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Accelerating the Digitalization of Accountants with Talkspirit: the CNOEC Case Study
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Going digital is a key challenge for the accounting professions, and the French National Council of the Order of Chartered Accountants (CNOEC) understands this well! That’s why, to accelerate the digitalization of accountants, the order decided to roll out Talkspirit, a 100% French enterprise social network.
Founded in 1945, the CNOEC is a French institution tasked with representing, defending, promoting, and developing the chartered accountant profession in France and internationally. The national order operates under the supervision of the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and is represented in each district by regional councils.
The CNOEC, in a few figures:
- 16 regional councils and 2 departmental committees
- 170 permanent members and 56 elected officials
- 21,000 chartered accountants and 150,000 staff
- 3.5 million client companies
Yann Fontaine, data project officer, runs the CNOEC’s community of data ambassadors. In this article, he explains why he chose to bring the network’s members together on Talkspirit, and how the platform helps make information sharing easier day to day.
The need to create a network of data ambassadors
“Within the profession, we quickly identified the opportunities tied to the digitalization of chartered accountancy firms. To make it easier to exchange on these topics, Hervé Gbego, chair of the CNOEC’s data and innovation committee, decided to create a community of data ambassadors of data. Any chartered accountant with an interest in digital and data can join the community, and so develop the network’s collective intelligence”, explains Yann Fontaine.
“So we looked for a platform that would let us bring together all the data ambassadors working in the accounting professions, in order to make exchanges and information sharing more fluid, and to keep the number of meetings to a minimum.
To better secure our data, we opted for a French tool: Talkspirit.”
Read also: Reinventing collaboration in a chartered accountancy firm: the Partexia case study
Choosing a 100% customizable French tool
“We chose Talkspirit because we wanted to set up a sovereign solution that respects our data and doesn’t expose us to cyberattacks. We were also looking to centralize all our information on a single tool”, says the data project officer.
Beyond its French DNA, it was also Talkspirit’s customizable side that won the CNOEC over. Thanks to the SSO connection, chartered accountants can log in directly via the order’s platform, for a smoother user journey.
“The quality of the support and the responsiveness of the team were also points we appreciated, and that made the difference when choosing our solution”, adds Yann Fontaine.
The importance of testing and preparing the platform
“During the first phase of deployment, the Talkspirit team shared best practices to properly prepare our platform with us. The key was, in particular, to:
- choose the groups we wanted to create, and the topics they would cover,
- define who should have access to which groups and which documents,
- create content on the platform.
On the team’s recommendation, we first created a single group on Talkspirit, to test the platform and validate the setup.
Even before rolling out Talkspirit, we were thus able to show the data ambassadors how we can use the platform and what it can bring them. And above all: we had people who could speak to them about it!”
Read also: 3 key actions to successfully launch Talkspirit
A multi-channel communication plan
To draw chartered accountants to Talkspirit, the CNOEC shared communications across a multitude of channels. The platform was notably promoted:
- in an internal newsletter,
- during the data ambassadors’ meetings,
- on social media (notably on LinkedIn),
- in an SIC article (the chartered accountants’ monthly magazine), which is sent to the entire profession,
- on the chartered accountants’ extranet,
- through word of mouth,
- at the chartered accountants’ convention.
All of these actions should help boost sign-ups to the platform, and accelerate the digitalization of chartered accountants!
Talkspirit: a tool for mutual support and information sharing
Day to day, Talkspirit is used for a whole range of purposes, in particular to:
- keep up with all topics related to data,
- make mutual support and experience sharing easier between members,
- centralize information and important documents (via the drive and the news feed, in particular), and make them accessible to all,
- quickly identify the right people to reach out to, and get in touch with them (via the directory),
- chat one-on-one or in groups via chat rooms.
Thanks to these various uses, Talkspirit helps make information more accessible, and accelerates the digitalization of chartered accountancy firms.
Topic-based groups to organize exchanges
“On Talkspirit, information is shared across four topic-based groups related to data (how to collect it, how to make the most of it, which tools to use, etc.). On top of that, there’s also a general group, where we can talk about all sorts of subjects.
As the platform grows, this structure is set to evolve. In the coming weeks, we’re going to create a group on electronic invoicing. We’re also considering creating groups on topics such as sustainability and cybersecurity”, says Yann Fontaine.
One ambition: bringing 5,000 chartered accountants together on Talkspirit
“Recently, we ran a survey to ask users whether they wanted to expand their use of the platform. And 80% of them said yes! So we set ourselves a new goal: to bring 5,000 chartered accountants together on the platform.
Our ambition is to bring onto Talkspirit all the chartered accountants interested in data and/or electronic invoicing (thanks to the new group that’s going to be created). The goal is for Talkspirit to replace the existing tools, and become the go-to exchange platform for chartered accountants.”
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In conclusion
Talkspirit can be a real driver of digitalization for chartered accountants! Just look at the CNOEC, which uses it to develop mutual support and make information sharing easier within its network. A network that should keep growing, to soon bring together 5,000 chartered accountants!
Are you a chartered accountancy firm considering setting up a collaboration platform? Book a chat with our team to discover our solution in more detail!
