Efficient, effective, encrypted: a single source of truth 

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First established in 1888, Larking Gowen has grown to become one of the UK's top 40 accountancy firms. The company’s 450-strong team specialises in corporate finance, personal tax, legal, medical, business strategy and support, and business recovery. Despite having its roots in the past, the company has a firm focus on the future. 

To this end, in 2001, the team launched a digital client portal. Using Virtual Cabinet as the platform, Larking Gowen’s portal provides a single source of truth for everything from client communication to document storage. Crucially, the system enables streamlined collaboration that meets GDPR requirements and offers bank-level security encryption.  

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A streamlined customer experience 

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The portal was a major breakthrough in terms of efficiency - the days of printing and posting documents and waiting for them to be returned were gone. Turnaround of tax returns and accountancy paperwork was cut from weeks to a matter of hours. 

In 2022, the Larking Gowen team began to look at how they could further streamline their workflow and improve client experience. The answer was provided by Workiro, a sister product to Virtual Cabinet that offers a fully cloud-based solution.  

Martin Bugg, Partner at Larking Gowen, explains, “The customer portal revolutionised how we work. As paper documents started to become a thing of the past, we needed a solution that would allow us to collect e-signatures. Workiro stood out because we could integrate all of the functionality of Virtual Cabinet, but specify precisely where the signature needed to appear within the document, rather than just having it placed on the back page by default.” 

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E-signature compliance and digital audit trails 

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The new approach enabled Larking Gowen to speed up the process and remain compliant with regulations, particularly when it came to meeting Charities Commission guidance CC15d: Charity reporting and accounting: the essentials - one of the company’s key sectors. 

As well as verifying the integrity of the document using compliant e-signature functionality, Workiro allowed the team easy access to all of the documentation stored in the portal, and enabled clients and team members to edit/comment on files and store conversations and iterations securely for auditing and accountability. 

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Simple user interface for easy adoption 

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Implementation was swift, and adoption was seamless. 

Clients were already accustomed to using a digital portal to manage their paperwork. Integrating the new functionality into the existing tech stack was made simpler by the fact that Workiro is a certified Microsoft Partner - keeping emails, documents, discussions, signatures and approvals secure in one place, grouped by project and task. 

Martin continued “It has undoubtedly increased the speed of our client interactions. There’s no need to log in or remember passwords, they just click on a link and interact with the document in the browser. Although we originally implemented Workiro for the e-signature functionality, there are some great collaboration tools that add value to the client relationship and our internal project management processes. The integration with our existing portal and Microsoft Outlook means that we can keep everything nicely hosted in an intuitive and easy-to-use environment.” 

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Slow, clunky processes - a thing of the past 

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Previously, the team at Larking Gowen would have to go through a series of processes. Depending on the client and the document type, the team would either have to print and post the document, or password-protect it, save it as a PDF and send it by email. Once in the client’s hands, they would need to either sign and return it by post, or print, sign and scan the document ready to return it. 

The lengthy process was fraught with cost and risk - from time lost to administrating manual processes, postage costs, or delivery issues, to the risk of lost documentation or delays caused by human error. The portal cuts out all of these processes and enables fast digital authorisation. 

Martin explains, “From a personal perspective, Workiro has hugely improved my workflow. I’m not sure how I would work without it! The fact that it is cloud-based means it works well as a mobile-first solution. If I am out and about, I can see the status of every client interaction and can respond, set up follow-up tasks, and instantly message the client - safe in the knowledge that all interactions and iterations of a document are securely saved.”

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Aligning with company values 

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Larking Gowen’s company values emphasise service and commitment alongside environmental and social governance: community initiatives take place across the communities they serve; large cohorts of trainees are inducted annually; and the company strives to reduce its environmental impact. 

Investing in the VC portal and subsequent Workiro integration was is an important part of living those values. Less printing and reduced reliance on the portal service contribute to less waste and a lower carbon footprint; the enhanced client experience aligns with the emphasis on delivering a high-quality service; and the willingness to adopt digital workflow and productivity tools aligns with the mission of attracting new talent into the industry. 

Martin concludes, “Having one source of truth for collaboration between teams and clients enables us to deliver exceptional service to our clients as efficiently as possible.”