Karbon is a project management software that streamlines the transfer of information by providing visibility across local and remote teams. This cloud-based workflow collaboration tool presents itself as a hub for medium and large businesses and is ideal for teams who need to collaborate together from different departments and locations.

All of this successfully plays out between the features and integrations. The features include automatic client data collection, a recurring task generation feature, and document storage that puts documents in the same place as the workflow process. There are ten direct integrations and a decent amount of Zaps in Zapier.

While the features and integrations are some of the software’s strengths, firms may be frustrated with the interface, setup fees, and other hidden costs.

So, if you’re looking for other options or to replace Karbon, read on and see some of the best alternatives with the same functionality.

Shortcomings of Karbon

According to some users, there are some issues with the interface and the fees. The following are some of those issues:

• User reviews complain of the software’s clunky interface.
• There are three implementation packages to choose from to get you up and running. While the one package with general onboarding training is free, the two others come with a hefty fee. Assisted Onboarding with personalized training to suit your firm runs around $2,000 and the Full Service Implementation with one-on-one training runs around $4,000.
• If you go beyond the client limit or want to change a project series, there are additional costs, and some users find they aren’t disclosed up front.
• You have to pay for customer support.

The Top 7 Karbon Alternatives

With Karbon’s shortcomings in mind, let’s look at the alternatives to see what they offer.

Jetpack Workflow

• What is it: Jetpack Workflow is a cloud-based workflow management solution for accounting firms but can be used in other small businesses as well.
• Top features: With Jetpack Workflow you can create work templates in seconds, automate critical deadlines, view all of your work in one place, stay on track, and keep tabs on your firm’s progress.
• Who it’s for: Jetpack Workflow is for accountants, CPA firms, bookkeepers, and even other small to mid-sized businesses looking for workflow management software to keep track of projects and repetitive processes.
• Pricing: There are two unlimited plans. Both have the same features except the Scale Plan comes with new capacity management and scheduling features. The Organize Plan runs $36 per user a month billed annually. The Scale Plan runs $39 per user a month billed annually, which is a reasonable cost given its features and the competitors’ options.
• Final word: Jetpack Workflow’s strength is in standardizing, tracking, and automating processes so team members can complete more work in less time. The software comes fully customized to meet the unique needs of your company. Jetpack Workflow also excels in all seven criteria used in this evaluation: ease of set up, ease of use, features, customer service, price, and integrations.

Canopy

• What is it: Canopy is a cloud-based practice management solution for accounting firms. It streamlines your firm and creates a connection with your clients.
• Top features: Some of their top features include project management tools, document tools, CRM, integrated time & billing, and a client portal.
• Who it’s for: Canopy is for mid-sized accounting firms who are looking for a comprehensive practice management solution to organize their workload, team, and clients.
• Pricing: Canopy offers five plans based on modular pricing. There’s a Client Management Plan with a $199 implementation fee plus $2.50/client per year with a minimum of 200 clients. The Time & Billing Module runs $24/user per month while the next plan up, The Workflow Module, runs $30/user per month. The Tax Resolution Module runs $33/user per month, and the Document Management Module runs $40/user per month.
• Final word: Canopy’s strength is in the time and billing feature with the client portal bridging the gap between the company and the client. Customer support, workflows, and task management doesn’t rate as high, so if you’re looking for a project management solution, this may not be the answer.

Aero Workflow

• What is it: Aero Workflow integrates processes and procedures into your tasks resulting in a clear view of what needs to be done and how to do it.
• Top features: As a project management system, Aero’s top features include time & project tracking, one-time & recurring task scheduling, and a training hub for your business.
• Who it’s for: Aero Workflow is for small to medium-sized accounting firms looking for a simple way to combine processes and procedures with tasks so that everything is in one place and the staff knows exactly what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and how to do it.
• Pricing: Aero offers three different plans. The Sole Proprietor Plan runs $39 a month if paid annually or $47 paid monthly. The Small Firm Plan runs $79 a month if paid annually or $95 if paid monthly. The Large Firm Plan runs $149 a month is paid annually or $170 if paid monthly. The number of users increases with each plan, but all integrations and unlimited clients are included in every plan.
• Final word: Aero Workflow takes it one step beyond being a to-do list for your firm but it doesn’t have the functionality some of the other options do.

Financial Cents

• What is it: Financial Cents combines accounting firms processes, workload, and invoicing tools into a single platform.
• Top features: Top features include workflow management, invoicing & time tracking, and client management.
• Who it’s for: Financial Cents is for accountants, CPAs, and bookkeepers looking for client management, document management, project management, staff management, and workflow management to monitor projects so that the team isn’t getting overloaded or underperforming.
• Pricing: Financial Cents has a Monthly Plan for $29 a month per user and an Annual Plan for $23 a month per user.
• Final word: While Financial Cents consists of firm processes, workload, and invoicing tools as key features, it lacks in the reporting and integration capabilities.

CS Professional Suite

• What is it: CS Professional Suite provides products and services to manage workflow processes in accounting firms.
• Top features: Some of their top features include a built-in time & billing tool, project reporting, and customizable dashboards.
• Who it’s for: CS Professional Suite is for cloud-based and on-premise accounting firms of all sizes looking for a project management tool to manage taxes, auditing, operations, payroll, documents, and workflow.
• Pricing: Contact Thomson Reuters for pricing.
• Final word: CS Professional Suite is mainly a billing and time tool with a design that is old and clunky according to users.

ClickUp

• What is it: ClickUp is an app to plan, organize, and collaborate but isn’t specific to accounting. It is generally a workflow, project management, and task tool designed for team collaboration.
• Top features: Some of its top features include marketing features, multiple PM methodologies, and a workload chart.
• Who it’s for: ClickUp is for teams of all industries and sizes who are looking for a project management tool to keep all projects under a single app.
• Pricing: ClickUp has a Free Forever Plan for personal use that is free, an Unlimited Plan for small teams for $5 per member a month, a Business Plan for mid-sized teams for $9 per member a month, a Business Plus Plan for multiple teams for $19 per member a month, and an Enterprise Plan that you will have to contact the company for pricing.
• Final word: ClickUp requires a little more effort to set it up for an accounting firm, the set up is a bit difficult, the interface is just okay, and the company has limited chat resources. Since it is not accounting specific, it provides broader features such as marketing tools.

Monday.com

• What is it: Monday.com is a platform that can build, run, and scale your workflow.
• Top features: Its top features include customization, over 200 use cases, task management, and more.
• Who it’s for: Monday.com is for any project, business, or team size looking for an open platform so that HR managers can build custom solutions for their teams’ needs.
• Pricing: Monday.com has 5 pricing tiers. These include an Individual Plan that is free, a Basic Plan that is $8 per seat a month, a Standard Plan that is $10 per seat a month, a Pro Plan that is $16 per seat a month, and an Enterprise Plan that you will have to contact the company for pricing.
• Final word: Monday.com is another tool that can be used as an accounting workflow hub but isn’t marketed specifically for accounting. With all the features, Monday.com is missing a client profile feature for accounting firms. This software’s strength is in its integrations: there are countless ways to fit Monday.com into your existing systems.

 

Workflow software programs allow organizations to run more efficiently, which results in completing tasks in less time. This type of software keeps all tasks, projects, and team members organized so that everything and everyone stays on track.

So, which accounting management software has the best workflow capabilities? There are many tools that will digitize your workflow. To digitize or automate your workflow, you need to find the workflow management software tailor made for your type of business.

From the time you onboard clients to when you send out monthly invoices for work completed, and every step between, you need a software stack that helps you and your team make an impact and gain efficiency.

So for those of you who are looking for the perfect accounting or bookkeeping project management tool, this article compares Karbon, Aero Workflow, and Jetpack Workflow to help you make an informed decision.

What do Aero Workflow, Jetpack Workflow, and Karbon Do?

Aero Workflow, Jetpack Workflow, and Karbon will organize and manage your data and tasks so that all projects and services are processed and completed in an efficient and timely manner. Gaining more visibility into processes helps everyone in your firm work more efficiently.

Workflow software, in general, automates the sequence of tasks that your firm does regularly. Effective workflow software does this by having an approval process, client management, document management, due date tracking, project management, staff management, time tracking, and workflow management features.

Let’s take a closer look at the 3 software systems most commonly used by accounting firms to see how they measure up against each other. 

3 Project Management Tools for Accounting Practices

Karbon mainly focuses on automation and attempts to make clients an active part of the workflow process, even handing over some of the tasks to their accounting clients so firms can just focus on delivering the service.

This is mainly done through a communication tool such as a client portal where clients can access their own information, sign important documents, submit information, and make payments.

Aero Workflow attempts to transform your accounting firm by defining your services, organizing those services, and then tracking those services.

Defining the services consists of creating & storing procedures, creating task templates, and storing them in the library. In organizing those services, you can schedule recurring tasks, schedule one-time tasks, and then organize with projects and resources.

When it comes to tracking, you can track your success, track work in progress, track time, and track performance.

Jetpack Workflow acts as the center of activity for your accounting firm. Everything related to workflow revolves around this hub. You can quickly organize your checklist in one place, ensure that you never miss critical deadlines, and keep track of what teams are working on.

 

A Quick Overview of Each Tool

Karbon

Karbon’s cloud-based collaborative work management platform helps teams and departments inside large organizations or client service businesses. It’s built for business tasks such as accounting, finance, and back-office support. It’s a platform designed for team collaboration: it provides a central place to communicate and collaborate by combining email, discussions, tasks, and workflows.

Aero Workflow

Aero Workflow is a cloud-based system that takes your processes and procedures and integrates them into your tasks. Email, one-time projects, client emergencies, and recurring tasks are all integrated into one list. This gives you and your staff a clear picture of what needs to be done and how to do it. The result is a more efficient, profitable, and scalable firm.

Jetpack Workflow

Jetpack Workflow is a cloud-based platform that focuses on accounting professionals such as staff accountants, CPA firms, and bookkeepers. However, any professional service can benefit from this workflow software: it’s a good standalone workflow app.

Jetpack software grows with your firm. You can organize your checklists with their free template library, automate critical deadlines with their custom scheduling functions, view all of your work in one place with filters, stay on track with your ‘My Work’ page to see what’s next, and see what your team is working on.

The Differences Between Karbon, Aero Workflow, and Jetpack Workflow

Now that you have an overview of each tool, let’s look at some of their fundamental differences.

Features

Karbon – Karbon’s key features include automatic client data collection, recurring task generation for regular monthly/quarterly/annual tasks, and document storage for reports, spreadsheets, and other documents to be in the same place as your workflow process.

Aero Workflow – Aero Workflow’s features consist of time & project tracking to keep track of hours and the time, the ability to schedule one-time and recurring tasks for those unique and repeating tasks, and a training hub to create and store processes.

Jetpack Workflow – Jetpack Workflow keeps every workflow process in one location, similar to Aero Workflow and Karbon. It also offers pre-made templates specific to the accounting process, capacity planning tools to allocate your team and resources in real-time, and detailed reporting to help you see the scope of work over your entire client base.

Integrations

Karbon – Karbon consists of 10 direct integrations and a decent amount of “Zaps” in Zapier.

Aero Workflow consists of 5 direct integrations: Quickbooks Online, TSheets, Office 365, G-Suite, and Canon. Aero is also connected to Zapier with dozens of ‘Zaps.’

Jetpack Workflow – Jetpack integrates and connects all of the current tools and includes those on Zapier, making workflow automation easy.

Ease of Use

Karbon – Karbon has an above-average interface, but some issues exist with the calendar and email integrations. Some users think the task list is overwhelming.

Aero Workflow – Aero consists of webinars, demo videos, and a knowledge base, so it has a decent amount of resources, but some users seem to feel that the interface is a bit clunky.

Jetpack Workflow – Jetpack offers regular webinars, training sessions, a knowledge base, and a support team to help navigate the system. The accounting-specific templates simplify the process of documenting services and processes. The reporting gives you a quick update on where everything stands so that nothing slips through the cracks.

Price

Karbon – Karbon charges per user, based on the team or business plan. The Team Plan is $59/user per month if paid annually. The Business Plan runs $79/user per month if paid annually. The price difference is in the additional features. There’s also an Enterprise Plan that is offered at custom pricing for teams of 20 to 20,000.

Aero Workflow – Aero offers three different plans. 1-5 users runs $108 a month if paid annually or $135 paid monthly. 6-25 users runs $200 a month if paid annually or $250 if paid monthly. 26-50 users runs $295 a month is paid annually or $365 if paid monthly. 

Jetpack Workflow – Jetpack Workflow offers two simple unlimited plans. Both have workflow features, but the Scale Plan includes capacity management and scheduling features so that you can run all aspects of your business. The Organize Plan runs $45/user per month and the Scale Plan runs $49/user per month if you choose the yearly plan. If you prefer to pay monthly, then the Organize Plan runs $56/user per month and the Scale Plan runs $63/user per month.

Customer Service

Karbon – Karbon has extensive resources, a fast response time, and various contact methods such as chat and email but no phone support.

Aero Workflow – Aero has a lot of helpful resources such as webinars, a knowledge base, and even ‘white glove’ help. As far as their response time goes, they point you to one of their resources before connecting you with a real person. Their live chat is available during business hours, but there is no phone number or email readily available.

Jetpack Workflow -Jetpack has more than 30 templates for accounting-specific processes in their resource stash, along with tutorial videos and webinars. They have a fast response time if you run into any issues, and they have many ways of staying in touch, such as via phone, chat, or inbox.

Wrapping Up

So what’s the best accounting practice management software for your firm? Jetpack Workflow is designed for smaller accounting and bookkeeping firms, while Aero Workflow caters to small to mid-sized businesses and Karbon to enterprises.

Karbon is a work management system that focuses on the automation process with their automatic client data collection. Their software also includes a recurring task generation feature and document storage. While their features are one of their strengths, they lack the approval workflow feature that the other two have.

Aero Workflow is a project management platform that includes time & project tracking, scheduling tasks, and creating and storing processes. They try taking the to-do list one step further by creating a clear view of the firm’s work and what needs attention for the day.

Jetpack Workflow is the hub that everything else revolves around. It offers an array of comprehensive features such as pre-made templates that help you quickly create a seamless workflow, capacity planning tools for allocation in real-time, and a dashboard with reporting, so you know where every aspect of the business stands. It also has the simplest of all the pricing plans.