Practice Management and Document Management Implementation Case Study

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Farrow Wyatt

James Carr - IT Manager
Tel: +61 2 4931 6000
Email: jamescarr@farrowwyatt.com.au

Involvement in selection process
Lead the Farrow Wyatt’s project team that was put in charge of making the decision of preferred supplier.

General

When did your firm implement its APS Advance Practice Management system?
We commenced a phased implementation in January 2007. We started with Practice Management, then implemented Practice IQ, Interwoven Document Management, Advance Vigilant, Advance Tax, and more recenlty XPA (Xcede Professional Accounting).

How many users do you have?
We currently have 60 users.

Which APS products have you taken out licences to use?
We currently use Practice Management, Practice IQ, Interwoven, Tax, XPA, Vigilant (Alerts).

Who was your previous supplier and how long were you using that supplier’s software for?
We previously used MYOB (xlon). Our firm used xlon from its inception – about 15 years ago.

From start to finish, how long did the meeting, testing and decision-making process take that saw you move over to APS?
It took approximately 6 months.

Was your decision to move over to APS made on gut-feel, or was it more scientific than that? Please explain how you went about making your decision…. (e.g. team approach: IT manager, IT Partner, Work Group etc…)
Definitely more than just gut-feel. We formed a project team to evaluate alternatives which included presentations from APS and XPA covering content of all modules. We used forms to document and evaluate each alternative against our needs. We also conducted site visits of independent firms using both alternatives and questioned senior staff at those organisations about various aspects of the product and service and their experiences. At the very start of the process the project team met and documented our requirements in a new system – basically like a wish list, and we used this to evaluate the options. The project team then became product champions in the office so that the knowledge was shared around the office.

Installation / Implementation

Conversion of practice data from your old system to your new one was of course going to be one of the major issues in your implementation – can you tell me how the APS consultant performed in this regard?
The initial conversion of the Practice Management data was good – client details, attributes, WIP and debtors amounts, a lot of time was invested by Farrow Wyatt staff to make sure that the data was thoroughly cleansed before being converted into APS products. We worked closely with our APS consultant to ensure that the data output we provided for the conversion was in the most workable format.

Conversions for tax and accounts have also proved to work well, although we are not able to convert everything we would like, APS have delivered a usable conversion for everything they said they would.

A new system means that ‘change’ is forced upon team members – how did your team react to the new system and how quickly did they pick up the new system?
We have a very young, enthusiastic team who adapt well to and encourage positive change. Whilst the implementation of the APS suite of products has been a big change, our staff have coped very well and picked up the new system quickly. The overall feedback has been positive, as APS have provided a better, more efficient and integrated system.

Product

Functionality

How does the Advance suite compare to you previous product in terms of functionality?
The functionality of APS is far better than what we had with xlon (MYOB). We have a lot more flexibility and are able to make specific customisations to the software that we deem beneficial.

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?
Development of their own tax product, rather than the elite forms. We find that there isn’t always enough detail or flexibility in the elite forms. Also the ability to run Xcede reports over quickbooks or MYOB data files would be excellent.

Summing Up

Do you have any final words that sum up how you feel about APS, its team and its software?
In the short amount of time we have been using APS, we have found the software provides a much more integrated, scalable and efficient system that meets our practices’ needs. However the actual product is only half of the equation. Much of our decision to convert to APS was based on our expectations for the relationship and support, which we have found has been managed very well.

We think that as a firm we are forward-thinking and always looking for ways to improve our practices, processes and methods. We think that our relationship with APS is one that will assist this goal.

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APS - Advanced Professional Solutions specialises in solutions for professional service firms that include practice management, business intelligence, CRM, business process automation, document and email management. For professional accountants these solutions also include tax and accounts production.