The 10 Best CRM Systems for Accounting Firms

Taking care of your existing clients is the best strategy to win new ones. A satisfied customer will become not just a repeat buyer, but also a loyal advocate, referring their associates to your firm. That is why it is five to 25 times more expensive to get a new client than to retain an existing one.

However, firms struggle to keep their best clients happy, and you can’t blame them. They are overwhelmed. They are relying on the wrong tools to see what is going on with each client.

• Take spreadsheets, for example. New firm owners use it to track client names, birthdays, and see the last time they contacted a client, so it feels fine in the immediate.

But it is not a client management tool. Sooner, rather than later, their team and clients will increase, and the lack of automation and version control will become too costly to manage.

• Email is worse. While you can create folders and labels and highlight threads, client information gets buried in individual inboxes. You can’t see what your team members have discussed with clients in their inboxes except you ask them manually.

Unlike the generic CRM, this software is tailor-made for (or at least accommodates) the workflow needs of the accounting industry, which revolves around organizing client data, centralizing client communication, and enabling collaboration (through file sharing, document requests, E-signature, etc.).

3. Accelo

Accelo is a professional service automation software with a client relationship management feature that helps firms to win new clients and strengthen existing relationships by managing leads, quotes, and client interactions.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Client and Contact Management: centralizes client and contact data to enhance client relationship monitoring.
• Notes: allows you to record important client information.
• Custom Fields: capture your client’s unique business information to ensure your work meets their standard.
• Integrated Email Sync: Accelo syncs with Gmail, Outlook, and Office 365 to automatically log client emails and attachments to the client record.
• Activity Logs: Monitors and stores every interaction between your team and client in the client’s records.
• Sales Pipeline: Tracks your leads by their stages and value, and shows the likelihood of converting them to clients.
• Automated Follow-Ups: Accelo allows you to set rules for client reminders and email sequences.
• Client Intelligence: A performance measurement dashboard that enables you to analyse projects, client performance, and billing data to understand client value over time.

Pricing

• Professional: custom
• Business: custom
• Advanced: custom

Free Trial

No. Accelo doesn’t offer a free trial.

Rating

Accelo is rated:

• 4.5/5 on Capterra
• 4.4/5 on G2

4. Method

Method is a QuickBooks-powered CRM that promises to help businesses turn leads into revenue through CRM workflow automation.

Its feature suite helps growing businesses to make their teams more productive, close deals faster, and delight their customers.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Web to Lead Forms: Embedded forms that help you capture leads on your website.
• Import Tool: Upload your lead spreadsheets to Method in a few clicks.
• Activity Tracking: Logs the details of each interaction in the platform to schedule timely follow-up where necessary.

• Custom Fields: Capture each of your leads’ unique needs and preferences to enable you to personalize their engagement.
• Email Integrations: Saves the information in client emails on Gmail or Outlook directly to your CRM.
• Proposals: The Method’s proposal solution is highly customizable for all clients, helping you convert clients faster.
• E-signatures: Allow clients to review and sign documents online.
• Payments & Invoicing: Proposal approvals can trigger invoices to get you paid faster.
• Integration with QuickBooks: You can manage multi-entity operations in Method by synchronizing information with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Intuit Enterprise Suite.

Pricing

• Contact Management: $ 25/month per user per month (billed annually)
• CRM Pro: $44/month per user (billed annually)
• CRM Enterprise: $74/month per user (billed annually)
• CRM Multi-entity: Custom

Free Trial

A 14-day free trial is available

Ratings

Method is rated:

• 4.2/5 on Capterra
• 4.4/5 on G2

6. Insightly

Insightly helps fast-growing companies grow faster by meeting client expectations and nurturing strong client relationships.

It breaks down communication silos and provides a single source of truth for everyone in your firm, which translates to a consistent client experience.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Pipelines: Show the status of your lead tracking efforts, including what has been done and what needs to be done next.
• Custom Fields: Enable you to create fields for client information that are not available in Insightly.
• Custom Object: Stores data that does not align with the regular information in Insightly.
• Opportunity Records: Important details that help your team understand your leads better to personalize their nurture.
• Probability Percentage: Forecasts of future revenues from pipelines.
• Activity Set: Automatically creates tasks and activities in pipeline stages ahead of time.
• Opportunity Pipeline: Allows anyone in your team to drag and drop sales opportunities from one stage to another.
• Validation Rules: Prevent accidental human errors when organizing client data.
• Advanced Permission: allows people to access data without altering it without authorization.

Pricing

• Plus: $29/month per user
• Professional: $49/month per user
• Enterprise: $99/month per user

Free Trial

A 14-day free trial is available

Ratings

Insightly is rated:

• 4/5 on Capterra
• 4.2/5 on G2

7. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot’s CRM provides the software, integrations, and resources you need to unite your marketing, sales, and customer service to grow your business faster.

Its AI-powered platform is easy to use by solo firm owners and enterprise-level firms needing robust client information features.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Deals: organizes the sales opportunities your team is trying to take advantage of.
• Pipeline Manager: Gives you a bird’s-eye view of your sales opportunities to help you close more deals.
• Tasks and Activities: Tracks all the To-Dos that help your team deliver satisfactory client service.
• Conversation Intelligence: Analyzes customer calls and interactions to find opportunities to improve your service.
• Customer Portal: Organizes customer support tickets, making it easier and faster to address their challenges.
• SLA Management: HubSpot automated ticket routing that helps your team meet client deliverables.
• Service Analytics: Reports that help you make your service delivery more efficient and authentic.
• User Permissions: allows you to grant access to team members based on their customer service needs.
• Automated Customer Service: uses AI to automatically solve routine tasks for customers.

Pricing

• Free Tools: $0 (Free for up to 2 users)
• Starter Customer Platform: $9/month per seat

Free Trial

A 14-day free trial is available

Ratings

HubSpot is rated:

• 4.5/5 on Capterra
• 4.4/5 on G2

9. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM helps businesses build resilient businesses through quality customer service. Its artificial intelligence feature provides the automation you need to increase leads, accelerate sales, and measure sales performance.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Teamspaces: Allows you to bring your team into your CRM.
• Automated Tasks: Automates data management, emails, and follow-ups to allow your team to focus on closing more clients.
• Generative AI: An AI Assistant that creates work, modules, and reports for clients using your CRM data.
• Churn Scores: Zoho AI identifies the services your clients will likely stop using to enable you to address them and increase the chances of client retention.
• Field Prediction: Zoho also enables you to build custom predictions based on a scorecard that matters to your business. For example, you can build a prediction for the likelihood of winning or losing a client.

Pricing

• Standard: $25 per Organization per Month (Billed annually)
• Premium: $59 per Organization per Month (Billed annually)
• Enterprise: Custom

Free Trial

A 14-day free trial is available

Ratings

Zoho CRM is rated

• 4.3 on Capterra
• 4.1 on G2

10. SuiteDash

SuiteDash is a multi-faceted software that consolidates the tools small and mid-sized businesses use to enhance efficiency across the board.

Its CRM solution automates team and client interactions, making it easier to stay on top of client relationships.

Here are some of its CRM features and what they do:

• Roles: Categorizes your contacts into one of three Roles (Lead, Prospect, or Client) to tailor their engagement accordingly.
• Kickoff Forms: Allows Contacts to add themselves to your client base by filling out a form on a website.
• Circles: Makes it easy to assign files and dashboards to multiple clients.
• Client Portal: Enables clients to collaborate with your team and track project progress.
• Deal: Tracks income opportunities within a visual pipeline, giving you a better chance of winning clients.
• Follow-up Generator: Creates a sequence of follow-up messages to remind clients about files, information, or next steps.

Pricing

• Start: $19month
• Thrive: $49month
• Pinnacle: $99month

Free Trial

A 14-day free trial is available

Ratings

SuiteDash is rated:

• 4.9/5 on Capterra
• 4.8/5 on G2

Features to Look Out for in CRM for Accountants

I. Client Management Features

Client management features organize various client information in a way that is easy for your team members to find. For example, a client database shows your client list with their basic information. The client profile zooms in on each client’s information, displaying the different sections of the client data.

Similarly, the Client notes allow your team to capture important client updates from meetings or client calls, and the client group not only makes it easier to view clients with similar attributes, but it also makes it easier to automate manual tasks, like duplicating an action for every client in a client group.

II. Email Integration and Management

Email integration and management synchronize your email inbox with your CRM solution to log all client emails in the client profile. This enables you to read, send, and archive client emails from your accounting CRM.

This will not only prevent client emails from slipping through the cracks, but it will also improve your responsiveness to client enquiries, which makes the client experience more memorable.

III. Client Portal

The client portal is a secure and easy-to-use section of the CRM where clients can share documents, view the ones you shared with them, and communicate with your team on demand.

For CRM solutions like Financial Cents, the client portal is passwordless, but even more secure than the regular client portal. This saves your clients the need to provide usernames and passwords to access the portal.

IV. Inbuilt client communication tools

Built-in communication tools consolidate your client communication efforts by eliminating the need for third-party, external tools, which reduces information silos.

The best CRMs for accounting firms combine client chat features with SMS notifications to draw your clients’ attention to conversations in the CRM.

V. File and document storage

The accounting CRM’s data security features make it a suitable place to store and share files with clients. Without this feature, you’ll have to rely on a third-party document management system or, worse still, use emails to share files with clients, which carries huge data security risks.

The file and document storage feature stores files and documents (such as contracts, financial statements, tax returns, etc.) online, making them easier for your team to access from anywhere. The file and document storage feature also helps you to store client documents for as long as legally required by applicable data retention regulations.

VI. Reporting and client insights

The reporting feature enables you to analyze your client’s activities, revenues, and interactions with your team. The insights will empower you to improve client service and identify opportunities to upsell clients.

VII. Data security and access control

Data security and access control protect client information from unauthorized access. Most accounting CRM systems encrypt client information, making it impossible for unauthorized persons to access it without the cipher code..

With role-based access control, you prevent your team members from accessing or editing the client information.

The top accounting CRMs, like Financial Cents, have a client vault that stores their most sensitive client information (like social security numbers, credit card information, usernames, and passwords to third-party apps). This keeps you compliant with security standards like SOC 2, GDPR, PIPEDA, HIPAA, etc.

VIII. Integration with QuickBooks

Having this feature in your CRM ensures that your clients, service items, time logs, and billing information are automatically imported and synced between QBO and your CRM.

It saves you the time and stress of manually entering the same information in multiple places. It also gives room for errors that can potentially strain your client relationships.

For example, importing your clients from QBO to Financial Cents allows you to add your active clients (one by one or in bulk) to Financial Cents in a few seconds. All subsequent additions and editing of client information in QBO will be reflected in Financial Cents. This keeps your client information (email, phone number, address, and notes) uniform.

Things to Consider When Selecting an Accounting Firm CRM

• Firm size and complexity

Accounting CRMs’ effectiveness is due partly to their ability to categorize client information, so your firm’s size and the complexity of your client base should be crucial to your final decision.

A multi-location firm with clients in several industries and with complex compliance requirements needs an extensive tool to capture and organize their unique information for seamless retrieval and accurate financial reporting.

A small bookkeeping firm may require only basic client management and communication features. Robust features can become overwhelming for the team.

• Unlimited contacts

Being sure your CRM software will accommodate all your current and future clients will save you significant costs on upgrades, which could disrupt your budget and scalability when your clients exceed that limit.

Otherwise, you might be forced to consider moving your firm to another CRM down the road or use multiple tools to manage your large client base, which will defeat the purpose of a CRM.

• Unlimited client file storage

As you serve more clients, your documents will accumulate over time. Unlimited file storage enables you to store all the files you need to serve all your clients in one place (while complying with data retention regulations).

If your CRM’s storage is capped or limited, it’s only a matter of time before it gets full and you’ll need an external storage device. Apart from the time and effort of managing client data in two different places, an external storage device will fragment your files and documents, making it easier to lose important client data.

• Ease of adoption for your team

is not enough for an accounting CRM to be great on paper. If their usability is poor, you will waste money, time, and other opportunities to grow.

Your CRM should be clean, friendly, and integrate smoothly with your team (and clients’) day-to-day operations. This will improve team adoption and your client engagement, ensuring a good return on investment.

CRM SUCCESS STORY: How Blue Canyon CPA Used Financial Cents to Transform Client Relationships Dramatically

Gerry Anderson and the Blue Canyon CPA team used spreadsheets to manage their clients when they started.

After some time, two major challenges began to stand out for them. They struggled with:

1. Tracking client engagements to understand the progress made.
2. Difficulty collecting client documents for timely service.

Fast forward to 2020, Gerry Anderson, CPA, moves the team to Financial Cents, and those problems have all gone away. Since clients could now share documents with them in the Financial Cents client portal, file sharing could now be done at any time and from anywhere, improving client responses.

The combination of Financial Cents CRM and client portal enabled the Blue Canyon team to deliver timely client service that transformed client relationships dramatically.

The Financial Cents client portal works so well for Gerry’s team because clients do not have to create usernames and passwords to use. It saves your clients the stress of managing more login information.

You can start managing every aspect of your firm like Gerry Anderson CPA today.