Your tax workflow is the core of your tax practice, so making a major change to that process is never going to be a quick fix. While we at GruntWorx are proud proponents of the benefits of a paperless office, how do you actually get there?
The best way to break down the process of a successful transition is to compare real-life examples. To provide you with such an opportunity, we observed the experiences of two actual firms, pulling five guidelines for your paperless transition.
Appoint a “Chief Paperless Officer” (CPO)
Change is always hard–you need a courageous, dedicated leader to manage and direct the transition to paperless. Be sure to appoint someone who has experience and expertise in your field, in addition to familiarity and confidence in the transition process.
Follow an Incremental Approach
Because changing workflow means also changing habits and second-nature systems, it pays to go slowly. Switching to a more eco-friendly and cost-effective system is exciting, but don’t push too quickly–you’ll be asking for confusion, frustration, and a pileup of issues. Instead, take the process in chunks so that you have time to adapt in a more natural way.
Make it Mandatory
Once you have made the decision to go paperless, commit to that decision and expect pushback. There are pros and cons to any workflow, and your employees will likely be more familiar with the pros of the current process–like we said, change is hard, but it is worth it. Be compassionate to your office’s concerns while remaining firm on the decision.
Want to learn the last two guidelines? Check out the full real-life comparison
There are two more rules of thumb to help make your transition to paperless successful, and you can get those–along with actual examples from the case study–in our A Tale of Two Firms white paper.
Here at GruntWorx, we want to put the knowledge and tools in your hands to make your tax practice as successful as it can be. You can read more of our long-form content such as this case study on our White Papers page.
GruntWorx makes going paperless easy
Ready to start implementing your paperless workflow? GruntWorx is designed to get the most out of going paperless. Check out our products, from GruntWorx Organize to GruntWorx Populate, GruntWorx Trades, and beyond.