Tax Day has arrived with a later due date than usual thanks to COVID-19. Needless to say, this year has had many obstacles for businesses to overcome and accounting firms have not been spared. Whether you are a sole practitioner or a large accounting firm you still have to look out for your customers and provide them with top notch customer service, no matter the circumstances. The industry is moving quickly to embrace disruptions and adapt through new initiatives such as:

• Big Data and Analytics
• Automation and Artificial Intelligence  
• Cloud Accounting for Small to Midsize Businesses
• Outsourcing (duties and tasks)   
• Social Media (Advertising, client relations, job postings) 
• Mobile Computing (Applications)   
• Connection Convergence (Video Conferencing) 
• Data Entry Automation         

 
Paperless Processes – Kind of.

Shifts towards working from home and video conferencing with clients can increase the initiative to make more processes less paper intensive. Though firms are still required to retain paper copies of many documents in-house and are mandated to submit paper copies to the IRS and state agencies. While digital is a very viable option and increases accessibility to documents, it is important to control who has access and have contingencies in place for if disruptions occurr to the cloud or internet services.
 
Pairing Office Hardware with Document Solutions

Many offices have already began spending less time processing documents manually and shifted to a workflow-centric model using automated processes. Integrations like electronic signatures and OCR technology are a couple examples. The key question firms of all sizes have to answer is: How are staff accessing, storing and securing documents? By answering this, you will have a starting point to where you and your vendor (preferably Copiers Plus) can leverage existing investments of copiers and printers, and incorporate custom software that will expedite processes and increase compliancy.

Our approach optimizes the entire document output process form capturing, archiving, and producing a workflow that is intuitive, efficient and customized to each end-user through secure access protocols. All of these features are achievable along with the potential of reducing output costs by up to 30 percent.
 
Even though we have reached this tax deadline, we know your work never stops. We at Copiers Plus want to ensure you are ready for the challenges ahead. Give us a call at 800-648-7081 or go online to request an appointment with our team today so we can analyze your workflows and implement business processes that live up to our changing times and standards!
 

Drew Smith currently serves as Director of Communications for Copiers Plus. The company specializes in modernizing office equipment and increasing efficiencies in workplace communications throughout the state of North Carolina. To learn more about how Copiers Plus is providing their customers with innovative document solutions and enhanced printing transparency, visit www.copiers-plus.com. Drew would love to hear from you at [email protected].