By Sustainability, Digital Economy and Reporting Team
The Digital Technology Adoption Awards (DTAA) Winners in Action series returns!
Launched in March 2023, the DTAA supports MIA’s vision to drive digitalisation of the Malaysian accountancy profession. The award distinguishes itself by recognising exceptional achievements in technology adoption across three sectors of the profession: commerce and industry, public practice, and public sector.
Designed meticulously, the DTAA criteria assess various aspects of digital technology integration within organisations. These include evaluating revenue and costs, experience and impact, as well as other value-creating factors, providing a comprehensive framework for measuring the effectiveness of digital transformation.
In this exciting edition of the DTAA Winners in Action, we celebrate the achievements of CWC & ENG PLT in transforming practice management processes within the Public Practice category for firms with 10 to 49 employees. Join us as we explore their journey of digital transformation and the key strategies that earned them the prestigious ‘Excellence Award’ in this insightful interview.
Why did you adopt technology?
Before embracing digital transformation, our small firm faced challenges in ensuring consistency across our operations, as our business was highly dependent on manual, people-driven processes. The lack of a solid technological infrastructure made scaling difficult and could lead to inconsistencies in service quality and work delivery, which could impact our growth and client satisfaction. Hence, we took the initiative to adopt digital technology.
What technologies have you adopted?
We developed and implemented an Enterprise Management System (EMS) that has fundamentally transformed our practice management. This integrated platform allows us to efficiently handle our client database, manage client relationships, streamline workflows, and facilitate communication—all of which has greatly improved our overall efficiency. Our custom-developed EMS works seamlessly with other cloud-based software solutions that we have adopted to enhance specific areas of our operations, creating a comprehensive system that optimises service delivery and internal processes.
How was your digital technology implementation journey?
Our digital transformation journey began in late 2019. Recognising the complexities of digital adoption, we approached it in phases, gradually enhancing the system to align with our goal of becoming a more agile and efficient firm. Over the past few years, we have achieved the following milestones:
Each phase has contributed incrementally to our journey towards achieving a fully digital and integrated operation.
What is the impact of your technology adoption?
By embracing digital technology, we have become more adaptable to the changing business environment, creating a sustainable foundation to stay relevant to evolving market conditions and future growth. The key benefits include:
These have reinforced our commitment to continuous improvement, meaningful career progression for our people and delivering quality services to our clients.
What is your future digital technology plan?
Moving forward, we plan to further digitise our audit processes, exploring the latest available technology in artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning and how it may affect our current work processes. This enhancement aims to improve audit quality, increase efficiency, and provide more insightful and data-driven outcomes.
Do you have any tips to share with the readers?
It is essential to have a clear vision of what we aim to achieve through digital transformation and to approach it in phases.
Start by addressing the most critical areas first and involve your team every step of the way to ensure smooth implementation. Remember, it’s a continuous journey — embrace incremental improvements and always be open to learning and adapting.
Why did you participate in the DTAA?
We saw the DTAA as an opportunity to benchmark our progress and share our digital transformation journey with the broader community. Through this experience, we gained valuable insights into our achievements and identified areas for further improvement.
What is your advice to aspiring participants of the DTAA in future?
Take the first step by identifying areas where technology can drive meaningful improvements and align with your long-term goals. Adopt a phased approach, involve your team in the process, and view digital transformation as a continuous journey.
For more information about the DTAA and the complete list of winners, click the links below:
