12 Tools to Up Your Firm’s Tech Game

When it comes to running a successful business, staying up-to-date with the latest technology is critical if you want to beat your competition. This is especially true for tax planning firms that need to quickly and accurately crunch huge amounts of data and client information.

By utilizing the right tools, you can streamline your processes, improve efficiency, and serve your clients better. The right tools also help boost productivity, increase sales and leads, and protect your bottom line by freeing up time and resources that can be reinvested elsewhere in the business.

While there are many different software options out there that can help your firm stay on top of its game, we’ve compiled a list of 12 essential tools that we think every tax planning firm should have in its toolkit.

12 Tools for Accounting Firms

1.    Jetpack Workflow

Jetpack is a cloud-based workflow automation tool that helps accounting firms automate their repetitive tasks so they can focus on billable work. By automating time-consuming and error-prone tasks like client onboarding, data entry, and invoicing, Jetpack can help you improve efficiency and accuracy while freeing up staff to work on more value-added tasks.

How Accountants Benefit

Jetpack can help automate your firm’s repetitive tasks, improve efficiency and accuracy, speed up client onboarding, hasten payment and ultimately protect your bottom line.

Use Case

• Stretch resources so projects are finished on time and on budget
• Get more done in less time by automating tedious and time-consuming tasks
• Ensure accuracy and completeness of data entry
• Create a priority to-do list to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks
• Gain insights into project health and performance

2.    Citrix ShareFile

Citrix ShareFile is a mission-critical, enterprise-class file-sharing platform that helps accounting firms securely store, share, and manage client data. With features like military-grade encryption, real-time feedback, and watermarking, ShareFile helps firms meet their compliance requirements while providing a secure platform for collaboration and data exchange.

How Accountants Benefit

Using Citrix ShareFile can help you improve data security, meet compliance requirements, and speed up collaboration.

Use Case

• Share large files securely with clients and colleagues
• Get real-time feedback on who has viewed, downloaded, or edited files
• Add watermarks to files to deter unauthorized copying
• Implement HIPAA, HITECH, FINRA, and CFPB compliance throughout the entire file lifecycle

3.    Qount

Qount is an all-in-one customizable practice management software that connects onboarding, collaboration, payment processing, and document management processes, creating a fully integrated experience for accounting firms and their clients. Qount makes it easy to manage your firm’s finances, stay organized, maintain visibility into your practice, and get paid faster.

How Accountants Benefit

Deploying Qount can help you improve financial visibility, get paid faster, and streamline onboarding and collaboration.

Use Case

• Get a real-time view of your firm’s finances with integrated accounting software
• Receive payments faster with online invoicing and automatic payment processing
• Streamline onboarding with a fully customizable client intake process
• Create a completely connected experience for your customers and employees in a safe and secure environment.
• Improve collaboration with built-in document management and file sharing
• Generate reports to gain insights into your practice’s performance.

 4.    Quickbooks Online

QuickBooks Online (QBO) is a cloud-based accounting software package that helps accounting firms manage their finances, clients, and employees. With features like invoicing, tracking expenses, and preparing tax returns, QuickBooks Online helps you save time and headaches during tax season.

How Accountants Benefit

QBO will give you better visibility into your practice, allow you to integrate with thousands of 3rd party apps, allow you to share information easily and securely, allow cloud connectivity and multi-platform sync, and give you the ability to automate tasks.

Use Case

• Streamline payment management with online invoicing and automatic payment processing
• Track expenses and mileage in real-time to save time at tax time
• Prepare tax returns quickly and easily with integrated tax preparation software
• Integrate with thousands of third-party apps to customize your experience
• Share information easily and securely with clients and employees
• Use the best cloud-native services for revenue-generating workloads
• Access your data from anywhere with cloud connectivity
• Use the Self Service Payroll management to automate and address complex payroll requirements with ease. 

5.    RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud-based VoIP phone system for accounting firms that offers features like HD voice quality, call recording and virtual messaging. With RingCentral, firms can improve communication both internally and with clients.

How Accountants Benefit

RingCentral can help you accelerate your business by improving communication with HD voice quality, call recording, and virtual messaging. It also provides rich insights that can help you troubleshoot performance issues and optimize your business processes.

Use Case

• Make and receive calls with HD voice quality
• Record calls for quality assurance or training purposes
• Use the virtual assistant to manage voicemails, missed calls, and call routing
• Send text messages or make video calls from your desktop, laptop, or mobile device
• Integrate with CRM systems for a seamless customer experience
• Use the real-time call monitoring feature to listen in on calls and provide coaching or assistance as needed
• Get a complete view of your call history with the call log feature.

6.    AppToTo

AppToTo is a fully automated appointment reminder and scheduling system that helps accounting firms keep their calendars organized. With AppToTo, firms can send reminders to clients and employees(over voice calls, SMS, or emails), schedule appointments, and track no-shows.

How Accountants Benefit

AppToTo can help you save time, reduce manual tasks, streamline the client communication process, and improve your firm’s overall efficiency.

Use Case

• Integrate with core systems such as Salesforce, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, and Zoom for a seamless business-wide experience
• Send reminders to clients and employees over voice calls, SMS, or email
• Schedule appointments and track no-shows with ease
• Automate appointment scheduling and reminders to reduce manual tasks
• Get real-time insights into your firm’s performance with comprehensive reporting.
• Fully automate appointment reminders and scheduling
• Send reminders over voice calls, SMS, or emails

7.    WiseStamp

Wisestamp allows you to create and manage your signature for a unified and professional look across all your devices. With WiseStamp, you can create signatures for email, PDFs, and word documents with ease.

How Accountants Benefit

Wisestamp can help you create a professional signature that represents your brand, add rich features to your signature (such as images, social media links, and contact information), and manage your signature(s) from a central location.

Use Case

• Create a professional signature that represents your brand
• Add rich features to your signature to amplify your email marketing campaigns
• Manage your signature(s) from a central location
• Update your signatures across all devices with ease

8.    RetroacDev

RetroacDev is a unique, structured, and data-driven R&D Study workflow software that helps accounting firms manage their R&D Tax Credit Studies more efficiently. With RetroacDev, firms can plan, track and defend their clients' R&D Tax Credits with ease.

How Accountants Benefit

RetroacDev can help you save time and money on your R&D Tax Credit Studies, improve your study quality, and increase your success rate.

Use Case

• Plan, track, and defend your clients' R&D Tax Credits with ease
• Get a complete view of your study progress with the Study Dashboard
• Monitor key performance indicators with the Study Scorecard
• Communicate with clients and team members via the secure collaboration platform
• Generate high-quality deliverables with the built-in report writer
• Easily share your study data and findings with clients and team members.

9.    SaneBox

SaneBox is a robust tool that filters and organizes your inbox so you can remove all the clutter, get reminders of what's important and never miss a critical email again. It works with all major email providers and is easily set up in just a few minutes.

How Accountants Benefit

Sanebox saves time, keeps you organized, hides distractions, and makes sure you never miss an important email.

Use Case

• Teach this tool which emails are important to you and which ones can wait
• Automatically sort your emails into different folders (e.g. "To respond", "To read", "Later", etc.)
• Get reminders of important emails that you need to follow up on
• Quickly unsubscribe from unwanted email lists with the click of a button
• Never miss an important email again with Sanebox's snooze feature

10.  Gusto

Gusto is a cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resources platform for small businesses. With Gusto, you can run your payroll in a few clicks, get access to expert support, and onboard and offboard your employees with ease.

How Accountants Benefit

Gusto can help will save you time by allowing easy payroll generation, increasing operational efficiency, and improving compliance.

Use Case

• Run your payroll in a few clicks
• Get expert support when you need it
• Onboard and offboard your employees with ease
• Access employee data and documents in one place

11.  Crystal Knows

Crystal Knows is a cloud-based AI tool that helps you improve your sales and marketing efforts by understanding your customer’s personalities. With Crystal Knows, you can create more personalized and effective sales and marketing materials, improve customer satisfaction, and close more deals.

How Accountants Benefit

Bring in more leads by creating a DISC personality profile for any buyer, improve your outreach strategy, and personalize your sales and marketing collateral.

Use Case

• Create a DISC personality profile for any buyer to better understand their buying motivation
• Use the Crystal Knows extension to automatically generate personalized sales and marketing collateral
• Integrate with your CRM to automatically update contact records with personality insights
• Sharpen your management skills with Crystal's Chrome Extension
• Improve customer satisfaction by providing a more personalized customer experience
• Close more deals by understanding your buyer’s personality.

 12.  TaxPlanIQ

TaxPlanIQ is an intuitive online platform that allows tax professionals to quickly and easily create customized tax plans for their clients. With TaxPlanIQ, you can optimize your clients' tax liability, identify opportunities for tax savings, and create custom reports and proposals.

How Accountants Benefit

TaxPlanIQ helps you save time and money on your clients' taxes, identify opportunities for tax savings, and create custom reports and proposals.

Use Case

• Quickly and easily create customized tax plans for your clients
• Demonstrate tax-saving opportunities to your clients within 30 minutes
• Organize your clients' tax strategies quickly and easily 
• Create ROI reports to show competency and charge your services for what they are worth
• Integrate with other native applications to optimize workflows
• Create custom reports and proposals with ease and discover unique insights in real time

Ready to Up Your Tech Game?

Your business needs constant nurturing and the right tools to grow. The right technology can make a big difference in your productivity, sales, and customer satisfaction. 

Don't miss out on opportunities to save time and money. Deploy these tools in your business to streamline and automate your workflows, so you can work smarter, not harder.

If you want a truly streamlined workflow, TaxPlanIQ can help you get maximum value from your tech stack by quickly and easily creating an ecosystem that allows you to manage all of your tax clients in one place. It will up your firm’s tech game and increase your clients’ tax savings.

Get a free TaxPlanIQ trial today and see how easy it is to take your tax business to the next level!