Is it time to switch your accounting practice management software?

Switching accounting practice management software

Over time and as your accounting practice grows and expands, you’ll likely notice your original accounting practice management software struggling to keep up. This issue is magnified if data is held in separate systems - there is no single source of truth for accountants to operate from; information must be transferred between systems, which leaves you open to human error; and work is often duplicated, which is a recipe for inefficiency.  

The top accounting practice management software enables the integration of all aspects of the accounting practice into one efficient system. It means you can access all client information in one place, get complete visibility across staff and jobs, and use automation to simplify your practice management processes. It will help you to eliminate duplication, improve controls and increase business-wide productivity.  

If you want to understand why switching from your current accounting management software means reviewing the most significant asset your practice can have, check out our blog: Why do you need accounting practice management software?

Key considerations for switching your accounting practice management software

Below are some critical questions you must ask to determine whether it is time to upgrade your accounting practice management software.

Do you need more time to work on your practice?  

Accounting process automation can streamline practice management functions that may be considered necessary but repetitive.

These may include:

• Collecting documents from clients

• Streamlining manual accounting tasks

• Updating practice management workflows

• Sending reminders to clients

Automating your practice management processes can help you increase efficiency across your practice. You and online accountants in your team will be able to tap into new-found capacity, with more time to focus on value-added services, improve existing jobs' operations at a reduced cost and increase your productivity.

Are you wasting time and resources on a repetitive workflow or inefficient tasks?  

Streamlining your core accounting practice workflows with cloud-based accounting firm workflow management software can help free up valuable resources and remove the need for manual intervention, leading to greater productivity in your accounting firm.

Workflow automation is becoming vital for accountants and bookkeepers. To read more about workflow automation and automation for accountants in public practice, read our guide: What does automation mean for accounting practices?

For more details on workflow management in accounting practices, read our article: What is a workflow for accounting firms?

Does your team need increased flexibility and greater job satisfaction?

Making the switch to a new accounting practice management solution can help to lessen the amount of time accounting firms waste on tedious processes.

Accounting software for public practice can eliminate the duplication of manually entering accounting client data, and give you and your team lightning-fast access to essential client information.

All of this adds up to more time to focus on the things that really matter to your accounting firm and more satisfaction from achieving actual results, all thanks to online accounting software.

Do you need better access to the right client information?

Upgrading your accounting practice management software can mean you will have access to the most up-to-date information to cater to every client's individual needs.

One of the key features of accounting practice management software is client management software, where you'll be able to create a better client experience and deliver a more professional service that your clients deserve.

Do you struggle to have visibility over your staff?

Accounting practice management software, with best-in-class time and billing software will give you the full view of all work in progress by a partner, manager or accountant.

With time and billing software, you'll have easy time tracking, easy-to-use timesheets, flexible client billing and productivity reporting, all to enhance your understanding of where you're spending your time in your accounting practice.

For more tips on improving workplace productivity in practice management, read our article: Increasing workplace productivity for accounting firms.

Are you struggling to manage data-driven decisions? 

With the right accounting practice management software, you'll get instant access to accounting practice reporting and insights that will help you make data-driven decisions across your practice.

With a top accounting practice management solution, at your disposal, you'll have the tools to gain critical staff and team productivity metrics to understand the staff split across billable and internal hours worked. These insights can be sliced across various dimensions, including assessing chargeable hours or write-offs by the accountancy manager of a job, the partner accountants or the team.

Read more on data-driven decision-making for accounting firms here: how to build a data-driven accounting practice.

Do you need to encourage better team collaboration and coordination? 

Switching to new accounting practice management software can help you establish a single source of truth to run your practice more efficiently.

Using a collaborative practice management platform helps every accountant work more strategically, with everyone in your accounting firm is operating from the same information and striving for the same goals. If you want to learn more about growth strategies for accounting firms, read our article: Accounting firm growth strategy: setting up for success.

Is client satisfaction and retention an issue for your practice? 

Switching to new accounting practice management software can help you deliver valuable communication and collaboration, driven by your client’s unique needs.

If you want to learn more about client management and relationship-building and their importance for accountants, check out our article: Mastering client relationships for accounting practices.

The business case for switching your accounting practice management software

There are so many reasons why a new accounting practice management software implementation could benefit your business.

If you have outdated accounting practice management software, you'll find that a more modern practice management platform is faster, more secure, more stable and more capable than your old one. 

You also reap the benefits that come from using a more capable system. Your old accounting software may have been suitable when you were a smaller practice with fewer requirements, but as your accounting firm grows you need something that has more functionality, better configuration and better integrations to scale up and meet demand. 

Your ideal accounting practice management software means more client data is available, quickly and with greater accuracy for your team. This means you can act on insights that have a real impact, and competitive advantage, for accounting firms and their bottom line.

Why we have the best accounting practice management software

We understand we might not be the best accounting practice management software solution for every accounting firm. If you're currently exploring your options, we find accounting firms choose to come to us is the sheer number of accounting practice management solutions available within The Access Group for practices of all sizes. 

This means that when an accountant uses our smart and scalable accounting practice management software, they can add functionality that evolves with them as their practice grows and scales.

We find our customers love these key features of accounting practice management software:

Greater efficiency 

With accounting business growth comes larger numbers of accountants, processes and data. An accounting practice management solution will increase business efficiencies and ease access to vital client information.

With a single centralised system, there is more switching in and out of multiple accounting practice software solutions, you can easily organise billing and the status of invoices, track the status of jobs in progress and foster team collaboration with easily sharable information. All this will save valuable time for your accounting firm and make client management effortless.

The power of automation

Painful workflow efficiencies can create bottlenecks and errors that derail busy accountants. With accounting practice management software harnessing the power of automation, you'll be saving time and effort.

Workflow automation will remove the need for manual accounting practice processes, leaving accountants more time to focus on tasks of higher value.

More visibility

With an accounting practice management solution, you'll have access to best-in-class streamlined reporting to extract information from your practice to deliver results internally and for your clients. Your team will also get insights at a glance with smart dashboards and summaries displaying your KPI data in an easily digestible way.

Improved client and team collaboration

A practice management solution can improve your client communication and collaboration across your team. Your accounting practice management software lets teams access and update real-time information in a central hub.

The paperless office

Accountants will experience a speedier and more modern accounting practice with accounting practice management software. As we transition to a new era of work, one where remote and flexible working arrangements have become the norm rather than the exception. With efficient and streamlined workflow automation, you'll have a solution designed for online accountants, helping accountancy managers to manage a geographically diverse workforce.

Every business needs to evolve to keep up with a changing world, and accounting practices are no exception. Access accounting practice management software provides software options to set up your practice for future success.

Access Handisoft Cloud is an all-inclusive cloud-based accounting practice management suite aimed at smaller-sized accounting firms. Book a demo today. 

For larger practices, we have APS software which is used by large scale accounting firms, due to its capacity to access everything you’ll need in one powerful cloud. Book a demo today.