Greeley, Colo. (Dec. 30, 2003) -- A survey of tax preparation practices has confirmed what many have long known: Larger firms make greater use of technology than smaller firms.
Eighty-five percent of firms with 12 or more employees regularly use e-mail to communicate with clients, but that mode of operation is in place at just 43 percent of firms with 11 or fewer employees, according to a survey of more than 500 firms by Selden Integrated Systems Inc., a workflow and practice management software developer in Greeley, Colo., which is tailoring products for the accounting market.
Other large-firm-versus-small-firm findings in the survey: 46 percent of larger firms have remote access, versus 21 percent of smaller firms; 38 percent of larger firms use paperless office systems compared with 30 percent of smaller ones; and 31 percent of larger firms use scanning devices, versus 25 percent of their smaller firm counterparts.
In overall productivity rankings, based on a proprietary formula set by Selden, large firms had an average score 332, 65 points higher than smaller firms' average score.
-- John M. Covaleski
