Tales of a CaseWare Conversion…
When Bond Beebe began to evaluate converting to a paperless environment, our first step was to form a committee to define our criteria. Based on that, the committee was then asked to select the best program to organize the engagements, handle our clients’ trial balances and write their financial statements. We found everything we wanted in CaseWare’s Working Papers.
While we have a niche in unions and union benefit funds, we also have clients, large and small, in most of the other industries. For their trial balances, we needed software that could handle everything from the sophisticated, custom programs of some of our clients to the basic bookkeeping programs of others. Because of our clients’ vastly different export capabilities, it needed to import a wide variety of formats and to handle all types of consolidations, divisions and funds, yet still be easy to use.
We needed a portable engagement manager that would automate the audit process, manage the files in designated client-number directories, and insure the integrity of the data whether in the office or at the client site. We also wanted the flexibility to export client data directly to our tax software, or to do manual input from a tax return trial balance printout. Most importantly, we wanted to be able to produce our financial statements from within the program. The conversion had to be seamless to our clients, and we had to maintain the same high quality and individuality that our clients have come to expect from Bond Beebe.
In preparing for the conversion, we knew that we would need multiple templates and a variety of financial statement presentations, so we concentrated on these two areas. Part of our committee worked on developing Working Papers’ built-in document manager into templates for small businesses, employee benefit funds and not for profits, while the rest of the committee created the corresponding CaseView financial statement templates. Since Working Papers’ powerful document manager can access and run files created in any software, we were able to organize our templates into logical audit steps, regardless of the program used to create those steps. Likewise, the sign-off function allowed us to designate the review process steps we require before releasing a report.
For the financial statements, we developed specific Working Papers map codes for the templates, and then later used CaseView’s extended description function to customize the line items for the individual clients. We also designed default tables in the master templates, as well as an extensive library of other table formats that could easily be substituted when we customized the statements for each client. Once the templates were rolled out, we cut and pasted the notes from the client’s prior year report, then used CaseView’s styles library to accomplish the necessary formatting.
For fieldwork, we established the use of Working Papers’ sign-out/sign-in feature to ensure the integrity of the data, and to easily update the read-only network copy during fieldwork. In the field, we utilized a combination of wireless networks and smart hubs to allow everyone access to the files.
After exploring several scanning options, we determined that there is no "one size fits all" answer. In the field, small tube scanners work well for the auditors, but in the office, we needed a variety of scanning options. We now have scanning capabilities on our high-speed printers, and our administrative assistants have multi-page scanners on their desks.
We use a PDF writer for documents going to clients, but it lacks standard accounting tickmarks, so for in-house documents, we use the annotation capabilities of another program. This workaround should become unnecessary when Working Papers 2006 introduces its new, built-in PDF writer with image annotations for tickmarks, notes and document-reference linking.
We overcame a final hurdle in the paperless process when industry-standard digital checklists and audit programs became available, and CaseWare worked with the vendor to develop easy linking into our document managers.
We are now in our fifth year of being paperless, and Working Papers continues to help us in meeting new challenges. Thanks to the power of its central store technology, we do not anticipate any need to purchasing a separate document management system, and with the increasing need to incorporate data mining into our audits, we expect to make more use of its ability to import from programs like IDEA
Looking to the future, we, like other firms, are grappling with the approaching complexities of "locking down" our jobs, so we are pleased that CaseWare is developing the tools to help us. The Working Papers 2006 release will include a Lock Down Wizard that should allow us to meet the new requirements with relative ease.
John A. Merchant, CPA, CFE, chairman of the Audit Department of Bond Beebe, A DC area CPA firm since 1932, and Marilynn Frey, head of the Report Department served on their paperless conversion committee.
Reprinted by permission ©2006 Accountants Media Group, Thomson Media, One State Street Plaza, New York, NY 10004 - 1-800-221-1809
