The Art of the Quick Change: From Filing Cabinets to the Cloud

Andrea Abel’s move from filing cabinets to the Cloud was quick and painless — and key to her firm’s rapid growth.

From the November 2011 Issue

Like many others, before launching her own practice — Lime & Company — Andrea Abel worked for other firms. During this time, she enhanced her practitioner skills while also gaining valuable insight into what it takes to run a successful business.

** A Great Practices Feature **

“When I worked in public practice, there was usually a full-time dedicated IT person to maintain the firm’s technology, including software and servers,” Abel recalled. “So, when I thought about starting my own practice, I immediately thought: How could I ever do it?”

Firm Profiled: Andrea Abel, Lime & Company

Concerned with the high cost of technology and IT support, Abel wasn’t sure how she would ever be able to operate her own firm. She had heard of Cloud-based applications, but didn’t really know what that meant or how these advanced technologies would ultimately solve the IT issue.

“At the time, I was not up-to-date on Cloud solutions. So in my mind, high-end applications and costly IT support was the reality. It was what I experienced working for other firms,” said Abel.

A Quick Change Artist in Action — From Paper-Heavy to Paper-Free

In 2004, Abel took a break from public accounting to start a family. In 2005, as a stay-at-home mom, she began helping a few friends with business consulting support. A few friends quickly turned into a few clients ... and then a few more.

“It happened so fast. First, I’m helping friends get their businesses going, and then suddenly I have a list of clients.”

Before she knew it, Abel was well on her way to running a full-service accounting firm. However, technology was still an issue. Convinced that growing her home-based business into a full-service firm meant tackling complex technology issues and investing in an IT expert, she concluded that growth was not in her future.

“The technology aspect of running a firm was intimidating,” Abel admitted. “So I continued to work with desktop software and paper files. I knew there had to be a more efficient way to work; I just didn’t know what that was.”

A few years later, Abel attended The Sleeter Group’s Accounting Software Consulting Conference and was blown away by presentations on Cloud computing and the ease of use that web-based applications offered.

“I talked to a few Cloud technology vendors and asked questions about how their applications could help me,” Abel stated. “The SmartVault folks told me that Cloud-based apps take IT out of the equation … that I could easily implement and operate these solutions on my own. That was the turning point for me. My old beliefs about technology were extinguished.”

From that point, Abel adopted a “to the Cloud” attitude, moving full force ahead in her transition to a virtual environment. Within a few short weeks, she had built a paperless system, accelerating firm efficiency beyond anything she imagined.

“After seeing a few product demos at the Sleeter show, I jumped in and invested in an all-Cloud system. Within a few weeks, I set up my clients on Hosted QuickBooks using InsynQ and SmartVault for storing and exchanging files,” Abel said. “My transition was quick because all the technologies were incredibly intuitive — for both me and my clients.”

For many of Abel’s clients, one training session on the solution was all that was needed. Some didn’t require training at all and were able to get up and running by following a concise instruction guide supplied by Abel.

A few months later, Abel enhanced her firm’s workflow by adding Fujitsu’s ScanSnap.

“There is no reason to have paper at all,” Abel said. “Because ScanSnap fully integrates with my document management system, I can scan docs, and with just a few mouse clicks, data is filed electronically within the proper client folder. It’s all there, at my fingertips, accessible in seconds.”