Kingston Ross Pasnak (KRP) is a full-service chartered accounting firm founded in 1945, with headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta. With over 80 employees, KRP offers personalized accounting and business services, including audit and assurance; litigation support; business valuations; taxation, and consulting and internal audit services. The firm's client roster is comprised of companies from a variety of industries, including technology, forestry, transportation, oil and gas, and hospitality and entertainment, to name a few.
KRP is also a member of the DFK International Alliance, a major international association of over 300 independent accounting firms and business advisers that serves clients with cross-border interests. As a result of its membership, KRP is able to provide support services to Alberta clients anywhere in the world.
KRP's accountants routinely used SEDAR to access disclosure material, particularly note disclosures. While SEDAR provided a wealth of information, it was impossible to sort it based on industry.
"Once we created a shortlist of our clients' peer companies, we'd have to go through all of their financial statements, without knowing what disclosures were in there," said Justin Rousseau, a principal with KRP. "There was no way to customize the search according to industry or specific search terms, so we weren't getting the results we wanted in a timely fashion."
At times, Rousseau and his team would supplement their SEDAR research with Google searches. However, American disclosures dominated the search findings, making it very difficult to find the Canadian disclosure the team was searching for. And because of the different regulatory requirements south of the border, the findings often didn't fit KRP's search criteria.
The time wasted looking for information was having a negative impact on the firm's recoveries.
"We work on billable hours, but we wasted a lot of time searching for information," continued Rousseau. "This was not a cost we passed along to our clients, so we absorbed it. We were far less efficient, which hindered our ability to work on other projects to maximize our billable time."
The firm was also utilizing the information provided in the CICA Handbook, but often the example disclosure provided did not fit the specific needs of KRP's clients.
KRP required a research tool that would allow accountants to search for and sort results based on industry, and then further narrow that search according to specific search terms.
The firm received a trial use of DisclosureNet in early 2006. A small group of employees began to use DisclosureNet during the initial trial period, and were impressed with the results.
"We were surprised to learn that a research tool existed for a process that was so inefficient," said Rousseau. We were able to quickly and easily find what we were looking for, and it was incredibly easy to use."
The group presented their results to other senior staff, and recommended purchasing DisclosureNet. In February of 2006, KRP purchased an enterprise-wide license, and has been using it ever since.
"The majority of our searches focus on finding note examples," said Rousseau. "We also use DisclosureNet to see how statements are being presented in different industries, especially those we're not that familiar with. It supplements our disclosure research in new areas, and helps us to keep abreast of changes and best practices."
Improved productivity. "On average, I've probably saved myself one to two hours of research time per file since implementing DisclosureNet," said Rousseau. That amounts to between 500 and 1000 hours of additional research time for the entire firm, which results in significant savings at the end of the year."
Enhanced quality of disclosure. "DisclosureNet gives us access to a database of knowledge that we wouldn't normally have access to," continued Rousseau. "It enables us to provide our clients with disclosure examples from other companies in their industry. Now, we can search for a specific change in disclosure policy, and get hundreds of results."
Enhanced client services. "The quality of our end product has improved since implementing DisclosureNet, which is an asset to our clients," said Rousseau. " The opportunity to quickly access a wide variety of disclosure examples for a very specific client requirement allows us to provide our clients with a higher overall quality product."
"It's great to know that DisclosureNet has added IFRS-specific information into its robust system," said Rousseau. "With all of this new information to absorb, we're certainly glad that we have DisclosureNet to help us navigate these unchartered waters and gain efficiencies in our research of new and changing disclosure practices."