5 Best Workflow Management Software for Accountants

There are over 88,364 Accounting Services businesses in the US. Accounting workflow management software helps those businesses grow, with over 58% of organizations already using cloud accounting software.

Accounting software can help companies to get ahead. Clients can be hard to come by, and with so much competition, it can be challenging to make yourself stand out.

What is accounting workflow management software?

Accounting workflow management tools are specialized tools designed to streamline and automate accounting processes within an organization. It helps manage tasks such as invoice generation, expense tracking, reconciliation, and financial reporting by providing a centralized platform for collaboration, tracking, and monitoring accounting workflows. 

This software aims to improve accounting operations’ efficiency, accuracy, and compliance when handling client data while reducing manual errors and administrative overhead.

Accounting workflow automation as a business development strategy

As technology advances, more than 50% of C-level accounting executives expect that developing more sophisticated automated accounting systems will significantly impact the industry in the next three years. 

When this happens, small accounting firms must look for ways to diversify their business and increase their overall billing. Client management is simple with a workflow management solution. 

While it may seem challenging, you can use several software solutions to increase your accounting firm’s revenue, profit, and client list and run a successful accounting practice.

5 Best Workflow Management Software for Accountants in 2024

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff allows you to bill your accounting clients more accurately while reducing your overhead and increasing profits. Hubstaff works by tracking your employees’ time and productivity.

With Hubstaff, you can:

• Track time from any device or computer with apps that make it easy to start and stop a timer
• Customize productivity measurement features for your firm with Insights
  • Manage workloads and prevent burnout
  • You can use these features to give clients an accurate picture of how time is spent on client work
• Exports time into daily, weekly, and custom timesheets
  • Bill clients for the right amount quickly
  • Use that time to pay team members
• Offers online invoicing that uses timesheets for calculations
  • Speed up the time it takes to invoice and allow for online payments
• Built-in time off tracking so you can track paid holidays, vacations, and more

You know the saying, “It’s better to keep a client than find a new one,” with Hubstaff, you’ll be able to keep a client and maximize their billing.

Hubstaff offers a free plan for a single user and a 14-day free trial to experience its full features.

• Free plan
• Starter: $7 per user/month
• Grow: $9 per user/month
• Team: $12 per user/month
• Enterprise: $25 per user/month (annual pricing only)

Need more advanced features like task management? Hubstaff also offers extra add-ons that boost its primary features:

• Tasks ($3 per user/month)
• Insights ($2 per user/month)
• More screenshots ($3 per user/month)
• Corporate add-on ($3 per user/month)

Try it free for 14 days.

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2. Practice Ignition

Practice Ignition is software that helps you take the stress out of creating proposals and chasing clients for money.

It allows you to:

• Create well-designed proposals using templates
• Request customer credit card details in your proposals so billing is streamlined, efficient, and fast
• Integrate complex billing styles like pro-rata, tax calculations, and more
• Create recurring payments
• Understand sales and data analytics using metrics and analysis

Practice Ignition helps you save time on proposals and increase the speed at which you get paid. 

Pricing starts at $99 /month, billed annually.

3. Karbon

Karbon is a practice management software that helps accountancy firms stay organized and efficient. It offers workflow management software that works with firms of any size.

Karbon’s features include:

• Project management to help stay on top of deadlines
• Automation for repetitive tasks that can be simplified and automated
• Search to help you find any details about a client account or proposal
• Chat to allow you to communicate with team members for faster progress and better efficiency
• Analytics to keep track of your firm’s efficiency, profitability, and client behavior
• Integrations with a variety of other software and email providers so you can easily add it to your firm

Karbon starts at $59 per user/month, paid annually.

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4. Pascal Workflow

Pascal Workflow is a workflow management tool designed to help you grow your accounting firm. It offers a variety of features for managing clients and workflows.

Pascal Workflow’s features include:

• CRM for managing relationships with clients
• Proposal automation for engagement letters and other documents
• Automated follow-ups to help chase clients for information and help speed up the onboarding process
• Client portal that allows you to store tax returns and documents and allows you to charge fees for accessing documents if needed
• Recurring billing capabilities
• E-signature and 8879s allow you to improve the turnaround time of documents and make sure you’re compliant

Pascal Workflow is free for up to 5 users and 500 contact records. Paid plans start at $45 per month per user.

5. Canopy

Canopy is a workflow software that helps you streamline your firm’s workload. Centered around document management, it allows you to access various features to help serve clients and grow your accounting firm.

Canopy helps you:

• Store IRS transcripts
• Host client documents and files to help everything stay centralized and accessible
• Treat clients better with a client portal where they can access their returns and files
• Take online payments so you get paid faster, and clients can pay more easily
• Automate your workflows to help grow your accounting firm faster
• Work from the cloud so you can access documents wherever you are

Canopy was made for tax experts and accounting firms. They offer fully customizable pricing plans, which can be found on their website. 

Benefits of accounting workflow management software

Accounting workflow management software revolutionizes managing financial processes, offering automation, accuracy, and efficiency to modern accounting teams.

• Enhanced accuracy: With built-in validation checks and automated calculations, accounting workflow management software helps ensure accuracy and consistency in financial data. 
• Increased transparency: By centralizing accounting processes and documentation in a single platform, accounting workflow management software provides transparency and visibility into financial workflows. 
• Better compliance: Accounting workflow management software often includes compliance features such as audit trails, version control, and customizable approval workflows to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and internal controls. 
• Cost savings: By reducing manual effort, minimizing errors, and improving efficiency, accounting workflow management software can lead to cost savings for organizations. 

With its myriad benefits, from improved efficiency to enhanced compliance, accounting workflow management software empowers organizations to streamline their accounting operations and achieve greater financial control. 

How to choose accounting workflow management software

It’s challenging to find workflow management software designed for your team, but we’re confident you have the right software in front of you. When selecting accounting workflow management software, consider factors such as:

• Features and functionality: Assess the software’s capabilities, including automation tools, reporting options, and compliance features, to ensure they meet your accounting needs.
• Ease of use: Look for intuitive interfaces and user-friendly designs that facilitate adoption and streamline workflow processes for your accounting team.
• Integration compatibility: Ensure the software integrates seamlessly with your existing accounting systems, ERP platforms, and other essential tools to avoid data silos and maximize efficiency.
• Scalability and customization: Choose a solution that can grow with your business and adapt to evolving accounting requirements, with options for customization and scalability as needed.
• Security and compliance: Prioritize software adhering to industry-standard security protocols and regulations, protecting sensitive financial data, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose the accounting workflow management software that best fits your organization’s needs, optimizing efficiency, accuracy, and productivity in your financial processes.

Ready to start growing your accounting firm?

If you’re looking to grow your accounting firm and are wondering what top accounting software can help you achieve that, hopefully, this list gives you some good ideas.

While there are various choices, there are two clear types of software to start with time tracking and project management.

Hubstaff’s time tracking software can help you grow your accounting firm by automating routine tasks and reducing overhead per project. This helps reduce the stress of going out and trying to win new business.

The first step to growing your accounting firm should be maximizing your existing clients.

While you do that, work on onboarding your new clients more efficiently so you can process them faster and easier. Tools like Practice Ignition can help you sign up clients quickly and easily, so you never have to worry about missing documents or incorrect payment details.

While growing your accounting firm may seem daunting, with the tools and accounting software above, it’ll be more convenient than ever.