Frost Chartered Accountants is a 28-person firm in Devon working from three offices. After four acquisitions, it was running several different systems side by side. Ryan Lewis, a director at the firm, wanted one way of working across every office, so Frost moved its practice management to Engager and its compliance work to TaxCalc.
In short
- Four acquisitions had left Frost with two copies of IRIS, Digita in one office and a mix of inherited systems.
- Engager now manages workflow, job assignment, client records, communications, payments and invoices consistently across all three offices.
- Ryan estimates the team is about 30% quicker on a standard tax return, and new staff pick the software up with little training.
Three offices, several systems
Every acquisition brought its own software with it. By the time Ryan joined, Frost had two instances of IRIS, Digita in one office and other tools picked up along the way. Ryan describes the result as a “smorgasbord”. The firm wanted to unify its operations instead of relying on three separate providers.
The old set-up also slowed down everyday work. Moving between clients or tax years meant leaving the system and starting again.
“I know particularly with IRIS, couldn’t be in two different tax years at the same time. You couldn’t be in two different clients at the same time. So if you’ve got something you’ve done on one client that you need to do on another client, you had to screenshot that, come out of the system. Everything’s taking forever to load.”
What Frost needed from practice management software
With three offices sharing the work, Frost needed one place to see who was doing what, wherever the job sat. Jobs occasionally move between offices, and the firm wanted that to happen without losing track of the client or the work.
“We were looking for practice management software, something that could manage the workflow, something that could manage, you know, assignment of jobs across people, and it’s not very often, but sometimes we’ll move jobs between offices, and being able to track all of that while still being able to track the standing data for clients, and communications, and payments, and generating invoices, and trying to get that consistency across those three offices.”
Ease of use mattered as much as features. The firm needed a system that staff in every office would actually follow.
“We needed something that was easy, easy to understand, easy to follow, and quick.”
How Frost works now
One workflow across every office
Engager holds the workflow for the whole firm. Jobs are assigned to people and tracked from start to finish, and a job that moves to another office can still be followed. Client standing data, communications, payments and invoices sit against the same client record, so each office works from the same information. Engager supports multiple offices in one account, with clients and staff assigned to each office.
From finished return to signature without a gap
Tax returns are prepared in TaxCalc, which works with Engager. Once a job has been reviewed, an e-signature envelope goes out to the client straight away, so signed returns come back without printing or posting.
Quicker to learn
Staff picked up the new software with minimal training. On the TaxCalc side, the step-by-step layout in accounts and tax production helps new joiners settle in.
“The Simple Step layout in accounts production and tax production is fantastic. It allows new staff to quickly get up to speed with an unfamiliar system, minimising the settling in period and allowing them to feel at home with the firm more quickly.”
A straightforward move
Ryan describes the data migration from the old systems as “slick”.
The result
Frost now runs one set of systems across all three offices. Ryan estimates the firm has become 25% to 50% more efficient since the switch, and standard tax returns are noticeably quicker.
“I would say that we’re probably 30% quicker on our standard tax return these days.”
His view on the decision is simple.
“My advice to any other firm thinking about taking up TaxCalc and Engager is obviously to do it. We love it.”
The bottom line
Frost Chartered Accountants replaced a mix of inherited systems with Engager and TaxCalc, and now has:
- One workflow and one client record across three offices
- Jobs that can move between offices without losing track
- E-signature requests sent as soon as a return is reviewed
- Software new staff learn quickly
- Standard tax returns about 30% quicker
See Ryan talk about it
Frequently asked questions
What did Frost Chartered Accountants use before Engager?
After four acquisitions, Frost was running two instances of IRIS, Digita in one office and a mix of other systems inherited from the firms it acquired, across three separate providers.
Why did Frost choose Engager?
The firm needed practice management software that could manage workflow and job assignment across three offices, track client standing data, communications, payments and invoices consistently, and be easy to understand and quick to use.
How does Frost use Engager across three offices?
Jobs are assigned and tracked in one workflow, and when a job moves between offices it can still be followed alongside the client’s standing data, communications, payments and invoices.
What results has Frost seen since switching?
Ryan Lewis estimates the firm is 25% to 50% more efficient, standard tax returns are about 30% quicker, and new staff pick the software up with minimal training.
