This is a presentation made by me at a National Conference organised by the Southern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Mangalore in Feb 2013. I have tried to bring out some ways in which Information Technology can/should be harnessed by Chartered Accountants.

1. Mangalore Branch of Southern India
Regional Council of ICAI
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DIRECT TAXES
6th February, 2013
Mangalore
Leveraging Information
Technology for CA Profession
By Ameet Patel
Ameet Patel

2. SIRC OF ICAI -
What IT can and can’t do
If you have the commitment and mind-
set, IT is a terrific enabler
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IT can dramatically improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of your
existing practices
But if you don’t have any practices, IT is
not a magic wand that will do it for you

3. Whether you are in Industry or in
SIRC OF ICAI -
Practice, you need IT because
• It increases effectiveness and
economy at work
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• Profitability is important
• Time is precious, we do not have
more than 24 hours per day
• It brings standardisation

4. SIRC OF ICAI -
Care to be taken while implementing IT
• Ensure that the IT solution should suit
your entity
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• Remember that you should marry a
solution and not the technology
• Do not become a slave of your
technology
• IT is supposed to be an enabler and not
your slave master

5. SIRC OF ICAI -
Alternatives available to you
An integrated Practice Simple standalone
Management solution –
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applications to start with
commonly used abroad and then move onto
(UK, Australia, US) more robust and
integrated systems

6. Ameet Patel
BENEFITS
SIRC OF ICAI - MANGALORE BRANCH

7. SIRC OF ICAI -
Benefits (examples)
Use of
databases so
whatever is
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recorded can
be leveraged Data for generating
reports/dashboards
to help you manage
better
Enhance
efficiency

8. SIRC OF ICAI -
Benefits (examples)
Shorter
turnarounds on
invoice
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generation and
collection Work smart rather
than hard
Reduce/
eliminate
paperwork

9. SIRC OF ICAI -
Benefits (examples)
Reduce dependence
on individuals –
flexibility in dealing
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with client issues –
better response
times

10. SIRC OF ICAI -
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AREAS WHERE IT CAN BE
DEPLOYED
Ameet Patel

11. SIRC OF ICAI -
Areas where you can deploy IT in PM
Operations
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HR
Revenue Management
PR & Networking

12. Ameet Patel
IT IN OPERATIONS
SIRC OF ICAI - MANGALORE BRANCH

13. SIRC OF ICAI -
How can IT help in Operations?
Execution
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Planning and scheduling
Resourcing
Document management
Research

14. SIRC OF ICAI -
Execution of work (instead of workers)
Task management - helps in tracking work –
avoiding “surprises”, last minute stress, better
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time management.
In today’s context, we are living with hundreds of
deadlines. We need to ensure that we don’t miss
out on even one of them
Error logs - helps in tracking errors - helps in
identifying areas for improvement – helps in
identifying areas in which training is required.
This is not about finding mistakes but about
learning from them

15. SIRC OF ICAI -
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
 Various software available
 Even ICAI has provided free software to
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members
 Helps in standardising the way data files are
created, stored and retrieved
 Reinventing of the wheel can be avoided
 Use of templates for standard types of
correspondence
 Use of tags and other features of software
helps in Knowledge Management
 E-library

16. SIRC OF ICAI -
RESEARCH
 Various software are now available which
give various case laws at the click of the
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mouse
 Ease of reference
 Ease of search
 No need to keep physical books
 The initial search for case laws can be done
by a junior – saves your time
 Most such software are portable and can be
accessed on phones, tablets, laptops etc.

17. Ameet Patel
IT IN HR
SIRC OF ICAI - MANGALORE BRANCH

18. SIRC OF ICAI -
How can IT help in HR?
Recruitment
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Leave management
Employee records
Work from home/remote working

19. SIRC OF ICAI -
Recruitment
Sourcing staff
Sourcing through traditional methods v/s. Sourcing
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through online sites like Naukri.com and
Monster.com
Advantage of registering as an employer with such
sites – you can track your own employees
Using networking sites like LinkedIn for sourcing

20. Leave Management & Employee
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Records
Biometric records
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 No tinkering possible;
 Accurate;
 Connected to computer so you can get MIS
reports;
 Connected to payroll systems
 Facilitates flexi timings

21. SIRC OF ICAI -
Working from home
Cloud Computing
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Once clear role matrix is in place, processes are in
place, document creation is standardised and staff is
trained, the supervisor can be more confident and
can rely on the work output.
This can enable a person to work from anywhere
and anytime.
Allows users to collaborate on same document –
e.g. google docs

22. SIRC OF ICAI -
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IT IN REVENUE
MANAGEMENT
Ameet Patel

23. SIRC OF ICAI -
How can IT help in Revenue Management?
Billing and collections
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Efficiency

24. SIRC OF ICAI -
Billing & Collections
Using basic accounting software like Tally to
generate MIS reports which can be exported to
spreadsheets
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Generating pivot tables to give you various reports:
 Partnerwise billing
 Client wise billing
 Practice wise billing
 Debtors analysis (ageing) – helps in
recovery of debts and avoiding bad debts
and also disputes with clients on fees and
out of pocket expenses

25. SIRC OF ICAI -
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IT IN PR & NETWORKING
Ameet Patel

26. SIRC OF ICAI -
PR & NETWORKING (Subject to Code of Conduct)
Your firm’s website
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Your presence and contribution on
networking sites
Webinars for clients, staff and
others
E-Newsletters

27. SIRC OF ICAI -
Your firm’s website
 Today, internet is the preferred source of
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information for anyone;
 Users simply google what they are looking
out for;
 Do you have a website?
 Does your website come high up in any
search?
 Have you paid attention to SEO (Search
Engine Optimisation)?
 Can you use it for sourcing staff?

28. SIRC OF ICAI -
Networking Sites
 Launched in 2004, as of January
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2013, Facebook has more than 1.01 billion
active users
 Since being launched in July 2006, Twitter
has gained popularity worldwide and is
estimated to have more than 500 million
active users as of January 2013
 Youtube has more than 800 million active
users worldwide as of January 2013

29. SIRC OF ICAI -
Networking Sites - LinkedIn
 As of January, 2013, LinkedIn reports
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more than 200 million registered
users, spanning more than 200 countries
and territories worldwide. The site is
available in
English, French, German, Italian, Portugu
ese,Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Romanian, R
ussian, Turkese etc.
 Learn more about all these sites on
http://en.wikipedia.org

30. SIRC OF ICAI -
Networking Sites - LinkedIn
 Large number of active groups in LinkedIn
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 Very interesting discussions take place
 Enables members to develop thought
leadership
 Sharing of presentations via SlideShare
 Allows you to put up staff sourcing
requirements
 Even travel related info is available

31. SIRC OF ICAI -
Networking Sites - Blogs
 Several blogging sites
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 Blogger can share views with others
 Fantastic features available
 Allow bloggers to develop thought
leadership
 If you want, you may put up your articles on
a blog

32. SIRC OF ICAI -
Networking Sites – Can you afford to
stay away?
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38% of 9 to 12 year olds use social
networks. 20% use Facebook despite being
below its minimum age limit
Future generations (who will work for /
with you) will be networked. You will be an
alien if you don’t network

33. SIRC OF ICAI -
Webinars
 Travelling physical distances is becoming a
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problem today – waste of time, energy and
money
 Technology allows collaborators across
boundaries to meet online
 All kinds of tools available to conduct online
meetings and seminars
 ICAI has already started conducting
webinars and webcasts

34. SIRC OF ICAI -
Webinar – how is it useful to you?
 Instead of phone calls, talk to your
partners in other cities over a webinar
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 Train your staff using webinars
 Inform your clients about important
changes using webinars
 Today, many Indian firms conduct
webinars
 Use e-learning modules for imparting
training to staff

35. SIRC OF ICAI -
E-newsletters
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 Very popular mode of sharing information
 Helps in improving drafting skills
 Most larger firms now send out in-house as
well as external newsletters
 Very easy to convert to various formats that
can be easily sent over emails or put up on
websites

36. Ameet Patel
SECURITY ISSUES
SIRC OF ICAI - MANGALORE BRANCH

37. SIRC OF ICAI -
SECURITY IS AN ISSUE
Website, Cloud, Server – all have
security issues
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Remember Pentagon’s website was
also hacked once
Go with reliable IT partners. Don’t
compromise on quality over price
Buy only licensed software or use
open sourced software

38. Ameet Patel
REFERENCE MATERIAL
SIRC OF ICAI - MANGALORE BRANCH

39. SIRC OF ICAI -
Useful websites
www.Credenzasoft.com
http://www.accountancyage.com/category/accoun
ting-firms
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www.linkedin.com
www.wordpress.com
http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/technology/
http://www.cpamarketingtips.com/
http://www.nixonadvantage.com/

40. Ameet Patel
IN CONCLUSION
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41. SIRC OF ICAI -
The world is same for all
of us
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But how it appears to
each of us depends on
how one looks at it

42. Through closed windows
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43. SIRC OF ICAI -
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Or without the boundaries of
any windows

44. SIRC OF ICAI -
We are all CAs. We have all
got the same training. We
are all in the same
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profession.
Where you will be tomorrow
depends on you

45. SIRC OF ICAI -
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Do you want to remain where
you are?

46. SIRC OF ICAI -
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Or do you see yourself as part
of a bigger picture?

47. SIRC OF ICAI -
The Choice
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Is
Yours
Thank you !
Hope IT was useful!