The Best Document Management Software for Accounting Firms in 2024

Well-managed firms opt for accounting document management software because it provides their staff with:

1. A central hub for client documents, allowing every team member access to all work-related documents (any time and from anywhere).
2. Security features that keep client information safe and ensure compliance with relevant data protection and privacy laws.

In this article, we’ll discuss the meaning of accounting document management software (DMS) and the essential features of the top accounting DMS like:

• Financial Cents
• SmartVault
• Box
• DropBox
• ShareFile
• Revver
• OneDrive

Before businesses began using accounting DMS, they hired full-time staff to collect and organize their documents in a secure record room. If anyone needed a document, they would meet the document management staff.

The cost of maintaining a full-time staff was high. Fetching documents from the files also amounted to a waste of time. Moreover, bottlenecks in processes emerged when staff had to seek assistance each time they needed access to documents.

But instead of simply replicating the physical record room in the cloud, document management software organizes business documents in a central location where all authorized team members can find the documents needed, regardless of physical location.

With a document management software, colleagues can now share files and information conveniently, regardless of their location.

Essential Features of a Good Document Management System for Accountants

Collaboration and File-sharing

The accountant’s daily routine relies on sharing files and information with clients and team members. So it’s critical that whatever accounting DMS you choose makes this process seamless.

This usually means:

• Shared workspaces and the ability to comment on documents.
• Version control that allows managers to track the changes made to a document and restore it to the previous version where necessary.

Document Organization

Document organization addresses ease of document retrieval. Your document management software needs a document organizer that enables you to create folders and move documents around in your preferred storage format. This should help minimize digital clutter and prevent potential document storage issues.

They come with a search functionality that makes documents easy to find.

Security and Compliance

Given the sensitivity of accounting information, which is crucial for compliance with privacy laws, ensuring document security is non-negotiable.

Accounting document management software is designed with data encryption and access control features that regulate access to accounting client documents.

Automation

Accounting and bookkeeping processes are full of manual and repetitive processes that affect your team’s productivity and efficiency.

Document management systems for accountants can streamline client document collection, organization of files in folders,  assigning and notifying relevant clients or team members of shared documents. This frees you up to focus on strategic business goals.

Client Engagement

The client management feature in an accounting DMS prevents the isolation of client documents from other essential client information needed for work.

A document management software tailored for accountants aids firms in consolidating various client touchpoints, including workflow, document management, and contact information, into a single unified platform. This integration provides visibility into client documents, communication, and projects, all accessible from one central location.

Integration

Document management is not an end in itself; rather, it serves as a means to an end. The effectiveness of an accounting document management software is greatly enhanced when it seamlessly integrates with other tools in your tech stack. This integration is crucial for optimizing productivity and efficiency.

When selecting an accounting DMS, prioritize compatibility and effective communication with other workflow-relevant applications. This ensures a cohesive and interconnected technological ecosystem, allowing for a smoother and more streamlined workflow across various tools.

The Best Document Management Software Solutions in 2024 for Accounting Firms

1. Financial Cents
2. SmartVault
3. Box
4. Dropbox
5. OneDrive
6. Revver
7. ShareFile

1. Financial Cents

Financial Cents is a practice management software that provides accounting firms with a comprehensive suite of features that helps them get work done and manage client relationships from one place.

• Client Collaboration

Financial Cents’ client portal makes file sharing and communication with clients easy with its client portal.

Apart from uploading the requested documents, the portal gives clients on-demand access to shared documents and pending client requests. They can also upload documents that are not related to a project.

When you share a document with a client in Financial Cents, the system will notify your client with a link that takes them directly to the portal. This enhances real-time communication.

• Security and Compliance

Financial Cents keeps your client documents and information secure in transit or during storage with:

• Data encryption technology (OpenSSL that provides AES-256 and AES-128 encryption). It renders your client data unreadable to unauthorized persons.
• Message Authentication Code (MAC) that prevents unauthorized persons from modifying client data.

This guarantees the privacy of your client information and keeps you compliant with relevant regulations.

Similarly, the Canadian File Storage solution helps Canadian users achieve data residency requirements of regulations like the PIPEDA.

• Document Organization

Financial Cents’ document organization feature enables you to:

→ Create Folders to categorize your documents as you see fit. It allows you to create sub-folders to further group the same type of documents (like all client tax documents) together.

→ Leverage Search Functionality to locate documents based on keywords, reducing the time your team spends retrieving documents.

→ Customize Documents by previewing, downloading, and renaming documents to help team members find the documents.

→ Move Documents: you can also move documents around to their proper locations to prevent the confusion of looking for them in the wrong place.

These features will help you establish a consistent storage format for client documents. One that makes retrieving documents easy for your team members.

• Client Management

Financial Cents is a document management system (DMS) and a client relationship management (CRM) system. Its features enable you to access client documents side-by-side in their database.

The document dashboard lives within the client’s profile. This creates a unified hub for your team to track and manage client documents and other client information (like contact details, client notes, and client interactions) from the same place.

With the email integration, Financial Cents allows you to declutter your Gmail and Outlook inboxes by pulling all emails from clients into the client’s profile where the documents live.

• Workflow Automation

Leveraging accounting document management automation in Financial Cents means setting up document-related tasks to run automatically so accountants can focus on the actual accounting work.

This works in Financial Cents by:

• Segmenting Client Files: Financial Cents enables you to categorize client documents into specific folders automatically. This organizes their uploads into your preferred folders automatically.
• Access Client: your client’s business information is two clicks away from your document and workflow dashboard, so your team can access one dashboard from the other.
• Client Portal: the client portal automatically notifies your team and client about any action taken in a shared document. This helps to speed up document-related processes like client onboarding, document review, and approvals.
• E-signature: enables clients to sign documents without leaving Financial Cents. It sends you an automatic notification after the signing. It also organizes signed files in the Client Files section of the client’s profile.
• Duplicate Folder Structure: to other clients without creating it from scratch.

• Staff Collaboration

Financial Cents’ staff collaboration features include:

• Central Storage: A central location for team members to access business documents (whether in the same office or different cities).
• File Sharing: Ability to exchange documents with clients and team members.
• Audit trail: to track your team members’ actions and ensure everyone is working with up-to-date information.

• Free Trial

Financial Cents offers a 14-day free trial.

• Pricing

• Team Plan at $39 per month per user (billed annually)
• Scale Plan at $59/month per user (billed annually).

• Cloud-based:

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.7/5
  • Capterra – 4.8/5

2. SmartVault

SmartVault is an easy-to-use accounting document management software. Its integrated document management and client portal enable firms to streamline document-dependent processes.

SmartVault’s direct integration with Financial Cents allows you to create a client folder in the app when a client is created in Financial Cents, import clients to Financial Cents, and access SmartVault from your workflow dashboard in Financial Cents.

It provides a safe way to collect, store, and share files with clients.

The benefits of SmartVault include:

• Collaboration

SmartVault’s central document storage solution provides a platform where clients and staff members can access documents conveniently.

Its client portal helps you create a collaborative client experience by enabling you to give timely instructions and updates on document upload.

• Security and Compliance

SmartVault protects your client documents with AES-256 encryption and SSL. It’s designed with data regulations like HIPAA, FINRA, and GDPR compliance in mind. These enable you to share and process documents without compromising your clients’ data.

• Document Organization

SmartVault allows you to scan files directly to your folders to save your team time to search for documents.

You can create folders for the different categories of documents (like payroll) your team uses for a client.

• Client Management

SmartVault enables you to store some client information, like basic contact details.

But its integration with Financial Cents empowers you to store any type of client information, including their notes, EINs, SSNs, login information, and the status of their projects. This gives your team insights that will improve your work quality.

• Workflow Automation

SmartVault’s Request Docs feature helps you automate client document collection by requesting a list of the documents.

DocuSign E-signatures lets you collect client signatures within SmartVault easily. It also notifies you when all parties have signed the documents and organizes signed documents in the client’s profile.

• Free Trial and Price

SmartVault offers a 14-day free trial for the Accounting Pro and Business Pro plans.

• Pricing

• Standard at $25 per user/month (minimum of 5 users).
• Accounting Pro at $45 per user/month (minimum of 2 users).
• Accounting Unlimited at $65 per user/month (minimum of 2 users).
• Business Pro at $50 per user /month (minimum of 2 users).

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.3/5
  • Capterra – 4.3/5

3. Box

Box helps accounting firms simplify document lifecycle from creation through co-editing and sharing to retention. Its Content Cloud seeks to structure your unstructured data to improve productivity and reduce risk.

Box’s document management benefits include:

• Collaboration

Content Cloud is at the heart of everything you can do in Box, including client collaboration. Its easy-to-use interface lets you share documents and invite your team and clients to edit or e-sign.

• Security and Compliance

Box is a great option for businesses in heavily regulated industries. They are GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, and FedRAMP compliant.

It keeps documents safe with advanced security control, information governance, and threat detection.

• Document Organization

Box lets you store and find documents easily with features like:

• Folders that contain the different categories of documents your team needs.
• Recents to view the documents you added to Box the most recently.
• Search to find documents by typing the title or associated team members.

• Workflow Automation

The Box Relay feature enables you to automate tasks with workflow triggers. These triggers speed up document processes (like document reviews and client onboarding), allowing you to focus on the most important work.

• Free Trial and Cost

Box offers a 14-day Free Trial.

• Pricing

• Personal Pro at $11.50 per user/month (single user)
• Business Starter at $5.80 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)
• Business at $17.30 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)
• Business Plus at $29.7 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)
• Enterprise $40.3 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.2/5
  • Capterra – 4.4/5

4. Dropbox

Dropbox’s document management features help accounting firms store, organize, and synchronize their documents across all devices. This enables their staff to find the documents they need for work conveniently.

Dropbox’s document management benefits include:

• Collaboration

Dropbox Paper is designed to enhance real-time collaboration by enabling multiple team members to work on a document. Firm owners use it to create to-do lists, edit documents, and track the contributions of their staff members for accountability.

Plus, Dropbox Paper makes it easier to give feedback (with comments and @mention to tag team members) and share documents in one place. Your team members will be notified when they are tagged in a document.

• Security and compliance

Dropbox protects your business data with advanced encryption technology, automatic data backup, and two-factor authentication.

They also offer robust access control features that enable you to “give the right people the right access.”

• Document Organization

Dropbox allows you to organize and synchronize your documents (across devices) in one central location so your team members can be their most efficient selves.

•  Free Trial

Dropbox offers a 14-day free trial.

• Pricing

• Essentials: $18 per user/month
• Business: $20 per user/month
• Business Plus: $26 per user/month

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.4/5
  • Capterra – 4.5/5

5. OneDrive

OneDrive allows you to store client documents in one place, sync documents across your Microsoft applications, and indicate the confidentiality of business documents with sensitivity labels.

These features enable you to stay on top of:

• Collaboration

Your team members can access shared files from their PCs and mobile devices.

With the version history feature, you can restore a document to its previous state up to 30 days after its alteration.

The file detail pane in OneDrive shows you the activities and comments of your collaborators in one view.

• Security and Compliance

OneDrive’s files are protected by data encryption technology, virus scanning, and suspicious activity monitoring.

With the expiring link feature, you can set expiration dates for the links you share with your team and clients. They become inactive after the expiration date.

Its personal Vault secures your sensitive documents with identity verification.

• Document Organization

Your documents in OneDrive are searchable with keywords and dates, enabling your team to find documents easily.

• Workflow Automation

OneDrive’s multi-page scan feature allows firms to scan the pages of printed documents directly into their OneDrive account.

• Free Trial

OneDrive offers a 30-day free trial.

• Pricing

You can use OneDrive for Business at $5 a month per use.

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.3/5
  • Capterra – 4.5/5

6. Revver (Formerly eFileCabinet)

Revver is an accounting document management software that facilitates the two-way sharing of information between accounting firms and their clients to make their document-dependent work easy and efficient.

Its document management benefits include:

• Collaboration

Revver’s document dashboard allows teams to share documents and information to keep clients and staff members on the same page.

• Security and Compliance

Revver’s role-based access control empowers firm owners to determine the documents internal and external collaborators can see.

Its automated data retention and disposal feature keeps you compliant with relevant data privacy regulations.

• Document Organization

Revver lets you create templates that organize new customer information and standardize their document storage procedures.

You also get the ability to create templates for folder structure to avoid going the same route to store documents repeatedly.

• Automated Workflow

Revver automates your data extraction and other complex document-based processes.

For example, the Automated Document Key Requests save you the trouble of gathering client documents by email. It lets you request specific documents. Once the document is uploaded, it goes into your preferred folder.

• Free Trial

Revver offers a 15-day free trial.

• Pricing

Revver’s prices range from $50- $65 per user per month.

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.3/5
  • Capterra – 4.4/5

7. ShareFile

ShareFile is built to help you collect and manage documents in a way that builds “modern client experiences.” Its access control features enrich stakeholder collaboration, especially for remote teams.

Its document management benefits include:

• Collaboration

Team and client collaboration is possible in ShareFile through the client portal that:

• Centralize client document workflows in one place.
• Enable you to send documents to clients to review and approve (with E-signature capability) in minutes.
• Guide your clients by sending them to specific document-related conversations.

• Security and Compliance

ShareFile gives you visibility into who accessed or shared your documents—from where and when. This gives you the power to control how people access your documents.

ShareFile has threat detection features that alert you when a threat is detected so that you can respond accordingly.

Customizable security settings like these will keep you in step with regulatory requirements.

• Workflow Automation

ShareFile helps to automate your critical document processes with features like a document request list. This feature helps you to collect client documents without needing to chase them.

With the E-signature feature, you can add clients to documents to receive their signed approval instead of sending by email and making clients download, print, and scan documents several times.

• Free Trial

ShareFile offers a 30-day free trial.

• Pricing

• Standard at $10 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)
• Advanced at $16 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)
• Premium at $25 per user/month (minimum of 3 users)

• Cloud-based?

Yes

• Ratings

  • G2 – 4.2/5
  • Capterra – 4.3/5

Manage Documents and Projects in One Place to Take Your Firm to the Next Level

Centralizing document management and project coordination is a key step in elevating your firm’s efficiency. Acquiring top-notch document management software for accountants is just one aspect of the larger picture.

Once you’ve ensured collaboration, organized documents, established security measures, and implemented workflow automation, it’s imperative to consider how your accounting DMS aligns with other processes within your firm.

The seamless integration of your accounting document management software with your workflow tool is crucial. Without such integration, your team may find themselves constantly toggling between apps and tabs to access client documents, resulting in potential hours of billable work being lost.

Financial Cents simplifies this process by aiming to create a unified platform. The mission is to provide a single space where clients can conveniently access requests, documents, reports, invoices, resources, and communication. This integrated approach not only enhances efficiency but also contributes to a more streamlined and memorable client experience.

Use Financial Cents for your document management.