ELITE PROCESS REVIEW A TOOL FOR OUR TIMES PRESENTED BY SHELLEY ALVORD CPA

ELITE PROCESS REVIEW A TOOL FOR OUR TIMES

PRESENTED BYSHELLEY ALVORD CPA

ELITE PROCESS REVIEWA TOOL FOR OUR TIMES

The primary purpose of an Elite Process Review:

• is to help you, our clients• by discovering significant improvement

needs• and making viable improvement

recommendations• relative to your Elite accounting software

environment


From a 2009 EPR client:

“The timing of our process review dovetailed perfectly with the changes we need to make to survive and grow in this economy.

“Management and Partners are already supporting Action List recommendations for improving turn-around times, meeting deadlines and improving efficiency.

“Even though we were using our Elite software pretty well, the process review showed us a lot of capability we didn’t know about before.

“My accounting staff and I were excited about all of the improvements we could make just by using what we already owned.”


EPR results are highly relevant in today’s business climate:

• increased efficiency

• improved cash flows

• meaningful data for analysis & reports

• informed spending-decision tool

• more effective use of existing products


Efficiency improvements:

• automating manual processes• enhancing automation via workflows, scripts,

interfaces and add-ons• streamlining people processes• improving formats and templates to reduce

manual manipulation• making better use of features in current

versions


Cash inflow improvements:

• reducing time and cost entry turnarounds• reducing billing turnarounds and wip

backlogs• improving billing rate methodology and

review• modernizing collections processes


Cash outflow improvements:

• reducing duplicate payment risk

• automating payment timing

• achieving real-time variance reports

• improving non-billable expense containment and analysis


Data relevance improvements:

• tailoring the data to the decision-makers

• posting analytic data in real time

• re-evaluating general ledger masking decisions for today’s needs

• improving reporting tools


Data relevance improvements, cont:

• improving data accessibility and retrieval

• ensuring data integrity via setups and controls

• protecting stored data


Informed spending tools:

• evaluating cost vs. benefit of upgrades relative to the usefulness of new enhancements

• using the priority and accountability assignment tool built into the Action List Report


Informed spending tools, cont:

• using the product / service / training decision-making tool built into the Action List Report

• evaluating cost of implementing recommendations vs. cost of current process vs. identified benefit


Other benefits – Improved knowledge:

• improving staff understanding of firm goals

• improving manager understanding of staff’s challenges and procedures

• identifying training needs in terms of internal vs. external resources


Other benefits – Improved compliance and control:

• improving regulatory compliance

• improving internal policy compliance

• reducing fraud risk

• reducing liability exposure


End Part 1 (of 2)

- Questions -


Elite’s Process Review Consultants:

•are experienced, senior-level Accounting professionals with law and consulting firm backgrounds

•have sophisticated user knowledge of the Elite billing and financial applications

•understand best practices for enhanced efficiency, automation, and control

•have direct access to Elite resources


Preparation phase:

• planning on-site agenda with firm

• engagement planning call with managers and supervisors

• completing advance questionnaire organized into work areas


On-site discovery:

• follows a work area agenda

• follows a questionnaire with nearly 1200 items, indexed and organized by work area and project type

• includes overviews and quick hits

• evaluates processes, not people


On-site discovery, cont:

• managers sit with staff representatives to understand current processes, issues and challenges

• uses a workshop approach to evaluate solutions in terms of firm policy, goals and controls


Your Action List Report:

• provides categorized and cross-referenced descriptions of current approaches vs. model approaches

• notes the benefits associated with each recommendation


Your Action List Report, cont:

•includes a project-planning component

•includes a product / service / training decision tool

•stays alive as a reference and follow-up tool


Your Action List review call:

•we review each “Needs Improvement” item together

•we assign priority and internal ownership

•we note the improvements you have already begun


Your Findings Summary Report:

•summarizes findings for executives

•supports participants’ goals

•discusses issues in terms of themes

•discusses solutions in terms of projects


What our clients say:

“It was good timing for me because I was brand new. There's no question, that it helped me--as the new CFO--to get up to speed much faster.”

“It helped us get clarity and focus on the issues, priorities, solutions, how to get a plan together to make these improvements.”

“We started making changes while we were still in the discovery phase.”


What our clients say, cont:

“We’re still using it three years later. We keep going back to it to see what we have left to do.”

“A while after the review, our firm considered a merger, and we needed to compare our processes. Nearly everything we did was in the Action List Report.”

“The Findings Summary was very useful for the partners. They were very willing to sign the check.”


Elite Process Review options:

•full Billing Manager and Financial Manager Review, including front-in settings and masking

•only Billing Manager review or only Financial Manager review


Elite Process Review options, cont:

•partial reviews, e.g. Settings & Masking, Accounts Payable, Billing Rates, Billing Processes, Time & Costs, Masterfiles, etc.

•comparative process review in merger / acquisition planning


An optional 3e component:

•looks at the Action List recommendations in terms of which issues 3e would address

•describes how 3e addresses these issues

•provides a credible tool for deciding whether and when to implement 3e

•provides an important roadmap to your processes and needs, whether you decide to implement 3e now or later

ELITE PROCESS REVIEWA TOOL FOR OUR TIMESA





If you would like to talk with me about the possibility of an Elite Process Review for your firm,

just ask your Client Account Manager to

set up a call.


End Part 2 (of 2)

- Questions -

Documents

ELITE PROCESS REVIEW A TOOL FOR OUR TIMES PRESENTED BY SHELLEY ALVORD CPA