Why Accounting Firms Buy Workflow Management Software

Accounting workflow management software is not a new technology to the industry.

Yet, there are hundreds of firms who have yet discovered the value this software plays into getting their work done on time, every time.

Even growing services and departments like client accounting services (CAS) are often just discovering that a beneficial tool exists for them to utilize!

So whether you are investigating workflow software for you or your firm or trying to understand the value, this quick guide is for you.

5 Reasons Accountants and Firms Utilize Accounting Workflow Software

Since 2016, we’ve gathered tons of intel from accountants, firm owners, and customers of Jetpack Workflow. This not only helps us make a better product, but understand the motivations and needs of those in the industry.

So why are firms looking at accounting workflow software as a necessary technology for their success? We’ve discovered that there are typically five main reasons. And most likely, one (or a few) of these may resonate with you.

1. Experience Rapid Growth (Employees, Clients)

Your firm is growing fast, whether that is clients, employees, or most likely both.

Yay growth!

But quickly this can cause panic. Often what can happen during fast growth is it leads to your firm being late or missing deadlines. Or it can cause poor customer service.

This means you and your firm need to find a way to keep your level of performance and quality high. As well as monitoring who’s working on what and to stop missing deadlines.

This is a popular reason why accountants and firm owners look for a solution. And it’s where accounting workflow software shines best.

2. Firm is Remote or Plans On Being Virtual

During COVID-19, pretty much every firm moved to working remotely. But since then, many have also stayed virtual or do not have clients coming to an office.

This can help create a better work/life balance and make accountants days more flexible.

However, since you are not in the office with your colleagues it can be challenging to know what client work is done, being worked on, or is waiting for something. As well as the general status of certain work.

Again, you may find you are late or missing client deadlines.

Going remote may also force firms to leave their legacy systems that are installed on premise or require the team to be physically in the same location to access.

The good news here is more companies are building software via cloud technology. Yet surprisingly, there are many firms and CPAs using outdated systems not built in the cloud.

But for firms working virtually, they want something much easier to access, wherever and whenever. Hence accounting workflow software.

3. Need Comfort and Confidence to Handle Recurring Work

With any accounting work, you’ll have recurring tasks that most clients will have overlap on. And there are better ways to manage these tasks or even automate them, freeing up more time.

Here’s what we discovered when we survey hundreds of customers:

• The firm is having trouble finding a solution that handles recurring client work well.
• They may have tried many various solutions in other tech categories, like project management tools (Monday.com, Clickup, Asana, etc.), but can’t seem to get it to work for their case.
• They don’t feel confident that their work won’t be lost or that they’ve done it right. And they can’t get the time of day from other solutions for help specific to their needs.
• They want something that is easy to set up and gives them confidence it will work in days not weeks.
• They want to know they can ask for help and support and get a response.

4. A Big Change is Coming to Their Business

Something big is on the horizon for the firm. This could be acquiring another firm or hiring a new partner to join the business.

And when these things happen, firms want to ensure a smooth transition of clients, work, and new team members. However, this is the time where client work can get lost, deadlines missed, and overall operations get messy.

This could be mean two things:

• To ensure no workflow issues arise, they bring on an accounting workflow management tool prior to the big business changes for smoother client transitions.
• Or they’ve never invested in workflow software before, but realize it is necessary as they acquire new clients and employees.

5. Experiencing A Personal Life Change

If firm owners are looking into workflow software, it can also be due to a huge personal life change.

This could be moving to a new state and working remotely. It could be the birth of a child, where the owner won’t be working the same long hours they once were. Or maybe just simple self-reflection of not wanting to work grueling hours.

Typically after some reflection, this owner would like to spend less time on admin-related tasks and free up more of their time while having less stress.

By setting up client workflows and task automation, we’ve seen accountants save 10+ hours of time a week and 2+ hours a day during tax season.

Plus, if they have other members of their team, it makes the client work transition much easier too. That way everyone in the firm is accountable, knows where files are, and client work status.

The Problems Jetpack Workflow Solves for Accounting Firms

Of course if we talk about accounting workflow software, we have to share more about our technology!

We’ve pioneered workflow software for accounts. And there are not many solutions built specifically to solve these challenges.

In fact, most competitors you’d probably consider are actually accounting practice management software. While there is some overlap in what we do, that is a completely different category and use cases.

Typically, accounting practice management tools have A LOT of features, which may be too robust for your needs. And often more expensive and takes more time to learn or adopt.

This is no dig at the category, as those tools can be very powerful if it fits your needs.

Here’s the problems we help firms solve fast and efficiently:

• The best way to manage client tasks and deadlines.
• No more spreadsheet or post-it note chaos to keep track of work.
• Enable everyone to know who’s working on what, no matter where they are working.
• Get recurring work for multiple clients better organized and even automated.
• A simple and better workflow system due to business change (acquiring firm, new hires, etc.).
• Creates work/life balance and decreases time working on admin tasks.

If you are interested in learning more about Jetpack Workflow, you can start your free trial here or schedule a short demo with our team.