Benjamin King Money

Margaret McIntyre - General Manager
Tel: +61 3 9804 0411
Email: mmcintyre@bkmoney.com.au

Involvement in selection process
Initially one Partner and myself, as General Manager of the Practice, were ran and then the CEO was involved before the final decision was made.

Key Quote
Well, we knew what we wanted to achieve and APS understood our needs and helped us implement everything in line with those needs. It has been that simple.

Section One General

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When did your firm implement its APS Advance Practice Management system.
We commenced installing the software in February 2002 and we went “live” in June 2002

Which edition did your firm sign up for – a) Professional or b) Enterprise
Professional Edition.

How many users do you have?
Approximately 24 users

Which APS products have you taken out licences to use? (PM, Tax etc?)
We took licences for Advance Practice Management, Practice IQ and we have now implemented Accounts and Tax.

Who was you previous supplier and how long were you using that supplier’s software for?
Solution 6 – seems we had been using it forever!

From start to finish, how long did the meeting, testing and decision-making process take that saw you move over to APS?
The whole process of reviewing and selecting APS Advance took approximately 3 months in total – but the whole comparison and all-product review took 12 months plus. We started off by investigating all the available products on offer and compared the benefits of each – our key driver was that we needed to run our practice more efficiently, so we wanted to be certain that we were making the right choice.

Now that you have been using APS products for more than one year, has the product and service met your expectations? If so, please tell me about it.
Yes – we find Practice IQ to be excellent and we are looking forward to the upgrade being installed. We are also looking forward to the efficiencies now that we are using both accounts and tax together for the first time.

APS prides itself on its ability to listen to its customers regarding their business needs and business aims and its commitment to then work closely with customers to meet and achieve them. Tell us about the APS approach from your perspective.
Well, we knew what we wanted to achieve and APS understood our needs and helped us implement everything in line with those needs. It has been that simple.

Section Two Product

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Functionality Testing

Looking at APS from a product perspective, what were the most important factors from a functionality point-of-view that were seen as critical to your business – the things that APS had to have if it was to be considered as a your practice management and tax preparation software provider?
In no particular order, the following were most important to us: ease of use; being able to mine the database effectively; and stability of the software.

Did you feel that APS was ahead of its competitors in terms of its functionality and how did you verify the fact? (e.g. pilot / product testing methodology)
Yes we did feel that APS was ahead – and we verified this by comparing the available products in the market.

How long did you pilot and test the Advance product set for functionality – and how many people were involved? Was the APS team accommodating in this process or did your APS contacts press you to make an early decision?
Our investigation took place over a period of 12 months – the last 6 being more intense. Initially one Partner and myself (as General Manager of the Practice) were involved and then the CEO was involved before the final decision was made. And, no, we were not pressed to make a decision – the APS team allowed us to get on with the testing process at our own pace.

For your firm, what were the critical things that the APS Advance product offers over the competition that helped finalise the decision to go with APS in place of your incumbent supplier?
For us they matched closely the functionality we felt Advance had to have: efficiency of use, ability to mine the database, support, stability and an ability to interface with other products, including those of our previous supplier. APS delivered that.

Future Development

What would you like to see APS add to its product set in its next releases of Advance that will assist your business? What does it need to do to stay ahead of its competitors?
We would like to see non-audit work papers built into the software and we would also like to see an integrated, scalable document management system in place.

Section Three Corporate Situation

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Were the following factors important to you in determining if APS was the right provider for your firm to go with:-
The fact that APS is a profitable business? APS prides itself on the fact that it has posted a profit every year since inception in 1991

Yes, it shows that the people managing the business know what they are doing. The fact that APS has been profitable every year so far hopefully means that things will continue to go well and customers such as ourselves will not be let down.

The fact that the Advance product set traces its lineage and development path directly to its first release in 1994 ?.. there has been no deviation from the product roadmap – merely incremental annual upgrades to the product. This has meant that customers have not had to waste time and money implementing new systems on an intermittent basis

Yes – it gave us the comfort that the product would continue to grow from its base on a little-by-little basis.

What other corporate stability factors would you recommend that firms should consider when choosing a Practice Management system supplier?
Firms should look at the suppliers’ staff turnover rates – we have been dealing with the same staff at APS from the beginning and that has been a real plus.

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