Customer story
HLB AG
Discover how HLB AG use Snips to automate manual procedures with DataSnipper and achieve efficiencies during peak audit and tax season
Squire based in Orem and Salt Lake City, Utah, offers tax, audit, and advisory services with a team of 200+ professionals. Their mission is to empower businesses and individuals with personalized and proactive financial solutions, fostering long-term partnerships and delivering exceptional expertise across various industries.
This success story is created in partnership with the Advisory Practice Area at Squire.
Squire saw scope for improving efficiencies in their forensic accounting work due to the nature of processing financial data presented only in PDF format. In a billable industry, the manual task of copy-pasting and editing data from PDFs was both time-consuming and costly. Traditional PDF readers required labor-intensive efforts to convert the data into a usable format, leading to substantial delays and increased expenses.
Additionally, Squire often dealt with hundreds or even thousands of PDFs for specific cases, underscoring the sheer scale of the challenge. This cumbersome process highlighted the urgent need for a more seamless and automated solution.
DataSnipper's interface is incredibly intuitive. It's the tool we didn't know we needed, but now we can't live without! We have members from other teams reaching out to us to get in on the action.
Squire’s advisory team, which provides advisory and audit readiness services for small-cap companies that are public filers, found a solution in DataSnipper. Their clients are companies that often lack the resources to handle SEC filings independently, so the advisory team assists in drafting, cleaning up, and ensuring the financials are ready for audit.
Previously, verifying the footings and cross-footings during financial preparation was a manual and tedious task. The team would print out the financials, use a red pencil for checking, and rely on a calculator to ensure internal consistency, which was not only time-consuming but also prone to rounding errors that even Excel couldn’t catch.
Upon discovering DataSnipper, the team was able to streamline this process significantly. The Financial Statement Suite in DataSnipper enabled them to perform final checks on the financials with remarkable efficiency. What used to take 3-4 hours for a quarterly filing and 6hours for an annual filing now only takes 10-20% of that time. This reduction in time, from hours to mere fractions, has made a substantial impact on their workflow, allowing for faster and more accurate preparation of client financials.
Squire also discovered a valuable use case for DataSnipper in bookkeeping, especially for their outsourced bookkeeping services. Traditionally, bookkeepers would manually transfer data from PDFs into QuickBooks or other accounting software, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. With DataSnipper, they can now extract data directly from PDFs, streamlining the entire process.
Most clients have bank feeds set up, reducing the need for manual verification. However, DataSnipper is especially useful in unique cases. One bookkeeper works with charitable entities that provide regular financial assistance to individuals, such as a native indigenous tribe distributing monthly checks. Many recipients do not have bank accounts and must cash their checks at places like Walmart, leading to delays in check processing.
Manually reconciling these checks was complex due to delayedbulk cashing. Bank feeds lacked the detail to identify specific checks.DataSnipper extracted detailed info from bank statements, identifying checknumbers and amounts cashed each month, simplifying reconciliation and ensuringaccuracy.
At Squire, the core value of "thoughtfulinnovation" drives the use of platforms like DataSnipper to deliversuperior services to clients. This alignment with their values has enhanced thecompany's service offerings through innovative solutions.
By implementing a DataSnipper time code, they can accuratelytrack and record time saved, reflecting these efficiencies in the biller notes.This approach allows them to share the benefits with clients while alsoimproving their operational effectiveness.
They elaborate on their balanced approach to innovation, striving to find a fair middle ground in documenting production hours. This ensures that clients benefit from increased efficiency and staff can maintain high production levels. This strategy has been well-received, with no complaints from clients, reinforcing the positive impact of thoughtful innovation on both client satisfaction and staff productivity.
Time Saved
Quarterly filings that used to take 3-4 hours and annual filings that took 6 hours now only takes 10-20% of that time. This reduction intime, from hours to mere fractions, has made a substantial impact on their workflow, allowing for faster and more accurate preparation of client financials.
Increased Accuracy
Financial Statement Suite instantly identifies errors in client's financial statements, revealing that the statement of cash flows didn't foot due to a hidden row in the Excel file. DataSnipper enhances the accuracy of financial footings.
Competitive Advantage
Using DataSnipper gives Squire a competitive advantage by allowing them to code time and document estimated savings in biller notes. This approach allows them to benefit both the client and themselves, enhancing overall efficiency and value.
