83% of Advisory Accounting Professionals say Tracking Down Documents is a Bigger Problem Than Client Appointment “No Shows”

Draper, Utah - December 7, 2022

New research conducted by Canopy, the leading cloud-based practice management platform for accounting professionals, has found that accountants suffer significantly lower productivity, as well as decreased client retention, revenue, and overall satisfaction when they do not have a single, cloud-based document management platform for use. 

The study of 150 accountants based in the U.S. uncovered that 69% of accountants say they spend too much time gathering documents from their clients, while 79% say they spend too much time tracking down files inside their firm. To underscore this point, 47% of accountants report their current document management strategy is a broken process and 79% want a better solution.  

"As you can see, many of the results of this survey reveal pains firms are experiencing surrounding their current system—or lack thereof—as well as disparate, lackluster technology that only partially addresses their document management needs, " said Davis Bell, CEO, Canopy. "On top of these concerns, the state of the accounting industry—with many seasoned professionals retiring and others struggling to find new qualified talent—has made it even more crucial for firms to lean on effective technology to increase efficiency, improve the client experience, and manage documents securely."

Accountants can increase productivity with a streamlined, cloud-based document management platform that consolidates internal firm and external information. 

• 71% of accountants have experienced delays because they couldn’t access a document that was on the computer of a coworker
• Over three-fourths of accountants surveyed have worked on a document only to realize that a coworker was working on a newer version of the same document. 
• 83% of advisory accounting professionals say tracking down documents is a bigger problem than client appointment “no shows”
• On average, productivity goes up 51% when accountants are able to work on client documents on a shared platform

Of the accountants surveyed, 81% of accountants said that transitioning to cloud-based software made remote work more manageable and despite three-fourths of accountants using separate systems for client and coworker documents, 81% want those to be on one platform. 

“Document management is an integral part of a holistic practice management solution, like Canopy’s that can change the life of an accounting firm,” continued Bell. 

As the survey showed, 86% of accountants that use one document management platform say centralizing all client information including eDocuments, billing info, payroll documents, cashflow info, and more, helps them operate more efficiently.

Review the complete report here.

Research Methodology

Canopy partnered with TrendCandy to conduct a survey of 150 accountants based in the United States. TrendCandy Research is a leader in thought-leadership survey data and trends.

About Canopy

Canopy is an award-winning, cloud-based accounting practice management software suite designed to increase efficiency and boost revenue for accounting firms. It offers tools for client management, document management, workflow, and time & billing, as well as specialty compliance solutions that help accountants obtain IRS transcripts and resolve notices quickly.  Canopy was ranked by Capterra as the #1 Top Performing Accounting Practice Management Software in 2022 and included in The Women's Tech Council’s 2022 Shatter list, highlighting Canopy’s inclusive and diverse culture of innovation and well-being. Canopy’s solutions are SOC2 certified and data encrypted to ensure personal information is secure. Connect with us @CanopyTax and https://www.getcanopy.com/.

Media contact:

Jenny Olson

mPR, Inc. for Canopy

310-773-2568

jenny@mpublicrelations.com