BENCHMARKING REPORT AND INSIGHTS FOR AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING FIRMS

The Good, the Bad & the Uglyof the Australian Accounting Profession®

16

InsightsModern Technology

74% 73%

Where is your firm’s current server infrastructure (servers) hosted?

2016 2014Inte

rnal

ly o

n yo

ur f

irm’s

pre

mis

es

18% 19%2016 2014Ex

tern

ally

by

a sp

ecia

list

prov

ider

8% 8%2016 2014N

/A: D

o no

t ha

ve s

erve

r in

fras

truc

ture

When will yoube moving to an externally ‘hosted’server infrastructure?

21% 6%2016 2014

01} SERVER LOCATION

2014>2016No change

02} EXTERNALLY HOSTED SERVER

2014>2016Increase in firms wanting hosted server in next 12 months

No

plan

s to

hav

e se

rver

ho

sted

ext

erna

lly

With

in t

he n

ext

3 ye

ars

With

in t

he n

ext

12 m

onth

s

24% 25%2016 2014

55% 66%2016 2014

2 GBU INSIGHTS 15

62% 59%2016 2014

No plans to become fully software as a service firm

Within the next 3 years

Within the next 12 months

Is your firm usingany cloud

(i.e. softwareas service)

applications forany of the following

for internal firm purposes?

When will you be removing your server infrastructure and becoming a fully ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) company?

03} REMOVING SERVER COMPLETELY TO SaaS

2014>2016Minor increase to SaaS

24% 24%2016 2014

15% 11%2016 2014

04} INTERNAL CLOUD USE

CRM Function

20% 12%Superannuation32% 21%

Oth

er3%

9%

Backing up firm

and client data

28% 27%

Document

and email

managem

ent

20% 11%

Prac

tice

man

agem

ent

func

tion

25%

15%

Accounting (the

accounts for

your firm itself)53% 45%

N/A - Do not

use these kinds

of applications

23% 30%

2014>2016Increase in

accounting firms embracing online

GBU INSIGHTS 15 3

Which practice management software does your firm use?

Does your firm utilise an email management software program?

05} PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

2014>2016Xero is a big mover followed by Handisoft

06} EMAIL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

2014>2016Significant increase in email control and management

Xero

Practice Manager

20% 9%APS10% 17%

MYO

B37

% 4

3%

Handisoft

22% 18%

CCH iFirm

4% 6% N

one

2% 2

%

Reckon Elite2% 2%Other

3% 3%

@

84% 60%2016 2014

YESOur document management system

NOStaff keep emails in Outlook

YESAnother software system

11% 28%2016 2014

5% 6%2016 2014

OTHER 2% 6%2016 2014

AT R

ISK

4 GBU INSIGHTS 15

2016 2014

28% 23%HowNow On-premise (by Business Fitness)

20% 29%MYOB

17% 15%Not applicable – rely on Windows Explorer (or similar)

14% 12%Handisoft

3% 4%CCH iFirm

3% -%DropBox

3% -%Google Drive

3% 1%APS – Virtual Cabinet

2% -%Box

2% -%HowNow Online (by Business Fitness)

2% 4%Interwoven, Filesite or Desksite

2% 2%Sharepoint

2% -%Suite Files

1% 4%APS

1% 1%CCH ProSystem

1% 1%Redmap

Which document management software does your firm use?

07} DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

2014>2016Increase for HowNow On-premise and online providers, Drop for MYOB and APS

Which client portal software does your firm use?

08} CLIENT PORTAL SOFTWARE

HowNow Portal

13% 4%MYOB Portal

16% -%N/A

34% 39%DropBox

12% 20%Other

10% 10%

CCH Portal

9% 13%Nimbus

4% 5%Box

2% 2%Portal by BGL

0% 3%

2014>2016HowNow and MYOB strong. DropBox and CCH in decline.

GBU INSIGHTS 15 5

Which SMSF software does your firm use?

Which provider is your firm currently using for electronic accounting workpapers?

09} SMSF SOFTWARE

2014>2016Class Super beginning to catch BGL

10} ELECTRONIC WORKPAPER PROVIDER

2014>2016Majority of firms still using in-house workpapers followed closely by HowNow

6 GBU INSIGHTS 15

2016 2014

33% 37%Use our own in-house workpapers

27% 28%Business Fitness workpapers (HowNow)

11% 14%MYOB Workpapers

10% 5%Do not use electronic workpapers

9% 5%Xero workpapers (Spotlight)

3% 4%Change GPS

3% 4%Other

2% 5%APS Workpaper Management

2% 4%KnowledgeShop

2016 2014

1% 3%CCH Engagement workpapers

Which of the following

technologies is your firm planning to

implement/change in the next 12 months?

What General Ledger software does your firm use to generate Statutory Reports and Notes to the Accounts?

12} GENERAL LEDGER SOFTWARE

11} FUTURE TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT

Client Portal

41% 34%Integrated

Workpapers23% 28%

Gen

eral

Led

ger

16%

-%

Document

Managem

ent

Software

26% 19%

Workflow

Managem

ent

Software

11% 19%

Prac

tice

Man

agem

ent

Softw

are

15%

17%

Other3% -%None of th

e

above

30% 34%

2014>2016Portal still most popular with an increase in DM

GBU INSIGHTS 15 7

HandiLedger

23%MYOB MAS

20%

XPA by Reckon APS

12%

Other

4%

XERO

20%MYOBAccounts

10%

CCHiFirm

2%

Client’sLedger

2%

Reportance

1%MYOBAO GL

6%

The Good, the Bad & the Uglyof the Australian Accounting Profession®

16

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InsightsModern Technology