OfficeTools is a practice management software for accounting firms. It’s also one of the earliest Workflow tools, starting in 1999. They offer both a cloud application and a higher-tier version, called “Workspace”.
Their focus is toward organizing and collaborating with your team.
Both versions come with some key benefits, including unlimited clients and customizable fields in your dashboard. Unlike some other tools, there are some things the “Cloud” program offers that aren’t available in the “Workspace” version (and vice versa).
For instance:
- Cloud allows you to see the client billing status, while Workspace does not
- Workspace includes a feature to create invoice templates, but Cloud doesn’t
- Both versions allow you to send bills via email
- The Workspace version comes with more scheduling tools/capabilities than Cloud
- And the Workspace plan includes a number of integrations beyond those of Cloud
Pros and Cons of Office Tools Practice Management Software
Pros:
- The ability to invoice from your practice management system
- Integrate with scanning tools (Canon Scanner for the Workspace plan only)
- Directly connects to Microsoft Office 365 to pull in contacts and manage communication
Cons:
- According to reviews from G2, the software may be a bit slower
- Implementation is a high hurdle (again from reviews), meaning getting started is slower, in some cases
What to Look for in an Alternative
Office Tools is a fine tool. No doubt about it. They saw the need for an online, future-focused practice management system very early on. That said, in the “Software-as-a-Service” (SaaS) age, a number of accounting-specific solutions now exist.
But you can’t test new tools all the time, right? So to choose one that works for your business takes three key considerations.
Clarity
Clarity means knowing what you need and why. Find this by looking at two areas on a potential tools website — features and integrations.
What features do they offer? Watch a video (or two) about how it works and determine if it’s useful to how you work (or want to work). Then, see what other software products they team up (integrate with).
All of them will likely offer Quickbooks, and maybe Xero. But what about your proposal software, and if they don’t, do they have a proposal tool, too?
Essentially, you’re imagining your world built inside of this practice management tool. Does that vision look appealing?
Get everything you need to manage projects and meet deadlines.
Simplicity
After all, you and your team use this thing for work, everyday. There are two common hurdles, when it comes to using applications in the workplace — initial implementation and adoption.
Implementing the new tool always comes with a learning curve, but that mountain turns into a molehill with the right training and onboarding resources. We’re talking tutorials, knowledge base articles, and even hands-on help from a trained expert.
Adoption is how well you and the team use your chosen solution, each and every day. If you have a great hub for all of your processes, service templates, and capacity planning but no one uses it…Does that really make sense?
This is where the next consideration comes into play.
Power
If you’re going to have it, the tool may as well help. Help both the firm and your team. Remember the word “adoption.” Nothing gets adoption quicker than by providing a benefit to its user, your team.
If they can onboard clients faster, automate redundant work, lower stress, and improve performance — you won’t be able to pull them away from that app.
So, What’s Our Take on a Solid Alternative? Jetpack Workflow
Jetpack Workflow, is a practice management platform designed to help accounting pros manage client work, your firm’s capacity, and get the big picture of your business. focused on helping Accounting Professionals effortlessly create, manage, and complete client work.
What sets us apart? Here are a few ways
Easy-to-Use
Remember that whole team buy-in and clarity thing? Our features are built with the business, team, and client needs in mind.
With things like templates, to ensure everyone knows how each process and services works, to custom labels to minimize communication clutter, and recurring tasks that make dropping the ball less frequent — we strive for genuine usefulness at every level.
Ready and Able Customer Support and Training
Practice management isn’t simply another app in your tech stack. It’s a hub to store all the functions of your service business.
That’s an important job.
Jetpack Workflow is there with a support team to ensure your setup and implementation, every step of the way.
Simple Pricing
With Jetpack Workflow, we have two plans and simple, per-user pricing.
Each plan includes unlimited:
- Clients
- Storage
- Notes
- Integrations
- And anything else under the sun!
Simple plans (monthly or yearly), no long term contracts or additional fees.
14 Day Free Trial
Want to give Jetpack Workflow a test drive? We offer all new users 14 Free Days to test drive the application (and this isn’t a demo account either… your free trial account will roll directly over into your account if you decide to continue). If you’re looking for an Office Tools Pro Alternative, take and look and review Jetpack Workflow for yourself.
