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Adopting new technologies like BILL can help your firm add new services, grow its client base, and increase client retention.
But there’s a bridge between adopting new technology and growth—working with your firm’s team and clients to navigate the changes.
Here, we offer four resources to help you enable change, onboard employees and clients, and work toward your goals.
1. How to prepare for change (and build for success)
Change management is a framework for managing the people side of change.
Any major change, such as implementing a new technology or a service offering, benefits from proper planning, effective communication, and an aligned vision across your entire team—core elements of change management and enablement. Humans are at the heart of change management, meaning firms need clarity on why changes are being made, what the firm’s trying to achieve, and overall expectations such as policies and training. Information covered in this guide includes change fundamentals, common roadblocks, the role of technology, and tips for success.
Fundamentals
While change management often focuses on change from the top down, a complementary approach is growing in popularity - change enablement. It recognizes that transformation and effective change is driven by people at all levels.
Having a framework is helpful for projects like this. The Prosci ADKAR model1 is a well respected model. It outlines how to navigate fundamental elements including awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement.
Change can be challenging, so plan well and be prepared for some pushback such as user resistance. It often stems from unclear goals and a lack of training.
Automation helps with implementing change. Why? Where there’s automation, there’s often the standardization of processes, immense time savings, and workflow transparency.
“Before BILL, when we were working manually, the max a junior accountant could handle was probably 5 clients comfortably. Now, they can each manage between 7 and 9 clients.” (Jennifer Klos, Supervisor Staff Accountant AP, Creative Planning Business Services)
Tips for change enablement
The guide also explores common successful tips for change management and enablement. They include considerations like defining and communicating the vision of this change, tapping into your firm’s tech enthusiasts, goal setting and tracking, training, and partnering with your software providers.
Read the full guide here.
2. Your change management checklist: steps to fuel new technology success
This handy checklist is a companion piece to the preparing for change guide. It provides an outline for technology change management phases and steps to take. By following this checklist, you can better manage the change process and increase the likelihood of success firm wide.
Phases include:
- Pre-rollout, including building your vision, setting timelines, creating documentation, and recruiting internal champions.
- Rollout, which focuses on what to do as you are introducing the new technology. Checklist items cover communications, training, evaluation, and gathering feedback.
- Post-rollout, which breaks down tracking progress, learning, and applying it going forward. These steps allow your firm to understand the progress and success of the new technology adoption, they can also help your firm build a culture of continuous learning.
See the full checklist here.
3. Tips for navigating change and accelerating BILL results in your firm
BILL customers Laura Redmond, Founder and CEO of Redmond Accounting, and Caleb L. Jenkins, EA, CQP, Business & Accounting Leader for RLJ Financial Services, share 6 tips to help accelerate BILL AP/AR and BILL Spend & Expense adoption and results within your firm. The two experts discuss:
- The need for a clear purpose for change
- How to create processes and document them
- Building confidence with training and hands-on experience
- The importance of certification
- How to leverage your BILL account manager, including gathering resources and advice
- Continuing the learning journey
Read the full tip sheet here.
4. Tips on how to guide clients through technology changes and on to BILL
Onboarding clients to new technologies comes with a second wave of change management. How can you onboard them to BILL effectively and efficiently? Once more, BILL customers Laura Redmond, Founder and CEO of Redmond Accounting, and Caleb L. Jenkins, EA, CQP, Business & Accounting Leader for RLJ Financial Services, pool their tips.
This time, their focus is on accelerating client onboarding for both BILL AP/AR and BILL Spend & Expense. Their tips focus on:
- Speaking to your clients’ priorities and concerns
- Taking advantage of BILL resources like the Accountant Resource Center, your account manager, and more.
- Reaching beyond your firm’s day-to-day contacts to ensure users in other departments understand how to use BILL.
- Educating after onboarding
Read the full tip sheet here.
If you’re interested in learning more about BILL AP/AR and Spend & Expense, you can request a demo or reach out to your account manager.
If you would like an introduction to your account manager, send us an email and we will connect you.
1 https://www.prosci.com/methodology/adkar
