice.

One critical element in having an effective and efficient practice is the availability of critical practice information. Firm members have different skills and it is an on-going challenge to have the right knowledge, at the right place, at the right time. When firm members have on-demand access to critical client, technical, and other firm information, they can do their jobs more accurately and in less time. Technology tools have helped make us more efficient, but a substantial change in the way we handle the information process is required to really make substantial headway.

FirmWorks© is a centralized application to manage client, firm and other important information. FirmWorks presents real-time information about your firm’s client contact information, firm procedures, specialized documents, staff information, and much more. It is used to manage and schedule work, track critical due dates, and to manage the wealth of knowledge in professional firms.

FirmWorks© consists of some of the following components:

Client Manager uses information in the firm's practice management system to present pertinent data about clients. Adding new fields for data not found in the firm’s practice management system has expanded the information collected about clients. Client Manager records "activities" such as phone conversations, e-mails, and other client contacts making it possible for all firm members to have access to all client activities.

Project Manager creates an inventory of work that can be viewed by partner, by staff, by due date, or in other ways. This information makes it much easier to manage to the workload while avoiding missed due dates, work bottlenecks, and other similar problems.

Knowledge Manager is used to document significant topics that are repetitively encountered. The firm Knowledge Manager is divided into sections for the key practice areas of the firm. Tax topics, audit and accounting issues, technology matters, and firm procedures are some of the information divisions. This tool makes it much easier to document solutions to issues that can be referred back to on demand. This reduces the time it takes to handle recurring issues.

Firm Manager provides detailed information about accounts receivable, work-in-process, billings, and collections. Links to your firm’s practice management system dynamically updates this information.

Marketing Manager makes it easier to follow up on proposals and contacts with potential clients.

Human Resources Manager is used to evaluate staff performance and to record employment related information such as scanned applications, resumes, and other employment related information.