Accountants Guide to Integrating a CRM

Client relationship management (CRM) software helps companies across different industries manage their client connections and communication, enabling businesses to provide the best user experience. 

CRM software designed specifically for accountants helps your firm accomplish this goal by bringing together tools, features, and efficiencies. It does this by connecting top accounting software platforms to your CRM. 

We’ll discuss how Canopy’s CRM and accounting integration makes it possible to manage all aspects of your accounting practice—all within a single application that does it all. If you’ll forgive the pun, CRM and accounting integration by Canopy makes your client communication and accounting services far less taxing.

Below, we’ll discuss the most important features to look for in a platform that brings all of your CRM and accounting data together, looking at specific integrations Canopy enables and how this will help you overcome common challenges.

Most Important Features When Integrating CRM and Accounting Software

When bringing your CRM and accounting together, you want to reduce context switching, or the need to continuously switch between applications for different tasks. For example, incorporating email communication into the same environment as a client’s documents, reporting, and other tasks reduces fatigue and human error. 

Bringing specific client data from multiple streams into one unified platform also helps eliminate duplicate entries and wasted entry time while reducing entry errors. Additionally, look for the following:

• Automated tasks: Having client data and communications synced to a single platform reduces the amount of manual data entry you perform for invoicing, payment data, and record-keeping.
• Revenue tracking: Trace payments and income to specific campaigns, deals, or customers.
• Real-time data syncing: Data shared between CRM and accounting platforms are continuously updated, so you’re working with the most recent transaction details. 
• Complete financial data management: All of your core accounting information and operations should be easy to utilize, including expense tracking, invoicing, calculating taxes, reporting, managing payroll, etc.
• AI-enhanced communication: Your CRM can help automate email communications to simplify common correspondence, maintain accuracy, and save time.
• Document management: Cloud-based document storage, templates for accounting tasks, and other features help ensure important data is easy to manage and safely kept on file.
• Tracking and reporting regulatory data: Reports, audits, and data required to ensure compliance with regulations should be easy to produce.

Canopy’s Top CRM and Accounting Integrations

The value of integrating CRM with accounting software lies in streamlining financial and customer data, improving efficiency, reducing manual errors, and providing real-time insights for better decision-making.

Canopy’s all-in-one accounting practice management solution integrates your email, calendars, communications, and bookkeeping through powerful CRM and accounting integration.

QuickBooks Online (QBO)

The logical place to start with any list about integrating accounting options is with QuickBooks. With Canopy’s QuickBooks Online integration, we sync:

• Classes
• Categories
• Locations
• Contacts
• Invoices
• Service Items

The following are other top application integrations for CRM and accounting available directly inside Canopy: 

• Xero: Integrate Xero to send invoices and accept payments, using its connected banking system to improve your billing workflow. 
• FreshBooks: FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting program for invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and financial reporting. You can use it to streamline billing for your Canopy contacts.
• Salesforce: Find, create, and update this top CRM’s records and campaigns directly in your Canopy contact information.
• Zoho: Zoho provides a CRM suite of productivity tools and email project management. Canopy lets you use Zoho’s mail, forms, and campaign features directly with your Canopy contacts.
• Transcripts: With Canopy’s Transcripts integration, you can gather years of transcript data from the IRS and tabulate that data.

Zapier

If you think of these CRM and accounting integrations as a powerhouse of features and tools to make you more organized, productive, and efficient, that would make Zapier the ultimate overachiever by comparison.

Zapier connects an entire ecosystem of other applications and services, including powerful CRM and accounting integrations you can use in Canopy. Zapier’s integrations include CRM and accounting features like:

• Lead management
• Syncing contacts
• Task automation
• Email campaigns
• Capturing data for CRM records
• Managing invoices
• Tracking expenses
• Processing payments
• Reporting financial data

Benefits of Integrated CRM and Accounting Software

All the tools and features we’ve discussed are designed to help you provide the absolute best service to your clients while simultaneously lightening your load.

Canopy’s CRM for accountants empowers you with better control over every stage of client communication and data sharing so you can get more done in less time—with less effort. 

What you gain is more than just efficiency:

• Make fewer errors: Redundant tasks lead to fatigue, which leads to careless errors. 
• Eliminate duplicate data: Working separately in multiple applications can lead to duplicate client data, which not only takes extra time but can also lead to messy accounting errors.
• End multiple entries: There’s no point in entering data multiple times to create finished reports or relay details to clients. Bring it all into one place and enter data once in a single location.
• Improve data accuracy: In addition to reducing manual errors, you’re also bringing all your separate data into a place where those details can be analyzed and optimized. That same data is used to crank out more accurate final reports.
• Enjoy better client relationship management: All this would be pointless if it didn’t improve your connection to clients, right? Streamlining processes, grouping client data the way it serves you best, and even automating common details using AI helps you keep an eye on every stage of client communication while saving you time.
  
  

What Does a Successful CRM and Accounting Integration Involve?

Every integration is unique, including the platform you import data into, what programs are the source of data you are integrating, and how that data is managed. The following serves as an example of the steps you take to integrate Canopy with QuickBooks Online (QBO).

• Go to your Canopy profile.
• Select “Settings.”
• Click Integrations.
• Under QuickBooks, click “Manage.”
• Select “Start” for Clients.
• Enter your QBO credentials.
• Approve the connection between Canopy and QBO.
• Review the QBO client list for synchronization with Canopy.
• Address “Duplicates,” “Unmatched,” “Matches,” and “New Clients.”
• Ensure clients are labeled correctly as individuals or businesses in QBO.
• Ensure names, rates, tax rates, and codes are identical.
• Verify service items in Canopy. Go to “Settings > Billing Settings > Service Items.”
• Click “Start” to begin syncing.
• Payments created in Canopy will sync to QBO’s undeposited funds account.
• Manual payments and payments processed through Canopy will also sync one way to QBO.
• Clients created or edited in QBO or Canopy will sync between the two systems.
• Click the “Access” button to view clients in QBO from Canopy.
• Invoices created in Canopy pull service items, locations, categories, and classes from QBO.
• Invoices created in Canopy sync to QBO, but QBO invoices do not sync to Canopy.
• Use the “Access” button to view the invoice in QBO.
• Classes and locations are managed solely in QBO.
• Enable classes and locations in QBO by going to “Gearbox > Company Settings > Categories” and turning on classes or locations.
• Update service items in Canopy by going to “Settings > Billing Settings > Service Items” tab.
• If you need to start the integration process again, go to “Integrations > QuickBooks Online > Manage” and select “Restart Integration.”

Common Challenges in Integrating CRM and Accounting Software 

CRM and accounting integration isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Bringing together your daily communications and data isn’t easy.

Operational Integration Challenges

You have to think through all of the features you use from separate programs and ensure all of those features exist in your main platform. Keeping up with all of the features and paths of data can be overwhelming.

Integration is a long process that often requires weeks of coordinated planning. This time can drain your firm’s resources and, if faced without professional guidance, can induce a lot of stress.

Technical Challenges

The longer you have used applications like the most popular accounting programs, the more data you have to import and integrate. You’re responsible for details like ensuring historical data is accurate, that there isn’t unintentional duplicate data, that data fields are all properly assigned, and all of your accounting processes are represented correctly. 

Integration also involves using special migration tools that can be tricky to use correctly.

Canopy provides professional help for implementation and training, but we also offer extensive how-to videos and guides for those who want to navigate integrations on their own.

Why Turn to Canopy?

Canopy provides collaborative, hands-on implementation to guide you through deployment at every step. Implementation typically takes 6–8 weeks, and particularly complex projects can require additional time. Throughout the process, we work through:

• Importing your client list
• File migration 
• Client management
• Workflow basics
• Customizing workflow
• Time and billing
• Reviewing document management
• Team training

Our recommended consulting partners help you optimize your internal processes, upskill your employees, and provide everything you need to succeed. 

We’re proud of our CCWW Excellence Award, Silver Stevie Award, and multiple G2 awards, so when we say Canopy will give you the industry’s best service, we really mean it!

We also provide training, an extensive knowledge base, file extraction tools, and all the support you could ask for. 

Speaking of asking for support, here’s how to get in touch!

• Chat with support.
• Fill out our contact form.
• Call us at 855-616-7305.

Give Canopy a try with our free trial today!