Accounting Automation in Practice Management: Revolutionize Your Workflow

If the only technology an accountant needed was a calculator, improving efficiency would just come down to who can type the fastest (without messing up). But, like everything else, today’s accounting industry relies on advanced software for managing books, handling invoices, and communicating with clients.

Accounting automation is one important element of software for accountants. If you couldn’t guess from the title, that’s what we’re going to focus on here. 

We’ll talk about what accounting automation is and why it’s integral to a great practice management platform. When we’re done, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Trust us—it’s pretty transformative stuff.

What Is Accounting Automation?

Accounting automation helps accounting firms streamline numerous operations. It is one of several features in modern practice management software that automatically handles redundant tasks, helping reduce human error, which often stems from the mental fatigue of repetitive work. 

This creates efficiency throughout the firm and frees accountants to focus on their most important tasks—like growing the business.

Accounting automation is found all over Canopy’s practice management platform, helping you handle everything from invoicing to complex (and customizable) workflows. 

For example, it generates invoices and templates with predefined rules, monitors projects, and reduces manual data entry. Anything that reduces the number of repetitive accounting tasks and processes that used to be the downside of your job is terrific in our book, and that’s precisely what you get from all of this automation in the management of accounting processes.

The result? More efficiency. Greater accuracy. Better productivity.

Voila!

The Benefits of Automation in Accounting

Accounting automation helps accountants by:

• Reducing manual data entry and human errors
• Saving time on routine tasks
• Improving data accuracy and consistency
• Enabling real-time financial reporting and analysis
• Enhancing compliance and audit trails

Before you start planning your long afternoons at the golf course, focus on the highest-value activities that take advantage of all these features. Think about big-picture stuff like strategic planning, scaling your business, and branching out into niche accounting services.

Automated accounting processes provide:

• Streamlined workflows: Accounting automation standardizes accounts payable and receivable, customizes templates, automates recurring processes, tracks your client interactions, generates reports, and so much more. Get more done, take on more clients, and enjoy being more organized.

• Reduced errors: Minor data entry mistakes add up to big problems. Automation ensures reconciliations and financial operations are consistent and accurate every time. Fewer errors lead to increased client trust, as well as easier financial regulation compliance and simplified audit review reports.

• Boosted efficiency: Your job will feel less tedious by breaking free of the unending redundancy. Focus on aspects of your firm where you can generate the greatest value from your work. And sure, you’ve earned yourself a little extra time on the golf course as well.

• Enhanced client service: Automated processes don’t just save time with ongoing tasks. They also help you pull up client data a lot faster and easier so you can assist customers quickly. If they want you to clarify a complex transaction or need additional insights about their financial information, you’re able to serve them with a significantly shorter response time.
  
  

Practical Applications of Automation in Accounting Firms

Let’s take a quick look at the specific, day-to-day processes automation can help you with.

Automated workflow management enhances your firm’s standardization of processes so nothing falls through the cracks. Enjoy real-time task tracking to monitor client projects, manage deadlines and due dates, and set alerts for urgent tasks. Practice management software helps you share documents across your team and keep an eye on every detail for each client.

Document management simplifies document retrieval, keeps all files secure, and helps you manage bulk actions to save time. Copy large quantities, organize folders of client data, create client templates for documents everyone has to sign, and then make it easy to pass them back and forth with clients via a client portal.

Simplify billing and payments with automated invoices and reminders, expense tracking, and more. Manage billable hours, allocate costs, and track client project time. Automate payment processing so clients can easily pay for your services via credit card or ACH.

Key Features to Look for in Accounting Automation Tools

A single accounting platform that pulls in all these automation tools can completely transform your operation, and such a comprehensive change might feel overwhelming. We’ll keep it simple—here’s what to look for in the right practice management platform. It must:

• Centralize and customize client lists.
• Provide clients with a branded client portal.
• Make it easy for clients to pay invoices via the portal.
• Manage email seamlessly.
• Use integrated tools to communicate internally.
• Store, eSign, and share documents securely.  
• Track project time.
• Generate invoices.
• Use powerful analytics to drive decisions.
• Protect data with compliant security.
• Receive award-winning support via phone, chat, email, and video.
• Provide on-demand learning from 500+ articles and live sessions.
• Use modern cloud-based infrastructure.
• Integrate documents, templates, and CRM tools.

If you want to make the decision really simple, simply reach out to us!

Case Study: How Automation Transformed Practice Management

Our client Appletree was dealing with all the headaches that come with a busy, successful accounting firm. Their processes were inefficient and outdated. They relied on separate tools for different tasks, meaning all of their client data was sectioned off and difficult to share. As they tried to expand their team, it just showed how badly they needed a solution.

Good news! By implementing Canopy, Appletree modernized its firm with our centralized, cloud-based platform. Now, everyone can collaborate and see the data they need to access. Tax questionnaires, reminders, real-time insights, and client services are all automated. They’ve reduced the time spent on data collection, consolidated client management, billing, and communications all under the same hood, and it gave them the boost they needed to grow their team. The impact was so significant they grew their organization from 12 people to 33!

Be like Appletree, and learn to avoid project management software pitfalls—just like they did!

How to Get Started with Accounting Automation

Getting started with Canopy’s practice management solutions is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Evaluate your current workflow to identify the features you need to improve.

2. Research the market of software platforms that fit your needs (Hint: We have the solution).

3. Train your staff and implement your shift to Canopy gradually over time.

That’s it!

Now that you understand the features and benefits the right practice management platform can provide for your firm, why not give Canopy a try? 

Canopy + Your Accounting Firm = It all adds up.  

Schedule your demo today!