Anne Rosa, CPA
When Anne Rosa, CPA decided to launch her firm back in 1988, working paper-free wasn’t even a “thing” in the profession. Years later, realizing that there had to be a better way to serve clients and lighten the paper load, she found SmartVault and promptly moved to online file storage and sharing. She admits that it’s been one of her best moves.
Rosa discovered SmartVault after receiving a marketing email. “I read the email and was attracted to the time and cost savings that the system promised,” Rosa recalled. “I started with the trial and loved it, so I purchased the full solution. It has delivered on the promise in that email.”
A risky move from any CPA’s perspective, Rosa implemented SmartVault in January…already well into a busy tax season. However, she found implementation to be fast and easy—supporting an uninterrupted work process.
“SmartVault completely integrates with my ProSeries Tax software, and it was so easy to implement. I was up and running quickly,” Rosa explained.
Rosa was also sure to mention that SmartVault support played a hand in the ease of implementation as well. “The system is very intuitive to begin with, and then you add in a very responsive support department, and it made for an exceptional experience.”
Knowing what she knows now, Rosa expressed wishing she had made the move to online document storage sooner. While she prepared and filed returns electronically, until this year, she printed and mailed many of her clients’ final returns—costing her in postage and requiring many file cabinets to store hard copies.
“This year marked a milestone for my firm; I was able to file everything digitally. It was a long time coming, but better late than never!”
A short time getting to ROI
While it took until this year to convert her firm to online document sharing and storage, it didn’t take long for Rosa to realize a return on investment. Broadly, she reported immense time savings by eliminating paper files and the manual processes that go with them. She was also able to quantify savings.
“I would say that I’ve experienced a 25% savings across the board when I figure in all the money saved by eliminating paper purchased, paying for postage, and the decrease in time I spent mired down in a manual workflow.”
Rosa also reported a $5,000 annual savings by eliminating a seasonal employee. “With SmartVault, I now accomplish more work in less time, so I didn’t need to hire a part-time person to help me during tax season anymore.”
And finally, Rosa views elevated client satisfaction as good return on investment. “Clients are already telling me how much they love the new system. With portals, they have 24/7 access to their documents. So, for example, if they are preparing for a home loan, they don’t have to call me. They just log in and access documents as needed. Clients love working online, and I love that they are so happy.”
Final words…
Anne Rosa is living the digital dream. In her first year using SmartVault, she didn’t have to file paper manually; now it’s all done electronically. Her clients are also giving her positive feedback on the upgrade to portals.
“I love working this way, “ she stated. “My next goal: boxing up all past paper files and getting rid of these filing cabinets. It’s all online from here on out.”
