Post-pandemic, digital transformation has ceased being a buzzword. Firms experienced first-hand use cases for Cloud-enabled software and have learned that digital transformation is essential to ensuring business continuity, recruiting, and retaining talent, improving communication with clients, and growth.
The benefits of digital transformation don’t end at the firm’s front door though – cloud-enabled software reduces the amount of paper being used, stored, and managed by your firm, which is great news for the planet.
This Earth Day, take that commitment to digital transformation a step further and explore ways your firm can help save the planet, while impressing and delighting your clients.
Environmental, Social, and Governance
In November 2021, the International Financial Standards Board announced the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Its creation offered auditors a standard way to provide guidance around procedures and reporting around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues.
Gone are the days when ESG efforts were merely a public relations tactic. Nowadays, ESG is a business and market imperative in many industries, making it important for large firms with corporate clients to understand that, even without a mandatory ESG disclosure regime, the lack of transparency and accountability when it comes to ESG reporting could leave you vulnerable to major financial, operational, and reputational risks.
Invest in cloud-enabled software
Cloud-enabled audit software enables firms to:
- Recruit and retain talent by reducing the amount of time staff wastes on manual data entry and freeing up senior staff for strategic, revenue generating work
- Increase efficiency via automation of manual tasks, which also relieves staffing pressure, allowing your firm to do more with the staff it has
- Add additional revenue streams: by automating manual data entry, firms have time to explore advisory opportunities
- Better serve clients by collecting sensitive documents via a secure, online portal, reducing risk for the firm and offering convenience for clients
- Reduce paper consumption, management, and storage: saving cost, energy, and the environment
Cloud Audit Suite offers the advantage to work from anywhere, collaborate with colleagues in real time, and securely access your audit data.
Pitching paperless to clients
It’s time to pitch paperless to your clients. In fact, you might find that they’ve been waiting for you to take this step for a while.
Medical practices have successfully embraced paperless technology for ease of access, data security, transparent communication, and convenience. When implementing patient health portals, doctors built in time at the end of each appointment to educate their patient about the upcoming change.
For example: ”We know it’s difficult for you to schedule appointments with us during work hours, so we’ve created a secure place on our website where you can see all of your health information, make appointments, view test results, and refill your prescriptions.”
Tax and accounting firms could easily adopt this practice to speed the adoption of modern technology. When a change is laid out in the proper context of client care, it feels much less arbitrary, confusing, or inconvenient.
CPA or Earth warrior? Why not both?
Cloud-native or cloud-enabled technology enabling digital work offers numerous business advantages and several environmental benefits as well. And while tax and accounting doesn’t immediately spring to mind when imaging the frontline against climate change, we all have a role to play in protecting the vulnerable populations of Earth.
Take your firm one step closer to the digital age: go paperless with the Thomson Reuters Cloud Audit Suite.