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Audit Firm Goes Paperless with
CaseWare & Colligo
PDF VersionAaron Spitalnick
Director of Technology
Frazier & Deeter
Expensive and heavy portable servers and wires were required to network audit teams at client location;
- Excessive time wasted setting up temporary networks at each client site;
- Poor reliability and physically limited range of field network;
- Complex IT issues too challenging to be easily solved by auditors in the field.
The Colligo ad-hoc wireless networking software:
- is easy to install, requires minimal training and is intuitive to use;
- reduces the time required to network together and share data on engagements;
- eliminates the need to purchase and maintain expensive networking equipment;
- allows audit teams to connect to their e-mail to communicate with colleagues back at the office by sharing the Internet connection among the group;
- enables audit teams to be more flexible on where they are located at a client site and reduces the requirement for face-to-face meetings.
GBQ’s Audit Teams Get Rid of the Wires
GBQ Partners LLC is the largest locally-owned accounting and consulting firm in
Central Ohio. Its clients operate in a complex, highly competitive and rapidly
changing business environment. To effectively service their clients, GBQ looked
to Colligo Workgroup Edition to improve its audit workgroup productivity and save
on costs.
Ad Hoc Networking Software Compatible with CaseWare
GBQ uses CaseWare Working Papers as its paperless audit system. Any new audit
technologies that the firm deploys needs to easily integrate and work with this audit software. Faced with inefficient ways to network their audit workgroups at the client site, GBQ was intrigued by Colligo’s ad-hoc wireless networking software. “However, before even exploring the replacement of hub and wires with this wireless solution, we needed to know that Colligo Workgroup Edition supported CaseWare Working Papers in a natural and efficient manner,” comments Brett Wingart, Assurance Manager, GBQ. “Colligo has proven to us that the two software programs are very compatible.”
The Challenge
A mid-size company of nine directors and approximately 50 staff, GBQ provides clients
across many sectors with Assurance and Tax services. Throughout the 90s the firm
experienced substantial growth through a combination of adding talented people,
strategic alliances and expanding its service. The firm has been named the last three
out of four years as one of the 25 “Best of the Best” firms in the country by “Inside Public
Accounting” magazine.
A typical GBQ audit involves a team of four people: staff, senior, manager and partner. They spend on average one to two weeks at each client’s site. This activity is multiplied across many clients, so auditors are constantly setting up temporary workspaces at client offices.
Using the paperless audit software, CaseWare Working Papers, as their main tool, GBQ auditors need a method for networking together to share information with each other electronically. As they move to new clients frequently, the time required to set up a persistent network to support their work can be burdensome. Rather, they need a simple method to create a secure and reliable network to help them work together.
In the past, this electronic sharing of work was accomplished through an external hub, a NetGear server or a SnapServer, and wires. In addition, they brought their own portable printer and only one individual was able to print documents. Before they could get to work, the team would have to spend about an hour to plug the laptops into the server and configure the network.
The pain associated with carrying and configuring this equipment was further aggravated by longer trips, where the teams travel longer distances and have to stay overnight. GBQ auditors have about 10 engagements per year that involve not only carrying luggage, but also bulky hubs and wires. Despite this pain, GBQ still felt that they had even larger issues.
“The major issues for us revolved around the reliability and limited range of the field network,” comments Brett Wingart. “We occasionally have clients that are unable to have the entire team at one table or in a conference room. In these situations we had to make sure we had very long cables to connect the computers together. Further, if the equipment broke down, we couldn’t fix it in the field.”
GBQ was ready to look at new solutions that would streamline the way their teams shared data in the field provided that they were secure, easy to install and could be deployed with minimal training.
The Colligo Solution
They came across Colligo Workgroup Edition. The software helps solve mobile
workgroup inefficiencies by enabling team members to connect laptops and tablet PCs
via ad-hoc (server-free) peer-to-peer wireless or wired networks, and then share data
using the applications they use every day. The software further supports additional
collaborative functionality such as data sharing via simple ‘drag-and-drop’, electronic
communication, via instant messaging or whiteboarding, and the sharing of external
resources such as team printers and a broadband Internet connection.
“We use CaseWare Working Papers software, which has helped us move to a paperless process,” comments Brett Wingart. “It was critical to us that Colligo integrate with this software. CaseWare is a resource-demanding product and we were pleased to see that Colligo is able to support the audit team and meet our needs.”
In 2005, GBQ installed Colligo Workgroup Edition version 4.0 on all their audit professionals’ notebook computers. With this software addition, the firm’s 27 auditors have replaced their hubs and wires with a secure and private wireless network among their team members at the clients’ offices. “As soon as we installed Colligo Workgroup Edition, we were able to share Caseware Working Papers across laptops, share an Internet connection, connect to the portable printer and privately communicate without a wire in sight.”
Through a process of “Discover, Connect and Interact”, Colligo Workgroup Edition uses patent-pending techniques to allow users to create instant networks without the need for a server. The software automatically discovers other Colligo users on the local network (wired or wireless) and exchanges presence and awareness information with them.
“I would say Colligo Workgroup Edition definitely saves time,” says Wingart. “The best function aside from the wireless transmission of data from one laptop to another is the sharing of Internet access and printers. Fantastic!”
ROI
GBQ has already realized several benefits from the use of Colligo Workgroup Edition software:
- It has eliminated the need to purchase and maintain expensive servers and
networking equipment; - It has reduced the time previously spent trying to establish wired networks at the client site;
- It has allowed remote teams to be connected with team members in the office by sharing the Internet connection among the group; and
- It has enabled GBQ audit teams to be more flexible on where they are located at a client site and reduced the requirements for face-to-face meetings.
Company Background
GBQ is Columbus’ largest locally owned accounting and consulting it has allowed
remote teams to be connected with team members in the office by sharing the Internet
connection among the group; and firm with more than 80 associates. GBQ is a member
of the BDO Seidman Alliance, a nationwide association of independently owned local
and regional accounting and consulting firms. BDO Seidman LLP is one of the world’s
largest accounting and consulting organizations.