Onvio: A stellar experience of moving to the cloud

“You’ve got to move with the times.” That’s what drove Stella Guest, Director of All About Business to adopt Onvio. “I’ve always said I’d like to go online.”

A devotee of Thomson Reuters Software Assistant for 13 years – “I know it like the back of my hand” – she started to look at available online options. “I mean you can’t do things ‘Old School’ for always. But I just wanted to bring us into the 21st century. So, when Onvio came on board, I was quite excited about it and I was one of the first to sign up,” said the Melbourne accountant.

If it ain’t broke why change?

Stella’s main concern was that this favourite old software was confined to her desktop. This meant that:

• no one else in the office could access the software unless they used her computer
• if the network crashed, so did the software, and Stella would then have to revert to manual tasks.

Stella figured that if the software system is online, a staff member can log in anytime, anywhere, giving her practice the ease and mobility it needed – and the security for her clients.

Stayed with ‘the family’

The decision to adopt Onvio came from a loyalty to Software Assistant. “Even though Onvio is different, it’s still part of the same Thomson Reuters family, so to speak. So, I just thought, let’s stick with it!”
Being there with Onvio from the start has meant Stella has been involved in the development of the software, giving Thomson Reuters regular feedback that the company has taken on board from her practice experience.
“I was really keen for Onvio to work properly.”
When Onvio was first installed, Stella admits it was a bit daunting. “Look, it was all a learning curve. We’re still learning!”
“We’re slowly implementing it all and learning together as a team. We’re committed to making time to have something that works seamlessly. We’ll all benefit in the long run!”

And now? We love …

For Stella the beauty of having an online system is: “It’s just the ease and the mobility – I can log in from anywhere and if a staff member wants to do some work whenever they like, they can just log in.”
Stella and her team use Onvio’s Tasks and Time and Billing to have a better workflow that reduces the need to double up tasks and double entry.

“As a small practice we drown in compliance with all the paperwork, so saving all that extra work of typing in tasks has saved us so much time. My admin girls aren’t bogged down, typing things and redoing things. So, I believe our workflow has improved in that area.”

“We’re loving timesheets because we can use the timer to stop/start jobs and all the times for our tasks are automatically entered. We were manually typing all our times into Software Assistant before. It’s culled time for our admin girl because she was data entering everything.

“We’ve found the tasks and the projects are great now because when you finish, let’s say, your tax return, it creates next year’s, so you’re not having to data enter everything again. Even with the BASs, the minute we complete one quarter, it goes to the next quarter, so we’re not having to put in another task.”

Taking customers to the Cloud

The transition has been one she’s shared with her clients, taking them on the journey together. The Client Portal is the big benefit for them, allowing clients to upload documents easily by dropping and dragging files. The mobile app means clients can take photos of receipts and load via their phone, providing better quality receipts than if sent via email. This has saved everyone time and giving them much-valued security.
“The security a big selling point, particularly nowadays, when emails can be hacked. I wanted to give my clients that assurance. I find the clients can feel safe dropping a bank statement into the Portal, rather than over the email system. I feel better about having that added security, because for accountants, in a way, it’s all about security. It’s all about privacy. So, it’s quite important to be able to pitch that.”

Stella’s also discovered her accountant had graphic design flair and used this to create a “How-to” manual for clients, complete with pictures and arrows to take them through their access to the Client Portal, step by step.
And it’s worked. “The customers have really embraced it. They can access the Portal from the website whenever it suits them. Everyone that has loved the fact we have it, they all go ‘Oh, that’s awesome!’”

Time for change

One surprise on the journey is the time that Stella has gained back by clients not needing appointments to see her to bring in all their documents. The Portal has meant clients can do this themselves.
“Before Onvio when everyone wanted an appointment, I had to do appointments at night and on the weekends because a lot couldn’t do it during work time. Whereas now once they’re a client, they drop things in the Portal and they don’t need to come and see us!”

Proactive not reactive

Of course, Stella still meets with clients whenever they need to see her, particularly if they need more complex advice, but the value for Stella is that Onvio has freed up her time.

“Being a small practice, I want to grow the business. Now I’ve got time to do that, do my marketing, be on social media, ring up clients, follow things up and build my business.

“Like anyone, I want to start becoming more proactive as opposed to reactive.”

Takeways

• Moving with the times has cut time in data entry and billing
• Stella and her staff can access the system anytime, anywhere
• Client Portal – more secure and clients love it!
• Stella now has time to build her business and be proactive not reactive.