T.C. Burgin, CPA, PC  is a family-owned firm that operates with six team members, led by T.C. Burgin. Being small allows them to focus on providing excellent service, thanks in part to the Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite of products and its latest addition, Checkpoint Edge. The Oklahoma City firm, offering tax services, business advice, payroll, and bookkeeping, has embraced a suite of Thomson Reuters products over the course of 30 years. T.C. Burgin, president and head CPA, shared his experience using Checkpoint Edge along with a suite of products to provide more efficiency in the firm and to better serve clients.

Small firm, big results

Though small, this firm has longevity in the community and prides itself on offering the best in customer service. Recently, T.C. Burgin, CPA, PC added Checkpoint Edge to the suite of products the firm was already using, which includes UltraTax CS®, Accounting CS®, and Practice CS®. 

“We used Checkpoint first which was great, but we have found as a firm, the overall platform in Checkpoint Edge is much more intuitive than in Checkpoint, and it’s a much more sophisticated platform and makes it easier to navigate search engines. There’s obviously been a lot of thought put into the platform itself … It is easier to drill down into, it’s more user friendly. And if you’re going to go back and do the complete tax analysis on an issue such as go to code regulation and interpretation, it’s much easier to compile, put together and keep us in good shape.”

Smart AI technology boosts functionality 

Like many accounting firms that may not know much about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it boosts the functionality of processes, T.C. Burgin, CPA, PC was new to the technology as well. Without knowing much about it, but as a longtime early technology adopter, the firm trusted Thomson Reuters enough to try out AI, ahead of almost everyone else.

“I knew nothing about AI. Frankly, you hear a lot about it in the news and you hear the talk about the algorithms, but as far as the actual practical knowledge of how it works, I know it’s going to make a lot of changes in the field … I began computer usage early. And so I’ve worked with Thomson Reuters for years and years and years … I received the demo [of Checkpoint Edge] and it worked. I hadn’t adopted all of the programs that Thomson Reuters provides, but as soon as I logged onto it and begin to enter search terms, it worked … The company has always been, in my opinion, at the leading edge of trying to improve their product and improve the relationship and  so I had no second thoughts about it, frankly. As soon as I typed it in I said, ‘Okay, I’m on board.’ ”

How Checkpoint Edge saves time

T.C. Burgin and the firm staff experienced firsthand how Checkpoint Edge saves time on research. When a client came in with a unique situation, the firm quickly went to Checkpoint Edge to help them out.

Burgin mentions, “We have a situation right now where we have a client who was in a lawsuit and received a settlement and it’s a very odd situation. It almost meets the definition of a casualty loss, but it’s not a casualty loss. And by using Checkpoint Edge, I was able to research it quickly. It was a large sum of money. They naturally are concerned about whether they are going to have to pay taxes or not. And I was able to delve into the issue, be able to then talk to the client, sell them on the fact that we’re going to have to really do some extensive tax research in this area in order to get them an answer that’s going to be defensible with the Internal Revenue Service, and that we’ve got the capability to do that. And so it’s resulted in an engagement in which we’re going to receive some significant fees. And I believe we’ll be able to get an answer that’s going to make the client happy. So, it works.

“Up until now, if there was any research to be done, I did it. Now I’ve got the capability to spread that to other people, to tell them what the question is, and they can begin to look at it from the search tool working backwards to provide the answers that we need so I can delegate some of that, whereas before I couldn’t. I would recommend Checkpoint Edge to anyone that’s looking for a comprehensive program to give them answers to complex accounting problems or complex tax problems that they’re going to need to analyze in order to get the correct answer for their clients. It’s a good tool and it just works.”

How UltraTax CS benefits the firm

How Practice CS and Accounting CS assist the firm

As well as using Checkpoint Edge and UltraTax CS in their firm, T.C. Burgin, CPA, PC also uses Practice CS and Accounting CS. They help to streamline and monitor their data processes and procedures for billing, workload planning, and preparing tax returns more effectively and efficiently. The firm found the innovative aspects of the software to be very helpful in their practice. 

“The biggest advantage that we have seen relative to Practice CS is our ability to set up projects, monitor those, work with staff, and be able to quickly and easily identify where we are in the process, what our coming needs are, and help us to plan our workload, as well as then integrate that into the billing (cycle) and be able to bill quickly and efficiently. In the past, it wasn’t unusual for us to take a week or 10 days to get billings out. Now it’s within a day we’ve done the monthly billings. As far as one feature that I believe is instrumental to the firm, it would have to be the project monitoring. We could work around everything else, but the project monitoring is specific … and would be very difficult for us to do without.

“Since there was an Accounting CS, we have been using it. Accounting CS has enhanced the productivity of our firm in a variety of different ways. The ability to import data from Excel spreadsheets. We naturally have a wide variety of clients in a wide variety of fields and using a wide variety of software. And so the ability we have to import the information in, to code it so that it goes to the tax returns, the financial statement editor, all enhance our ability to prepare financial statements and do tax returns quickly and efficiently. As far as recommendation of Accounting CS, I would recommend it to other accounting firms, definitely.”

Strong technology helps build client relationships

T.C. Burgin found that using Checkpoint Edge and the suite of CS products, such as UltraTax CS, Accounting CS, and Practice CS, makes it easier for them to find answers and process their workflow with speed, accuracy, and effectiveness. By using a variety of products, they’re able to offer great service and have had extensive success and longevity with clients. This comprehensive software suite can help with even the most complex clients, allowing firms to provide the best in customer service, thus helping build strong client relationships and grow the firm.