How to move to the accounting in the cloud by gaining insights into your customer base

This post is for accounting firms who are looking to move to the cloud but are not sure where to start. There are some good tools in google sheets / excel that can help you understand more about your current customers before you get started.

Start by gaining insights into your customer base

Hi,

I have been working with a few small accounting firms lately and the same issues seem to arise.

So with that experience, I can share some tips around managing the transformation of your accounting firm from server / desktop to cloud.

This post is just the starting point.

There will be more to come.

Check out some more details here - http://www.entrycounts.com/page/accounting-firms/

Read on and watch the video for more.

Before you start, what are you doing?

In the beginning................................

The thing about moving off an old system and onto a new cloud based one is, you really need to ask yourself:

1. Where am I now
2. Where do I want to go
3. How will I get there
4. Why am I going there

Once those questions are answered, then you can start the move.

This blog looks at point 1 

"Where am I now"

Get some data into you

Data, data, data.

It used to be a boring word.

Now, let's face it.

Data is sexy.

However, quality prevails over quantity..............sound familiar?

So how do you get some good data for your customer base?

What if you don't use a CRM and you have data everywhere?

What if some of it is in your head and only your head?

What if some of it is still to be found?

What do we need to know?

So why gather this data?

Well wouldn't you like to know answers to questions such as:

1. Are we generating enough revenue per client?
2. Are we specialising in any industries?
3. How many clients have payroll?
4. How many employees do they have?
5. How many clients pay us between $2,500 and $5,000 annually?
6. How many clients use Xero, QBO or MYOB?

The list goes on.....................

Would you like to know the answers?

What about getting ready for single touch payroll?......do you need some good data on that?

What is your platform?

Maybe you already have a good CRM? 

Does it have custom fields?

Can you run some reports that answer those queries above and help you gain insights into your existing customers?

If yes, GREAT

If no, take a look at the video below and you can see a nice simple way to figure out where you are and where you can go.