In our introductory chapter, we covered the challenges and risks a reliance on Excel for working papers represents for accounting firms. This article speaks to Darren Austin, who co-founded Synergee 17 years ago, after holding multiple senior accounting roles for leading firms.
Synergee is now 13 experts strong, managing around 750 businesses and 800 individuals. As a chartered accountant with 40+ years of experience, Darren’s seen firsthand how outdated processes can hinder efficiency.
“Excel was a godsend compared to paper lead schedules, but it can never live up to the efficiency gains of modern solutions such as Silverfin.”
Darren Austin, co-founder, Synergee
No More Outdated Sheets and Processes
Up until 2020, Darren and his co-workers relied on spreadsheets for their working papers and lead schedules. “Although they were interlinked and functional, maintaining them was cumbersome”, says Darren. Building on the spreadsheets year-on-year made them inefficient over time – even more so as the lack of a standardised way of working caused inconsistencies across the team.
“We spent as much time creating working papers or understanding someone else’s work as inputting numbers. That’s something we wanted to turn around.” Darren Austin, co-founder, Synergee
All Aboard a standardised workflow
Looking to increase efficiency, Synergee turned to Silverfin.
“Working with the standardised working papers in Silverfin for the past four years now, we’ve simplified training, and boosted our productivity and service quality remarkably”, Darren Austin, co-founder, Synergee
The streamlined review process, in particular, has helped Synergee save significant time and effort moving papers from preparer to reviewer. “In Excel, figuring out the status of a set of working papers was nearly impossible – let alone getting straight to the jobs to be done.”
Silverfin automatically keeps track of the progress and indicates the required next steps. “That enables us to see unreconciled accounts or unreviewed items easily. Managers know exactly what to look for and where the job stands at all times.”
Transitioning to Integrated Solutions
To further enhance its workflow, Synergee will soon be moving all its statutory accounts and CT600 forms from its current software to Silverfin as well. Darren explains: “At the moment, we’re using Silverfin for working papers but export those to a different tool for statutory accounts and tax, which requires additional adjustments and coding to make all the data fit in the system. However, we purposely took things one step at a time. There’s no need to go all in from day one.”
“In the long run, however, transitioning fully to Silverfin just makes sense, as it eliminates the export- import hassle and ensures consistency. It’ll increase our ability to quickly update data and speed up the process of getting accounts from review stage to final client sign-off stage.” Darren Austin, co-founder, Synergee
Gaining a Competitive Edge
Looking ahead, the rising fee pressure on compliance work due to evolving technology will call for a strategic shift. But Synergee is ready for it. Its optimised workflow and capabilities that follow the adoption of Silverfin make the firm well-positioned to deliver superior service at competitive prices.
“We’ll continue to expand our consulting and advisory services, leveraging Silverfin to upgrade our abilities with its treasure trove of up-to-date and accurate data on hand, while further reducing compliance costs.”
Where Silverfin shines
Are you ready to leave the shackles of Excel behind? If so, Silverfin’s connected working papers are the perfect step forward. They are designed to streamline your accounts preparation process, minimise manual errors, enhance visibility of your client’s data, and optimise your workflows.
In short: say goodbye to tedious data and spreadsheet management and hello to smart digital templates that guide you through a unified process, accessible anytime, anywhere. Here’s how it works.
3 ways in which Silverfin’s connected working papers help you move beyond Excel
“Excel used to be a godsend, but it’s been entirely outpaced by Silverfin” Darren Austin, co-founder, Synergee
No.1 – Enhance consistency through standardisation
UNIFIED ACCOUNTS PRODUCTION
Use Silverfin to establish a single method for preparing and managing accounts, ensuring that best-practice workflows are followed consistently across your team.
SEAMLESS REVIEWS
Working papers are reviewed directly within the software, where lead schedules can be signed off on or additional information can be requested. All changes are recorded, giving reviewers confidence that nothing is overlooked.
CONNECTING DATA, REDUCING ERRORS
Silverfin’s connected working papers ensure that as you prepare client accounts, related tasks like accounts production and corporation tax are automatically pre-filled. For instance, preparing the Fixed Assets schedule updates the corresponding Accounts Production and Corporation Tax templates. With Silverfin, you only need to input data once.
GREATER ACCURACY AND OPPORTUNITIES WITH AI AND AUTOMATION
The AI-powered Silverfin Assistant scans client files to detect errors or unusual transactions, improving quality and reducing errors. This allows accountants to spend less time on manual error-checking and more time on providing value-added advisory services to clients. Automated reconciliations further minimise mistakes and manual steps, freeing up time for professionals to focus on strategic planning and client relationships.
No.2 – Boost capacity by saving time
LIVE BOOKKEEPING SYNCS TO ELIMINATE MANUAL WORK
Client data is automatically pre-populated into Silverfin’s working papers. With added support from AI, data is mapped to relevant schedules, eliminating manual steps. When source data changes in platforms like Xero or QuickBooks, it automatically updates in Silverfin, saving you time and reducing redundant work.
INSTANT ROLL FORWARD
Rolling data forward into the next period can save hours. In the second year, prior-period data can be copied with a single click, either at a file level or individual working paper level. This compares to the 30 minutes typically spent setting up Excel files, checking comparatives and verifying formulas.
STREAMLINED COLLABORATION WITH IN-CONTEXT COMMUNICATIONS
With Silverfin, all communications are stored within the client file, providing context for tasks, questions, and queries. Supporting documents are attached to relevant digital working paper templates, ensuring that no information is lost. This feature is particularly useful when jobs are outsourced or picked up by different team members.
No.3 – Help your firm thrive by kickstarting your digital journey
ENHANCE YOUR INTERNAL REPORTING
With Silverfin, real-time visibility of each job reduces risk of delays and ensures that deadlines are met. Track the completion percentage of working papers from a single cloud-based platform, enabling more accurate and timely internal reporting.
FREE UP PEOPLE FOR VALUABLE TASKS
By reducing manual workload, Silverfin allows staff to focus on more rewarding activities.
This includes dedicating more time to solving complex accounting problems, engaging in professional development, expanding advisory services beyond a compliance-centric approach, and pursuing specialised training in specific areas of accounting.
BETTER DATA ACCESS
Silverfin enables you to enter client meetings with a complete set of connected accounts, showing the link between accounts production and corporation tax schedules. What’s more, standardised cloud-based data enables holistic queries across your firm, unlocking valuable insights for proactive business and financial advice.
SMOOTHER M&A INTEGRATION
Standardised working papers establish consistent practices across merged firms. As such, you can use Silverfin to reduce compliance risks and harmonise different workflows between merging firms more quickly and effectively. In turn, this will accelerate the rate at which merger benefits arrive.
BONUS: your digital journey comes with a personal guide
When you decide to move beyond Excel, the initial steps of the journey might seem overwhelming. However, there’s no need to worry. Silverfin’s specialised onboarding and change management approach ensures a smooth transition by offering hands-on training, process mapping, and providing daily personal support. In short, you’ll be in good hands from start to finish.
Keen to explore the possibilities of Silverfin in more detail? Book a chat.
