Accountancy practice management software has come a long way. Today, features like automated billing and reconciliations are easily integrated into the day-to-day practice workflow of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK customers.

Our employees work side by side with our customers to create and manage these solutions – driven by a deep understanding of their needs and addressing the rapid changes in their environment.

However, it’s often hard to look beyond improving performance in day-to-day operations. Amid Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions, accountancy practices and their clients are dealing with an unpredictable economic landscape. Future business planning can appear daunting.

However, technology can support accountancy practices (and their clients) in making informed business decisions, and planning for the future. In the first part of our Accountancy Practice Management for Future-Fit Growth series, we’ll explore how they can use technology to define and easily track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Doing so gives practices closer control of performance tracking, and deeper insights that will inform strategic growth plans.
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Saving Time

For several decades, business technology platforms have enabled practices to track performance metrics that they have customised. This highlights areas that qualify for improvement and underpins strategic planning.

Contemporary technology, such as CCH KPI Monitoring, makes setting up KPIs faster and easier for accountancy practices than ever before. This is vital today. The current business landscape demands that firms assess and amend KPIs more frequently, based on fresh market variables. KPIs such as client retention rate and business time-to-recovery have become increasingly prominent performance indicators in the past year. If clunky technology makes KPI management difficult, practices have less time and insight to plan future growth.

Reducing Risk
CCH KPI Monitoring makes it far easier to track KPIs and report on them. This is fundamental in minimising risk. For example, if a KPI is set to track and escalate debt filtered by overdue dates, the ability to easily set alerts and automatically generate reports is critical to practice performance management.

Some practices are manually running monthly reports to measure KPIs. Others are running real-time reporting engines, a key feature of CCH KPI Monitoring. This latter solution allows practices to review essential data at any time – covering both performance management and compliance requirements. They can do so remotely or on-premise.

This means that firms can assess issues before they become problems, and thus act proactively. Real-time reporting is a true asset in building a future-fit practice.

The Proof is in the Practice
A number of Wolters Kluwer customers have been using CCH KPI Monitoring for several years now. Our customers look to us when they need to be right. Ryecroft Glenton has successfully integrated CCH KPI Monitoring with its own system. This consolidates information from several sources, including CCH Central and CCH Practice Management.

“We can use the year end date to trigger a sequence of reminders. Have we asked for the books? Have they been received? If a request to a client has been outstanding for a certain period, the partner will receive an alert via email. For limited companies, we can monitor the corporation tax and Companies House filing deadlines – as well as the different deadlines for pension schemes”

– Ian Smith, partner at Ryecroft Glenton

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In recent years the threat of cyber-attacks has grown significantly, with both the frequency and sophistication of attempted breaches increasing. According to UK government statistics, 32% of businesses experienced a breach or attack in 2023, with this figure rising to 59% for medium-sized businesses and 69% for large businesses.

For any companies operating in the financial services sector, the risk of experiencing a cyber-attack is even higher. Kroll’s Data Breach Outlook report revealed that financial services was the most commonly breached industry in 2023, with 27% of the sector’s incumbents compromised.

Segments of the financial services market, such as accounting, are particularly vulnerable because of the sensitivity of the data they’re responsible for protecting. Bad actors have the chance to either instigate a breach that has a direct financial impact on the firm or perform a ransomware attack where they sell stolen data back to the organisation they target.

With an ever-increasing threat landscape to contend with, accounting firms should consider how they can leverage innovative solutions that combat the growing refinement of cyber-attacks.

Mitigating risk with pattern recognition

When it comes to cybersecurity, AI can be a true asset for accounting firms because of its ability to collect and process large volumes of data, while automating threat detection, analysis, and response.

Applying AI across a firm’s network and accounting procedures allows the technology to understand how the organisation operates and recognise typical levels of activity. Therefore, when an unexpected event occurs – be it malicious activity, external attacks, or anomalous behaviour from authorised users – the right AI solution can instantly respond to the threat, shutting down the system to keep bad actors out or triggering other security measures.

Traditional threat detection systems most firms already employ can detect attacks with known signatures. However, AI-driven solutions help organisations adapt to the evolving sophistication of cyber-attacks by recognising new, more advanced techniques such as zero-day threats.

This equips firms with an additional layer of security that can identify and respond to dangers that other solutions may not be able to pick up.
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Shielding data with knowledge work automation

Integrating an advanced and intuitive knowledge work automation platform that leverages AI to improve document control is a key consideration for firms looking to improve cybersecurity. Not only do such tools protect sensitive information, they also allow firms to become more compliant and more easily adhere to a shifting regulatory environment.

For example, AI can detect if there is specific language or information in an attachment that needs to be redacted, and automatically place access controls on the document to ensure sensitive information is not seen by the wrong individuals.

A growing number of firms are also utilising client portals to shore up the process of sharing documents. This allows both accountants and their clients to exchange large file sizes without relying on third parties or hard copies and is a far more secure way of transferring information than more traditional methods such as email.

Innovate in response to growing threats

As the regularity and potency of cyber-attacks increases, accounting firms must consider how they can integrate more advanced layers of protection across networks in response. This relies on large-scale automation, achieved by implementing AI solutions that have the capacity to recognise and respond to attacks and identify vulnerabilities in the way the firm itself operates.

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