Benefits of CRM for Accountants

In today’s technology-driven world, we rely heavily on connections with teams and clients. But this is an issue when the various applications we rely on are islands unto themselves.

Client relationship management (CRM) software is designed to solve this issue.

In an exceedingly complex, specialized industry like accounting, professionals need a way to continuously gain visibility and insight over multiple streams of client data. The benefits of CRM platforms help accountants maximize their time while forming better connections with clients. 

We’ll discuss the benefits of CRM systems designed around the needs of accountants, the challenges they resolve, and how to choose the right CRM for your firm.

What Is a CRM?

For years, businesses have had to jump from one program to the next for client communication, using different apps for emails, organizational tools, and scheduling, alongside actual accounting processes. A client relationship management (CRM) platform eliminates the inefficiency of siloed communication through separate applications, bringing all client data into a single, centralized location that streamlines client communications and provides better data visibility. 

This allows accountants to group contacts, enhance sales and marketing efforts, and improve client interactions. All data from multiple integrated apps can be viewed and analyzed from a single dashboard and further transformed into actionable insights for an improved service experience.

Why Accountants Need a CRM

The right CRM can help accountants increase customer retention rates by 27%. That’s because the benefits of a CRM platform combine to help accountants better serve their clients. 

Tracking data about clients from multiple sources is hard enough, but sharing that data with each member of the firm who is involved in working with specific clients is even more challenging. Accountants need a CRM platform to help with multiple areas of their central, daily operations:

• Managing clients: Accountants juggle multiple clients, each with complex financial profiles. Different elements of client communication, interaction, and actual bookkeeping exist under multiple platforms. A CRM platform can bring client details, tax history, and other elements into a single data stream. 
• Improving workflow: A CRM can assist with recurring tasks that otherwise require bouncing back and forth between multiple programs, saving time and preventing errors or missed opportunities that stem from poor data visibility. 
• Streamlining project management: Accountants need a way to manage everything from scheduling to time tracking, logging communications to handling sensitive data. A single CRM platform helps them improve organization, manage compliance with less difficulty, and provide clients with a more personalized service experience. 
• Making more informed decisions: Having all of your client data readily available and easier to access helps accountants be more strategic about running their practices.

With a comprehensive view of clients and their financial data, improved reporting, and real-time data sharing between team members, accountants are able to place their focus on individualized attention to clients.

What Are the Key Benefits of CRM for Accountants?

CRMs offer powerful solutions accountants can use to simplify processes, improve team-member and client communications, and enjoy better visibility over processes.

These are some of the main benefits of CRM platforms that can help accountants improve operational efficiency and better serve their clients.

Integrate Tax Resolution and Accounting with Other Client Data

You are able to save time by auto-populating tax forms, sharing these documents with your team, and providing them to clients in real time. This accounting data and the finalized tax forms exist under the same platform as correspondence and client services, so you have a comprehensive background on client interactions, helping you align your services to their needs.

Simplify Document Management

Paperless, cloud-based document storage provides easy access for workers based on log-in privileges. This reduces the challenges in sharing documents across your organization and makes it easy to find every document for all of your clients.

Improve Billing and Cash Flow

With easy online billing and invoicing, you can enjoy more consistent, on-time payments from clients and reduce your accounts receivable time.

Make Informed Decisions

The right CRM doesn’t just connect you to all your client data; it provides details for reports and analysis so you can make strategic decisions about your practice based on client retention rates, profitability, team productivity, and other vital metrics.

Communicate More Easily with Your Team

A CRM’s centralized dashboard lets your team track projects, deadlines, individual responsibilities, and other important details. Sharing this data with the right people saves time and reduces the likelihood that messages are getting missed via email and other forms of communication.

Track Your Time

You can identify ways to make your practice even more efficient by uncovering bottleneck locations while making it easier to manage client billable hours.

By leveraging these CRM benefits, accountants can save time spent on daily activities while simultaneously providing their clients with an elevated experience.

Challenges Accountants Face That Are Resolved by the Right CRM

Accountants face unique challenges that can be greatly improved by bringing all of their client data into a single application:

• Fragmented information: When client data is scattered across numerous platforms, managing separate email threads, spreadsheets, and other content is difficult and inefficient.
• Communication gaps: Without centralized, real-time visibility of client interactions, responses are delayed, messages get missed, and clients are given the impression the team doesn’t provide personalized care.
• Time-consuming processes: Jumping from one program to the next isn’t just confusing—it’s inefficient, draining your team of time and resources.
• Lack of scalability: Scaling your business requires a concentrated, strategic effort. You have to focus on the big picture and know every detail of operations. Without the right CRM, your company resources are wasted on menial and redundant tasks.
• Limited collaboration: Without the right CRM solution, teams struggle to efficiently work together on shared projects, with data spread over multiple platforms, each requiring individual credentials.
• Weak data security practices: When communication is spread across different applications, sensitive data may be at risk of getting into the wrong hands, which also raises concerns over compliance in handling sensitive client details.

These challenges highlight some of the critical issues accounting firms struggle with. The solution to these challenges is a feature-rich CRM platform designed with accountants in mind. Now, practices are able to do the following with ease:

• Provide real-time client access: Clients can access data related to their accounts, like billing details and invoices.
• Automate tax resolution processes: The right CRM helps accountants easily manage tax resolution processes while making it easy to share that data with relevant team members.
• Track historical and current client data: Having instant access to your client’s historical documents provides insights into the progression of your interactions and their past financial details.

Choosing the Right CRM for Your Accounting Firm: Why Canopy?

When you’re deciding which CRM platform is right for your accounting firm, it’s important to understand how fundamental it will be to your practice. The right CRM is elemental to operational efficiency and providing your best service to clients.

Canopy’s CRM for accountants provides:

• Centralized client management
• Secure cloud-based document storage
• Powerful communication tools
• A feature-rich client portal
• Task and workflow automation
• Templates for accounting tasks and processes
• Time tracking and billing
• Reporting and analytics
• Client onboarding tools
• Shared team access
• Role-based permissions for security
• Easy mobile accessibility
• Powerful integrations

If you’re ready to enjoy the efficiency of customized dashboards, centralized client data, detailed reporting, bulk actions, and integrated client communication, start a free trial of Canopy’s CRM platform today!