Sean Norris has been working in accountancy since qualifying in 1989, spending the great majority of his career in practice. In 2022, he made the move to set up on his own, running a home-based practice serving a client based that is a mix of limited companies and sole traders.
Sean uses BrightAccountsProduction for accounts production and BrightBooks for bookkeeping, both fully cloud-based and already providing the accessibility and resilience his practice needed. His workpapers, however, were a different story.
The Challenge: Paper Files and a Business Continuity Gap
For a sole practitioner, there is no safety net. No colleague to step in, no second set of eyes, no shared server. As Sean puts it:
“My big worry was: what happens if something happens to me? Could someone pick up my work without too much difficulty?”
Although BrightAccountsProduction and BrightBooks gave Sean confidence that his accounts data was securely held in the cloud, his workpapers remained entirely paper-based and the lever arch folders were stacking up at home. If anything happened to Sean, those files could not simply be accessed remotely. Someone would need to physically retrieve them.
Beyond continuity, there was a practical problem too. The lever arch folders were growing and taking up space. And with everything paper-based, there was no real structure or consistency to how files were put together, it worked of course, but it was not as disciplined as Sean wanted it to be.
The Solution: Digitalising Workpapers with MyWorkpapers
When Bright reached out about MyWorkpapers, Sean was already a satisfied user of BrightAccountsProduction and BrightBooks. He did not spend time evaluating alternatives. He decided to give it a go and found that MyWorkpapers delivered more than he expected.
Cloud accessibility from day one
Moving to MyWorkpapers meant Sean’s working papers are now stored securely in the cloud and accessible to any authorised person, from anywhere. The business continuity concern that had been at the back of his mind for years was resolved. If anything were to happen, someone could log in and pick up exactly where he left off.
Seamless integration with BrightAccountsProduction
The integration between BrightAccountsProduction and MyWorkpapers has made Sean’s workflow straightforward. He prepares accounts in BrightAccountsProduction first, then pulls the trial balance directly into MyWorkpapers. Where adjustments are needed, he can process journals within MyWorkpapers and reconcile these back to BrightAccountsProduction. The two systems work together, with MyWorkpapers serving as his documentation repository once the accounts are finalised.
Microsoft 365 integration for document editing
One of the features Sean highlights is the ability to import and work with PDFs, Word documents, and Excel files directly within MyWorkpapers with full edit capability through the Microsoft 365 integration. He regularly uses the annotation tools to mark-up PDF documents: adding comments, highlighting, and freehand notes to cross-reference material across files. It is a level of functionality he was not expecting.
Forced standardisation
Perhaps the most meaningful benefit Sean describes is one he did not anticipate: MyWorkpapers pushed him to standardise and document his work more rigorously. He now uses the same template across all client files, and every engagement letter and planning memo is saved in one place. The structure the software imposes has made his record-keeping more consistent and more professional.
The Results: Resilience, Structure, and Permanence
Six months into using MyWorkpapers, Sean has migrated approximately half of his client files. The benefits are already clear:
• Business continuity resolved: client files are cloud-based and accessible without physical intervention.
• Paper eliminated: lever arch folders have been replaced by a structured digital repository.
• Standardised file structure: consistent templates across all 80 clients, every time.
• Better record retention: permanent documents such as engagement letters are stored in a single, easily accessible location.
• Richer documentation: MyWorkpapers has encouraged Sean to record his work in more detail than his paper-based system ever did.
• BrightAccountsProduction integration working in practice: trial balance data flows directly into workpapers with no manual re-entry.
Sean is candid that time savings are still to come as the first year is largely about setting up the file structure. As he puts it, this year is about building the scaffolding; next year, everything is already in place and it is simply a matter of reviewing and updating. The efficiency gains are on the horizon.
“MyWorkpapers has given me a good structure for how I put everything together — and a proper, permanent home for data that I probably wasn’t as disciplined about retaining before. I can see the benefit it’s going to bring.”
Sean Norris
Ready to Go Paperless?
MyWorkpapers gives sole practitioners and growing practices alike the tools to digitalise workpapers, standardise file structures, and protect continuity, all within a cloud environment that connects directly to BrightAccountsProduction and BrightBooks.
Visit brightsg.com or speak to a member of our team to find out more
