OmniPost Helping Accountancy Firms Deal with the Daily Deluge and Movement of Internal Mail

Accountants have traditionally been highly dependent on paper and are becoming increasingly aware of the high costs of managing paper-based files and the limitations associated with the processing inefficiencies. Despite the moving trend towards paperless accountancy offices, there is still a huge amount of paper documents being moved internally from department to department and being received externally from clients in relation to supporting documentation for tax returns, auditing, accounts filing etc.

Typical large accountancy firms handle a daily deluge of inbound and outbound packages and mail, much of it highly sensitive and confidential. The movement of this information from accountancy firm to client and back is a regular daily occurrence. However, it’s often hard for mailroom staff to determine ways to efficiently and accurately ship, receive, track and deliver all these items.

Take signed for mail as an example. Every day, accountancy firms send out sensitive documents — including mortgage information and financial documents, requiring client signatures. This leaves mailroom staff with the challenge of not only sending these items, but of billing the right costs to the right client. There’s also the responsibility of keeping track of all the return receipt documents that are returned to the firm once a client has signed for the letter. If one of these receipts is misplaced or lost, the accountancy firm may be unable to prove that it ever sent this information to the client.

Incoming mail and shipments represent a second challenge to busy mailroom staff. Letters, parcels and packages containing critical information — typically original information that cannot be duplicated — regularly come into the accountancy offices. Knowing when critical mail was received and who signed for it is imperative to the firm. When a busy accountant calls the mailroom to see if an expected piece of information has arrived, or who is the person that has it, the last thing he or she wants to hear is “We don’t know.” Accountancy firm mailrooms need to get the right package into the recipient’s hands as quickly as possible, and capture total chain of ownership throughout its journey inside the firm once it reaches the recipient.

However, accountancy firm processes for handling incoming packages and mail don’t always align with best practices. This is especially true at smaller firms, where a receptionist or temporary employee may handle incoming mail, cobbling together their own methods for receipt, logging and in-office delivery. These casual processes can lead to lost or misplaced packages and critical mail, and cause trouble for accountants who can’t access documents entrusted to their care.

The answer?

An internal parcel tracking software solution such as OmniPost that can help accountancy firms more efficiently and cost-effectively deliver, track and receive packages and letters. It will not only improve efficiency but will increase visibility of these documents at all times.

OmniPost is an application designed to be used by the post room to provide up to date, accurate proof of receipt and thereafter proof of delivery for virtually any item type being delivered to and from your post room.

Items are logged in, scanned to a location (recipient), signature captured, with the Web application being updated to provide real-time status and future reporting. A combination of the Web Based application and using the latest mobile computers (PDA) ensures optimum performance and reliability, meaning that those clipboards and notepads can be eliminated in favour of modern technology which in turn gives accurate and instant reports and statistics.

The solution is easy to use and totally scalable no matter what size your practice is. Functionality is rich and not compromised to obtain ease of use. The system is feature-rich and extremely intuitive to use, it follows the same processes as a post room would use but without clipboards, pens, forms etc.