For many law firms, drawing up the mandatory procedural documentation for their clients is a lengthy and labour-intensive process. The Opti.Tax.Doku software solution hsp Handels-Software-Partner GmbH, based in Hamburg, ensures that this time-consuming mandatory task can be completed quickly and easily. That is why the tool is also used by the HSP GROUP, one of Germany’s largest professional associations in the fields of tax consultancy, auditing and legal advice.

Carsten Schulz from the HSP GROUP

The HSP GROUP has been using various solutions from the hsp software portfolio for several years now – for example, the taxonomies for the e-balance sheet. It was therefore a natural step to adopt the new Opti.Tax.Doku tool in order to also Preparation of procedural documentation to receive support. According to Andreas Schröder, managing partner of the HSP GROUP, the company is particularly pleased with the system’s transparency and with the fact that the software is able to fully cover the complex subject of procedural documentation.

Carsten Schulz, Managing Partner at Henniges, Schulz & Partner StBG mbB in Hanover and the point of contact for professional partnerships at HSP STEUER, was also looking for procedural documentation software. „It was a laborious process to sift through Word documents and the like for procedural documentation, ensuring correct versioning and compliance with audit requirements,“ said Schulz.

The solution from hsp was the only one to meet all the firm’s requirements and offers legal certainty. „This has given us a very powerful tool,“ said Schulz. The firm now aims to use Opti.Tax.Doku not only to draw up procedural documentation more easily, quickly and efficiently, but also to be able to maintain it more easily in future.

Another reason why the range of functions is so impressive is that the solution facilitates a collaborative approach: consultants can work on the matter regularly alongside their clients, which makes the work considerably easier. This close collaboration will be a key issue for tax advisers in the future, and the software already addresses this need.

The interview in words and writing:

What sector do you work in, and what does your company do? Could you please introduce yourself briefly?

A.S.: Yes, I’d be delighted. My name is Andreas Schröder. I am a managing partner at the HSP GROUP, and we are a network of tax consultancy firms, law firms and audit firms.

C.S.: It’s my pleasure. My name is Carsten Schulz. I am a tax adviser and managing partner at Henniges, Schulz & Partner StBG mbB, based in Hanover.

How did you first hear about hsp or our product?

A.S.: Actually, we first came across hsp many years ago, back when we were working on the taxonomy for the e-balance sheet. Given the similarity in names, we naturally came across the company again.

C.S.: Over the past year, I’ve been doing some research to see whether we could implement a software solution for process documentation. There are software solutions available, including some from DATEV, but on closer inspection we realised that the solution from hsp GmbH was better suited to our requirements, and that’s how we ended up working together.

What do you hope to gain from Opti.Tax Doku, and in which areas do you intend to use the software in future?

A.S.: We’ve already tried out various software solutions, which is why we’ve now settled on Opti.Tax Doku. We’re particularly impressed by its comprehensive nature – the fact that it covers everything – as well as the programme’s transparency.

C.S.: We are, of course, required to prepare procedural documentation for our clients. In the past, this was a laborious process – sifting through Word documents and the like – as we also had to ensure the correct versioning, audit-proofing and so on, which is why we ended up not producing procedural documentation for all our clients. Neither we nor our clients can avoid this obligation, so we’re now hopeful for the future – and it’s looking very promising for us – that with Opti.Tax we’ll be able to prepare procedural documentation much more easily, quickly and efficiently, and maintain it going forward.

Would you recommend this software? If so, why?

A.S.: It’s only just getting off the ground, but as things stand at the moment – some of our partner law firms are already using it – we can certainly see ourselves recommending the software to others in the future.

C.S.: At the moment, there isn’t any other software that allows you to create procedural documentation in such a structured way, so we would, of course, be happy to recommend it. But not just for that reason; it’s also because we’re already very impressed by the range of features we’ve now become familiar with, as we not only use this software ourselves, but also find it offers a collaborative approach that allows us to work on this topic regularly with our clients. That makes our work so much easier. I believe that, for us tax advisers, this will become an even more exciting area in the future – the opportunity to work more closely with clients, to map out their processes and, in doing so, to establish ourselves as indispensable advisers to our clients.

What improvements would you like to see in the future?

A.S.: The software is, after all, very complex. That’s why we’re all here together today for the training session. I imagine the training sessions could be prepared even better. This morning, we spent nearly an hour just getting the participants to a stage where the software was up and running. We’ve had a few minor issues with licensing and the like, but I think these are simply things that can be sorted out very quickly and won’t be an obstacle in the future.

C.S.: I don’t have any suggestions for improvements in terms of functionality or content at the moment. It’s a very powerful tool we’ve been given here. I could imagine that the software’s overall visual design could be made a little more appealing, so that it’s even more enjoyable to work with. It’s often the case with financial software solutions that they aren’t particularly attractive, but that’s certainly something that could be worked on.

We would like to thank Mr Schulz and Mr Schröder for taking the time to give this interview. And we would also like to thank you, our viewers, for joining us. We hope to see you next time!

Higher turnover thanks to Opti.Tax

Would you like to find out more about Opti.Tax.Doku and boost your turnover? Contact us today at www.hsp-software.de/contact. Further information about the HSP Group can be found online at www.hsp-gruppe.de.