CRM in Accounting Firms

CRM in Accounting & CPA Firms

A recent survey conducted by Templeton Consulting, a technology consulting firm that specializes in working with accounting and CPA firms, reveals that CPA firms are lagging behind businesses in other industries in adopting CRM technology. According to the article, “Unlike other professional services firms, more than 86 percent of CPA firms have yet to integrate a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program into their organization. Moreover, less than 3 percent were using CRM solutions that were recently categorized as leaders in the CRM market by Gartner in April 2009.” This is an interesting fact given recent surveys by the AICPA indicate that client retention and marketing are on the top 5 priorities for CPA and accounting firms in 2009.

The survey also uncovers another interesting fact about CRM and it’s implementation in professional service firms. “…successful implementations of customer relationship management (CRM) applications have yielded returns ranging from 16% to more than 1,000%. IDC also found that technology-related savings account for only 7% of the average return, while benefits accrued from increased productivity and business process enhancements account for 51% and 42% of the return.”

Ask Yourself.
If your firm is using a CRM program, has your experience been similiar to what is reported in this article? If you are considering a CRM program, which of the applications listed in the study are you most seriously considering?

Click here to review the full article.