Many of us know the benefits of using a robust Client Relationship Management (CRM) software for your accounting firm or practice. But as accountants, CPAs, and bookkeepers, CRMs fall short in one critical approach ... They're built for salespeople.
And while it's a great tool for managing a sales pipeline (leads, prospects, etc), things can quickly fall apart when you start tracking client information inside of a CRM (which for an accounting practice, is common!) Project management tools are not built to hand hundreds or thousands of clients, and CRMs are not built to handle hundreds of jobs across your client and team. With that in mind...we recommend: Recurring Client Management (RCM) Applications Recurring client management applications are unique because they're built to handle large client lists, and track ongoing client jobs and engagements. Essentially, being the "second half" of the equation. CRM applications are built to manage leads and prospects, Recurring client management (RCM) is built to track everything after the engagement. Let's look at the core differences in functionality between CRM and RCM: CRM:
- Manage sales pipeline
- Goal is to get a client or customer
- Typically managed by a salesperson
- Manage recurring client work and workflows
- Goal is to track client engagements and team management
- Typically managed by firm owner and practitioners