2008 Review of Engagement and Trial Balance Systems

While trial balance is in and of itself an engagement, the process is generally
tied in to engagement management because it represents the culmination of the
workpaper process for other engagements, and it is from the trial balance that
professionals pull key information for building financial statements and preparing
year-end tax compliance.

This review section looks at several programs, some that look toward the overarching
issue of managing all engagements and include trial balance and financial reporting
functions along with extensive collaboration tools, audit and review process
management, and expert guidance. These systems provide centralized storage for
all of a client’s electronic workpapers and provide integration with related
programs.

A separate group of programs focuses primarily on trial balance processes,
enabling professionals to quickly look at the trial balance and the journal
entries or workpapers simultaneously, which makes it easy to see the effects
of “what if” scenarios for optimizing general ledger account balances.

The type of system a practice needs is mostly a matter of the complexity of
the firm’s clients and the number of staff working on these engagements.
This is because increasing complexity requires additional scrutiny and the use
of more specialized and seasoned staff. And the more professionals who are involved
in an engagement increases the need for automated review and collaboration tools.

This review section focuses on the following criteria:

Ease of Use
With any program, usability is obviously subjective, but general navigational
components, access to key features, reporting tools, wizards and intuitive workflow
processes greatly aid in the adaptation of a new program and enable users to
more rapidly reach heightened proficiency, which lets them get the real work
done more efficiently.

Data Import/Export/Integration
The ability to pull client data from the financial programs is much more effective
than manually entering data, both in terms of speed and accuracy. Likewise,
output of data to external programs is essential, especially to tax and analysis
systems.

Trial Balance Features
Key processes involved in trial balance include creating, grouping, reconciling
and adjusting accounts as well as preparing financial statements and other documents
necessary for compliance.

Financial Statement Preparation
The creation of financial statements that meet the standards and needs of the
client, the entities they report to and the preferences of the firm is a critical,
but often time-consuming process. The ability to generate these products quickly
and with high quality is essential.

Engagement Process Features
Looking at the big picture of how engagement workflow processes affect each
other is like watching rush hour traffic: All it takes is one or two small delays
to create significant bottlenecks in productivity. Streamlining engagement processes
involves managing not only the workpapers involved in an engagement, but also
the collaboration required between staff and maintaining review mechanisms that
let all professionals involved in a process know what steps they need to do
when, and where potential issues may arise.

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