When Jean-Marc Li CA saw productive time being eaten away by administrative tasks, he recruited someone to take care of it. As his firm was already using expensive software for tax form preparation and lodgement, it seemed like the only option. However, the cost drove him to look for an alternative. “We wanted a tax solution that was affordable, customisable and that would actually help us, rather than just being a cost burden,” he says.

That solution proved to be QuickBooks Tax powered by LodgeiT.

“Moving to QuickBooks Tax has saved us about 20 to 30 hours of admin per week,” Li says. “These time savings, plus the fact we don’t have to hire a dedicated admin employee, means it’s added around A$100,000 annually to our bottom line.”

Minimising risk

Li founded Lucas & Co Chartered Accountants in 2010. Today, he has a team of 10 accountants based in three locations across the Gold Coast. Their speciality is providing tax compliance advice to SMEs in the medical and property industries.

As tax advisers, calculating and limiting risk is a priority. Li found that QuickBooks Tax significantly reduced their exposure, particularly as they were already using QuickBooks for office management.

“Data automatically populates from QuickBooks to QuickBooks Tax, meaning there are no transposition errors,” he says. “The platforms seamlessly talk to one another.”

The firm also has the security of QuickBooks’ adherence to ISO-level security standards to protect sensitive client data.

Adding value

QuickBooks Tax also enabled Li to strengthen the advisory component of the firm’s work.

“When clients come in, we show them the dashboards to give them an easy-to-understand overview of how their business is performing,” he says. “We also use the dashboard reporting to conduct scenario modelling, giving them a glimpse into their business’s future. These insights form the backbone of our advisory services.”

Streamlined payroll

Once QuickBooks Tax had transformed Lucas & Co’s bottom line, Li switched the firm’s payroll operations to QuickBooks Payroll powered by Employment Hero.

“QuickBooks Payroll is designed with employees in mind, with features like Beam, SuperPayments, and the EH Work app that integrate neatly together,” says Li. “These integrations make vital processes like payroll incredibly straightforward.”

After what Li describes as a quick and easy migration, the team immediately noticed new efficiencies. For example, they no longer needed to waste time exporting and converting files between different software or reconciling mixed-format data.

“We were looking for a default software – one that would be a complete suite, from admin to payroll,” says Li. “The first thing that really appealed to us was the people at QuickBooks. We could easily speak to a member of the support team whenever we had a question.”

An all-encompassing solution

The fact that time and billing are integrated into the QuickBooks suite streamlines the firm’s workflows even further.

“It’s an all-encompassing solution,” says Li. “We no longer need to bounce around from one tool to another. Instead, everything’s in QuickBooks. Always. Without question.”

Find out more

Intuit QuickBooks can streamline your workflow, allowing you to focus on the things that matter. Visit: quickbooks.intuit.com/au.