What to Look for in the Best CRM for Accounting Firms

Accounting firms have a unique relationship with their clients, including their fiscal responsibilities and dedication to accuracy and transparency in their work. But, providing excellent service also comes with the challenge of managing client needs, individualized preferences, and their widely diverse business structures.

Client Relationship Management (CRM) software helps companies in every industry by providing a centralized view of client communications, automated tasks, and data analysis. It’s designed to improve overall efficiency while enhancing communications and leading to better connections to customers.

Accountants have needs that are highly specific and niche to their industry and can’t be fully supported by general CRM software. This includes managing regulatory compliance related to their field, grouping client data based on industry-specific criteria, integrating accounting applications, and numerous other features.

Below, we’ll discuss the importance of choosing the best CRM for accounting firms, looking at the features that make the biggest difference, and how this translates into better service for their clients.

Understanding the Unique Needs of Accounting Firms

Accounting firms face unique everyday challenges. Not only does accounting demand excellent client communications and specialized accounting skills, but it also has a long list of regulatory requirements for protecting confidential client data.

Accountants have to remain current on the finer details of tax codes and security rules, while accessing large amounts of client-specific data, not just for tabulating client accounts but for managing other client data. Add to this the equally critical role of managing client communications.

Features Required by a Quality CRM for Accounting Firms

While an accountant’s work centers around making all of the numbers add up, communicating with the client is just as central to a firm’s success as the accuracy of their work. 

To succeed, accounting firms require a CRM platform that can bring every element of their operations into focus for maximum efficiency, under the most security-conscious conditions. 

Here are some of those vital features and what they look like:

Secure Client Data Management

Safeguarding sensitive client data is critical for accountants. It’s a fundamental bond of trust and also a regulatory requirement.

The best CRM software for accountants will include encryption, role-based access controls, and secure data storage. All of these security measures ensure that private financial data is always secure, and only the right personnel can access it.

Workflow Automation and Task Management

A CRM centered around accounting firms offers automated processes for important tasks that are routine, redundant, and resource-heavy. This includes simplifying client follow-ups, invoicing, and document management, along with minimizing manual tasks tied to direct communications. 

This frees accountants to focus on tasks requiring their expertise while also minimizing errors stemming from tedious manual processes.

Integration with Accounting Software

When an accounting firm can integrate QuickBooks and other accounting software directly into the CRM platform, not only does it enhance productivity and simplify where data is managed, but accountants can also synchronize that data to manage invoices, view transactions, and analyze this data without duplication errors or additional data entry. 

This is more than just a time-saver: It exponentially simplifies multiple industry processes into a natural workflow.

Customizable Reporting and Analytics

The ability to customize reports and gain insights from real-time analytics helps accountants make better decisions about the work they do for clients. Having information as it develops means being able to adapt to client preferences based on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter the most. 

Accountants can identify trends and allocate their resources to make better decisions.

Compliance and Regulatory Support

Tax law, regulations dealing specifically with the financial sector, and data privacy are all strict standards accountants must adhere to. A CRM specifically catering to the needs of accounting firms can provide tools for compliance management, reducing potential fees and other penalties for non-compliance.

Features may include:

• Built-in templates for required documentation
• Automated reminders for regulatory deadlines
• Features for following strict security protocols

Client Communication Tools

A CRM platform wouldn’t be complete without robust communication features. For accounting firms, this includes secure messaging, email integration, and a client portal to centralize and simplify time-sensitive responses to client questions.

Essential Criteria for Choosing the Right CRM

Considering the necessity for all of these features that accounting firms rely on, what is the best way to evaluate a CRM that’s right for your firm? Consider how the following can help simplify your daily operations, reduce the time you invest in essential tasks, and help you grow your business.

Scalability and Flexibility

A CRM for accounting firms should help them grow by streamlining processes and automating repetitive tasks. When firms can take on a higher volume of clients and manage them with greater accuracy and efficiency, they can grow while simultaneously improving the attention to detail clients expect.

Customization is also key, so accountants can tailor specific features to their demanding workflow and adapt to unanticipated changes in the market.

User-Friendly Interface

The more instinctive and easy-to-use a CRM platform is, the less downtime an accounting firm will face in training employees and the less time it will spend changing to an integrated platform.

A program’s usability includes:

• Drag-and-drop functionality
• Centralized dashboard
• Simplified data entry
• Generating reports
• Unified client communications

Pricing and Overall Value

All the best features are meaningless if they don’t meet the user’s budgeting expectations. 

A platform’s essential functionality should be affordable for firms that can’t make use of certain specialized features, but it should also be easy for them to scale into a more expensive price model when their operations have grown to require a wider set of capabilities.

Vendor Support and Training

Comprehensive support and training resources aren’t just advantages of a quality CRM platform: They’re the perfect reflection of leading by example. Client relationships are about great communication, building trust, and being available for questions and support. 

When a CRM platform exhibits the qualities a firm hopes to reflect in its client relationships, it instills confidence in the team behind the software. 

Industry-Specific Customization

A general-use CRM platform may come with a generous range of customization features, but it still isn’t on par with the needs of accountants. 

With a CRM fully dedicated to the needs of accountants, customization includes detailed editable templates for financial reports, alerts regarding tax reporting deadlines, and accounting software integration for streamlining their core business inside a single application.

Case Studies: Take a Look at the Best CRM for Accounting Firms in Action

Nothing gives Canopy’s team greater satisfaction than improving our clients’ businesses. The following are examples of the features we’ve discussed and how they directly support our clients’ goals.

SMD Consulting & Accounting, LLC

SMD Consulting & Accounting, LLC: Canopy Creates an Easy Transition to Better Software

"Canopy better serves our needs, has more efficiencies, and it's better cost saving when we take it in and aggregate to all of our other tools." - Sean Duncan, Founder SMD Consulting & Accounting.

SMD Consulting & Accounting, LLC needed a way to improve its operational efficiency and provide a better interface for its clients in order to scale its growth. After exploring multiple other CRM options, it was Canopy’s user-friendliness, mobile accessibility, batch handling of IRS transcripts, and numerous features for streamlining the firm’s processes that made a profound difference for their team.

“We would not go back to the software we were using before, even if they gave it to us for free.” - Ashley Fontenot, Director of Operations and People SMD Consulting & Accounting.

Keith Jones, CPA

"My average tax res case takes 75% less time now, compared to before I started using Canopy." — Keith Jones, CPA

Keith Jones, CPA was investing extensive time in each tax resolution case, wrestling with task tracking and management, and needing better integration between task management and client communications. Working with Canopy’s CRM has helped him increase efficiency to such a degree that his average tax resolution case takes 75% less time.

America's Choice Bookkeeping and Tax Services

"Our clients love Canopy. It’s so easy for them to register for the portal and upload their documents there." — Robert Azar, of America's Choice Bookkeeping and Tax Services. 

America's Choice Bookkeeping and Tax Services struggled with finding an efficient and secure solution for handling sensitive files from clients across the country, while those clients struggled with user interfaces that were difficult to use.

Since they started using Canopy, the firm has received continuous positive feedback from hundreds of clients regarding the client portal. They upload sensitive documents easily, anytime, and love the convenience the platform provides.

Making the Right Decision

With the support of a comprehensive set of features, your accounting practice is positioned for greater efficiency and the ability to manage a greater workload, freeing you to focus on the critical factors of your business that require your advanced skills.

Canopy’s client relationship management platform is designed to solve all of your firm’s greatest challenges, providing you with the most secure, feature-rich platform available.

Start your free trial today!