Chartered Accountants lose over GBP 2 million per day in fees looking for documents
Released on: July 29, 2008, 8:49 am
Press Release Author: Invu
Industry: Accounting
Press Release Summary: . 93% of accountants waste time searching for paperwork each working day . A mere 1 in 4 accountants have a digital document management system . Only 43% of documents in accountancy Practices are electronic compared with 52% in all other companies
Press Release Body: Blisworth, 29 July, 2008 - Searching for documents is costing UK Chartered Accountants a staggering £2 million per day in lost fees, according to independent research released today. The survey, which was commissioned by Invu and conducted by YouGov, revealed that chartered accountants are wasting valuable time trying to locate documents that have been mis-filed, moved to another location or simply lost, costing businesses dearly. Yet despite this, just one in four accountancy practices have replaced their paper filing with digital document management, making it no surprise that only 3% of operate a paperless office.
With more than 270,000 chartered accountants in the UK, and the survey finding that 83% of them waste up to one hour (worth £88 on average*) of their time per day looking for documents, it is little wonder that this wasted time is costing them £2 million per day. The survey also revealed that accountants waste more time than looking for documents than other vertical markets, with nearly 26% of their time being wasted, compared to 21% in industries such as construction, legal and insurance.
The root cause of this inefficiency is paper; just 3% of accountancies have 91% or more of their documents saved electronically, even though paper documents can easily be lost or mis-filed due to human error. With only 3% of survey respondents stating that they don\'t believe digital document management would benefit them, the question of why more companies have not yet taken the plunge and become paperless leaps to the fore, particularly considering the growing need to efficiently store and retrieve documents for compliance and audit purposes.
When asked what they would do if they were not wasting time looking for documents, 32% of accountants stated that they would concentrate on administration, compared to other industries, which stated 26%, highlighting the sheer volume of paperwork in the accountancy sector and the need for efficient filing. Only 26% of accountants stated that they would spend time on business development compared with 31% across all other industries. In addition to this, 20% of accountants said that they would go home on time and 12% said they would spend more time with their team.
\"Accountancy practices have to deal with and store huge volumes of documents for both compliance and audit purposes, so it\'s not surprising that they are struggling to keep on top of each and every file. But it is shocking to think that chartered accountants are wasting over £2 million just looking for documents,\" commented David Morgan, CEO, Invu. \"By simply deploying a document management system, accountants can streamline the management of all documents and records by ensuring that everything is filed electronically and is searchable at the touch of button, saving time as well as improving efficiency and productivity.\"
\"I am not surprised with the results of this research\", said David Woodgate, Chief Executive, Institute of Financial Accountants. He added, \"As an Institute we are working very closely with our members to use technology and more efficient ways of working, so they can concentrate on more important things such as improving services to clients\"
On the plus side, 25% of accountants have already implemented a digital document management system. 20% cited the savings they had made as a result of not needing storage space for filing cabinets as a major benefit and 4% of respondents said that they implemented a solution in order to meet regulations, such as the Data Protection Act.
For those accountants that don\'t yet have a document management system, just over a quarter (27%) were apprehensive about high upfront expenditure; a worry that may be unfounded as it has been shown that ROI can be achieved within six months with this kind of system.
[* value established from survey questions]
-Ends- ALL FIGURES, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE FROM YOUGOV PLC. TOTAL SAMPLE SIZE WAS 858 MANAGERS/DIRECTORS IN UK SMES. FIELDWORK WAS UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN 16TH - 27TH JUNE 2008. THE SURVEY WAS CARRIED OUT ONLINE. THE FIGURES ARE UNWEIGHTED. ABOUT INVU Invu [LSE, AIM, Symbol: INVU] develops, markets and sells software (under the brand name of Invu) for the electronic management of all types of information and documents, such as forms, correspondence, literature, faxes, e-mail, technical drawings, electronic files and web pages. Invu targets the small-to-medium size enterprise (\'SME\') market and individual departments of larger organisations with a range of products which the Directors believe strongly adhere to Invu\'s brand values of ease of use, high quality and price performance.
Founded in 1997 and based in Northampton, Invu has 68 employees and operates in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, South East Asia, Australia, the United States of America and Nigeria. Invu\'s products have been sold to over 4,000 customers, representing more than75,000 licensed users. Invu has a proven reseller business model and has established a network of more than 166 Value Added Resellers, 14 of which are in Benelux.
Invu is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a member of the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA). Its version 5.4 and Series 6 software have been accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). In January 2006 Invu became the first DDM ISV to join SAP\'s portfolio and is certified for integration with SAP Business One. In September 2006, the Invu Series 6 product was selected by Sage to be marketed by them into the Professional Adviser market in the UK.
In January 2008, Invu announced a partnership agreement with IRIS, to integrate its Invu technology into the award winning IRIS Practice Management system, extending the IRIS systems\' existing document functionality.
Invu achieved the ISO 9001 compliance, in March 2008. Used by over ¾ million organizations the accreditation sets the standard for quality and management systems, by helping companies to succeed through improved customer satisfaction, staff motivation and continual improvement.
For further information on how Invu can benefit your business, please contact us on +44(0)1604 859893, or email us at info@invu.net. Alternatively visit our website at www.invu.net.
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