Using Technology to Simplify Tax Time: Notes from the COO
By Lisa A. Myers, CPA, CFE, MAFF, CGMA
Advancements in accounting technology are making your relationship with Boyer & Ritter even more valuable these days. By embracing our technology solutions, you are experiencing the benefits of document management, easier communication, accuracy, and added security.
When I became Boyer & Ritter’s chief operating officer last year, one of my first tasks was to review our tax preparation processes and find efficiencies that would benefit staff and clients alike.
Many of the firm’s clients are owners and shareholders of closely held businesses. In addition to corporate tax returns, we also handle your personal tax returns. In considering ways to make the individual tax return process smoother, we decided to explore and enhance our technological solutions.
The last few years have underscored that the ability for our professionals to work remotely and electronically share and process information is crucial. Fortunately, when the pandemic hit, Boyer & Ritter already had the technology in place that allowed our accountants to continue working with clients, who could securely send us documents without a trip to our office.
In 2019, Boyer & Ritter introduced the use of SafeSend, which allows clients to send us documents electronically. In January 2023, we began implementing another piece of the puzzle for handling individual tax prep, called TaxCaddy from SurePrep. It’s a free app that clients can install on smartphones, tablets, and computers. Especially useful in using the smartphone app, clients can take pictures of their documents and send them in. Boyer & Ritter can ask clients follow-up questions using a text function, and clients can electronically store their documents and returns.
As your tax advisors, the TaxCaddy app allows us to cut through the clutter, minimize the potential for data entry errors, and maximize security, leaving us the time we need to analyze the numbers and be better advisors to you.
Our accountants want to spend their time being your trusted advisers. Implementing this type of technology and employing automation allows our professionals to concentrate on higher-level issues – the challenges that drew them to public accounting in the first place.
If Boyer & Ritter is currently assisting you with your personal tax filing and you are interested in signing up for TaxCaddy, be sure to look for your custom link in the email invitation from TaxCaddy. If you have not yet received your custom TaxCaddy link to sign up, please email us at info@cpabr.com.
Boyer & Ritter is constantly reviewing our processes and the tools we invest in to find ways to streamline and maximize the potential for our clients to succeed.
Lisa A. Myers, CPA, CFE, MAFF, CGMA, is principal and chief operating officer of Boyer & Ritter LLC in Camp Hill, Pa. She can be reached at lmyers@cpabr.com.