Kendons
Scott MacDonald
Despite transitioning to SuiteFiles in the middle of a lockdown, Kendons Scott MacDonald quickly picked up their new document management system. Now a year on, we caught up with Kate to hear about her journey with SuiteFiles.
Being able to search easily, email templates, the Outlook Add-on and then the ability to sign documents electronically have all been great for the business.
Moving to Suite
Having used a consultant to implement XPM into our practice, we wanted a document management system that integrated into Xero. Using a combination of the SuiteFiles migration team, their online training and our own internal champions, we put SuiteFiles in action early on during our Covid lockdown.
The best thing about this transition was that there was minimal downtime. The migration itself was done over a weekend. Even working from home, our team picked up the system really quickly. In some ways, it was the perfect time to move to the cloud, while everything was disrupted and remote work was necessary
SuiteFiles benefits
Our previous software was very expensive, so just by changing systems we saved money. There’s also been time savings through the way we can now work with Xero Practice Manager and Xero Workpapers. The integrated way of working is far more productive (and simpler) than it used to be. We’ve also enjoyed the ability to drag and drop files instead of jumping through the hoops of saving a file to a location and uploading it from there.
In moving to SuiteFiles we’ve found a user-friendly system which our team can pickup and run with. There’s no need to learn how to tag and search for documents, instead we have folders and full text search to easily locate our files.
Biggest impact
There’s several features that we really rely on. The task management tool has been great for keeping our internal communications within SuiteFiles and making sure we’re working on live documents as opposed to copies. We’re also fond of SuiteFiles’ FuseDocs integration which makes it easy to create document packs for our accounts and tax returns then file them away.
Being able to search easily, create email templates and sign documents digitally have all been great for the business. The ability to create connected folders (or portals) for our clients has also been a welcome addition.
Before
- Expensive document management system.
- Constant issues with access, terminal server set up, hard to use on the go.
After
- Implemented a system that’s easy to pick up.
- Access from anywhere.
- Time savings in finding and uploading files.
- Better integrations into practice management software.
Key benefits
- Reduced operating costs thanks to savings from SuiteFiles.
- Increased productivity.
- New features we heavily rely on.
Tips & tricks
- Use the drag and drop feature to simplify the process of uploading files. This’ll come in handy when you’re working across Xero and SuiteFiles or if you want to save documents from emails without downloading the body.
Establish file naming conventions and rename your files accordingly
- Improve your file management by setting file naming conventions which are recognised throughout your organisation. Once you’ve done so, you’ll have a shorthand for scanning through your team’s files.
