Ideas in Motion: Ron Salmon Erases Paper From Career Schools
By Scott H. Cytron, ABC
While other accounting firms are just now trying to figure out how to install a scanner or upgrade to the latest operating system, SalmonBeach & Associates, PLLC, in Dallas, Texas, is truly on the bleeding edge in the electronic document management marketplace. It works in many arenas, but has a specialty in one that is truly unique – the career school industry – with its own technology solution geared specifically to eliminating paper while preserving the past.
“Career Schools provide post-secondary education ranging from short-term programs to two and four-year associate, baccalaureate degrees and masters and doctoral programs,” says Ron Salmon, CPA, CEO of SalmonBeach. “Career Schools are unique in that they serve both student and employer; it is the union of student and employer that creates the success of these institutions.”
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Ron Salmon, CPA
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SalmonBeach serves more than 1,100 clients throughout the United States. The firm is also a founding member of INTEGRA International, Inc.
Ron says the Career School industry “chose me more than I chose it.” He first began working with career schools in 1978 when the emphasis was more in real estate than technology.
“When the real estate market collapsed in Dallas in the late ‘80s, I had no choice but to look elsewhere. The career school industry was also in chaos then, but I discovered school owners who were looking for solutions. I also enjoyed ‘school people’ because many of the schools were family-owned with family involvement. I grew to enjoy the people, the relationships and felt like part of the family. The career school industry has been part of SalmonBeach ever since.”
The firm’s professional services reach in the career school industry is so strong that the firm founded its own organization, SchoolDocs LLC, to provide the systems to manage the paperless environment. SchoolDocs is similar to SalmonBeach. It also is a professional services firm with financial and information technology expertise, but goes one step further by specializing in the career school industry.
“We help schools convert their intensely paper-driven processes to a streamlined electronic document management system that increases efficiency and profitability,” says Ron. The occupational fields of these career schools include culinary arts, information technology, graphic design, interior design, business, health care, radio and television broadcasting, engineering and many others. While SalmonBeach also assists schools with long-range planning, goal development, budgeting and forecasting, along with a variety of traditional accounting services. However, this service also spills over into many other traditional services.
“Career schools spend a great deal of time and money trying to manage their documents and keeping up with the demands of regulatory agencies that continually want more information with little notice,” says Ron. “Paperless document management software can resolve many of those issues.
“It is important to note that document management software isn’t the same as student management software,” he adds. “Most schools have student management software that manages data, but doesn’t allow for the electronic imaging of documents. Think of SchoolDocs as the ‘hub’ in a wheel. The information sources are the wheel. SchoolDocs does not replace applications; it enhances other information sources. SchoolDocs is simply the tool that stores all the created information in a central hub, setting the rules for managing the created information. It is the watchdog to make sure policy is followed.”
Ron says one of the key benefits of the system is the ability to instantly access documents from the desktop at the click of a mouse – something commonplace to many CPA technologists, but a somewhat foreign concept to many industries. Managing paper translates into increased productivity, better communication, lower operating costs and reduced storage space, says Ron, and concentrates on three areas: compliance, lower auditing costs and safeguarding critical documents.
“Whether it’s a career school or a CPA firm, compliance is a major concern, and with schools, refunding student tuition due to financial aid non-compliance is costly. For example, a school with a tuition base of $40 million may refund up to $6 to $7 million each year. Only a portion of this would be attributed to non-compliance, but saving just one student’s financial aid might pay for the software implementation.”
Besides the obvious cost savings associated with operational efficiencies realized in the day-to-day administration of student registration and financial aid, career schools will gain savings associated with accounting compliance such as internal and independent audits.
“Through SchoolDocs, the documents typically needed for auditors to verify data are available electronically and can be viewed remotely. Remote access eliminates the need for travel to and from the school, and the time lost from intrusion by the auditors.”
While the mandatory need to ensure original documents are safe from man-made or natural disasters, as well as theft, schools nevertheless have a responsibility to keep records safe and restrict access to sensitive documents. SchoolDocs provides these security safeguards through firewalls and authorized access configured so that users have access only to student data necessary for the user’s role in the school.
“Documents are also secured in a tamper-proof repository with audit trails to track all usage,” says Ron. “In addition, if paper files are destroyed by fire, flood or natural disaster, they are gone forever. Through a formalized system like ours, schools can quickly recover from any disaster because all of the documents’ images and vital information will be copied under appropriate back-up procedures.”
Ron naturally stresses the need for cooperation at the client (school) level, and says the buy-in to the system really stands front and center when administrators realize the benefits to managing their documents. Ron asks, for example, what keeps the school owner or CEO up at night? Am I meeting all the requirements of the regulatory bodies? How can I sustain a competitive edge and reduce operating costs? How do I increase profits?
“Imagine a school owner sitting behind his desk covered with paper cups turned upside down. Underneath each is a tiny red ball, and each ball represents a student. Everything in that student’s file must be signed and there must be hard copies to verify the information, kind of like a driver’s number with a copy of the license. Without notice, a regulatory agency could come in and pick up any of those cups. The owner hopes that he picks one where nothing is missing. With SchoolDocs, all the cups are transparent. The owner and agency can see all the files and be notified of anything that is missing.”
Another example is illustrating what might happen in the financial aid cycle – where there may be as many as 20 documents required by regulatory agencies. Ron says these items currently are handled manually at most schools by making copies of the student’s driver’s license, birth certificate or other documentation. In addition, different departments in the school will require the same documentation and will make duplicate copies of the student’s information.
“SchoolDocs eliminates the need to make copies to file because the data is stored electronically – and is tied to the student’s main file. This allows the school’s administrators to pull information easily and to check that documents are on file and are up-to-date. A major benefit to financial aid advisors is the time and cost savings. No more overnight shipping of documents, significantly less faxing, printing, and copying. No more running back and forth to file cabinets and offices trying to find papers.”
Ron often finds himself looking forward to greater challenges, and stresses that the long-range vision for the firm is to apply document management technology to different industries, and to help other CPA firms as well. SalmonBeach understands the processes, procedures, controls for proper deployment.
“With this knowledge, we can offer other CPA firms a way to generate additional income streams and provide another benefit to their clients. Electronic document management for CPAs is the way of the future.”
About Author:
Scott H. Cytron, ABC, is an accredited communications and public relations consultant working in the accounting, health care, high-tech and finance industries. He can be reached at scott@cytronandcompany.com or through his Web site, http://www.cytronandcompany.com.
About Column:
Ideas in Motion is a monthly column designed to focus on best practices within CPA firms and organizations involved in providing technology related services.
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