Kreston Reeves makes valuable cost savings with the help of Virtual Cabinet

Top 100 firm decides it's time for virtual filing

With big expensive offices, with floors of stored documents, rapidly being confined to the shredder - it has never been more important for business to adopt new processes that improve efficiency, productivity, and cut costs.

That is precisely why the award-winning, 43 partner, 300 employee-strong firm of accountants, Kreston Reeves, invested in Virtual Cabinet's market leading document management system. Like any dynamic, forward thinking firm with an eye to growth, Kreston Reeves continually reviews systems, processes and costs to identify ways of improving client services and managing overheads.

The need to reduce costs and improve workplace productivity

In 2012, their dedicated in-house IT identified the need for an integrated document management system to meet specific performance criteria and achievable objectives.

The brief to potential providers was implicit. The solution had to:

• Facilitate changing ways of working: 24/7 access, anywhere and anytime from the office, home or remotely
• Be a modern best of breed solution with a single point of access to manage multiple and complex document and email trails, firm–wide instant retrieval
• Be secure and back-up
• Deliver ease of use and quantifiable savings in terms of time, document storage and retrieval costs
• Include digital signature technology
• Reduce paper costs

We have four main offices in London and the South East. Fixed building costs, including document storage run in excess of £1 million each year.

- Stephen Ledger, Operations Partner, Kreston Reeves

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Enter Virtual Cabinet document management

From the detailed responses, four solutions were short-listed for trial by the IT team. Following thorough performance evaluations, the team voted 11-0 to invest in Virtual Cabinet for 300 users across four sites in London and the South East.

The evaluation team was particularly impressed with several key functions in the Virtual Cabinet. First, the speed and ease with which documents can be accessed. Second, its modern thumbnail approach to reviewing long document and information trails.

Like any firm of accountants and financial advisers, documentation is a core process to the business. Historically, the firm relied upon a bespoke document management process. With users having to spend hours sifting through documents, it was time to migrate and invest in an industry best-of-breed system complete with the latest functionality and a built-in WOW factor for both the user and client.

According to Stephen Ledger, Kreston Reeves Operations Partner, there were three key considerations in the selection process:

1. Return on investment
2. Operational efficiencies
3. People needed to be behind the final selection decision

Using Virtual Cabinet means we can reduce operational costs by at least £50,000 each year. That is a significant saving.

- Stephen Ledger, Operations Partner, Kreston Reeves

Stephen was also excited by the benefits Virtual Cabinet will bring to the firm’s client experience. Instead of clients waiting on phones while historic files are traced and sorted, Virtual Cabinet powerful search features enables staff to access files and specific documents in seconds. He sees the thumbnail document flicking process as the modern way of viewing long paper trails.

“A lot of time and money goes into working with paper. We needed a far more productive, secure and accessible solution in Virtual Cabinet. We didn't want to be sifting through a growing mountain of paper."
- Stephen Ledger, Operations Partner, Kreston Reeves

He also has nothing but praise for the digital signature feature of the Virtual Cabinet cloud client portal - which enables clients to sign and return documents instantly which means faster turnaround time.

Digital signatures will save clients a lot of time and money.

- Stephen Ledger, Operations Partner, Kreston Reeves

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Kreston Reeves introduced a Virtual Cabinet awareness and user programme - with the help of the VC team experts - to ensure all their customers got the best from the move toVirtual Cabinet. According to Stephen, if businesses want to increase their efficiency, productivity and reduce operational costs, they need to move into the digital age.