What Are the Features of Tax Practice Management Software?

Tax practice management software helps accounting and tax firms streamline their most important tasks. Scheduling, billing, and even communication can all be done in one management software to make firm management organized and structured.

What is Accounting Practice Management Software?

Firms of all sizes can use practice management software to improve:

• Communication
• Efficiency
• Organization

Professionals in the firm can also use this same software to delegate tasks, keep on top of project timelines, track and bill projects, and even create new projects using integral templates.

When clients ask for an update or a report needs to be sent to a client, the accounting professionals handling the project can run the report from right inside the software. Files and other important documents can be stored and shared in the software for greater flexibility.

Now that we’ve answered “what is tax practice management software,” it’s time to learn why you need a system in place for your practice.

Why Do You Need a Practice Management System?

Practice management software for tax firms is essential because it reduces the risk of human error. Imagine a new accountant taking on an ongoing client project. During the initial meeting with management, a mistake was made and the new head of the project was told that the deadline for the project was May 1.

However, the project is actually due March 1, before a key deadline.

If the project were added to the management system properly, the deadline would never be missed and your client wouldn’t be penalized.

Larger firms can have dozens or hundreds of projects running at the same time. Tracking billable hours for employees is also an integral, time-saving feature of most practice management software. When time-tracking is built into the platform, this helps the firm in a variety of ways:

1. Billable hours are always tracked, so you never pay employees for more hours than necessary.
2. Billable hours are charged correctly to the client, so you never miss out on revenue.

Management systems help streamline your firm’s accounting systems in one central location. When properly set up, your firm can reduce errors, increase customer satisfaction, and improve efficiency.

And that’s just the start of what the right practice management software has to offer your firm.

Benefits of Practice Management Software for Tax Firms

Management software is double sided, meaning that it benefits both the firm and their clients. Imagine your tax office admin working on a new client’s project. The admin team may have dozens or hundreds of documents to:

• Upload
• Save
• Print
• Organize

A lot of time and resources go into management, but that same time and resources can also be reduced. Instead of having to handle multiple processes, all communication can be done through the software’s communication tools.

Clients can be setup with their own portal, too.

When the admin needs a bank statement or other file, they can send a quick message to the client. Once the client uploads the file, it is autosaved into the software and organized.

Practice management software for small tax firms allows firms to take on more clients, keep their operations organized and streamlined, and saves them time and money. When one central platform can be used to create and manage projects, customer satisfaction improves.

Benefits of Practice Management Software for Tax Clients

Firms can become inundated with files, mail, and communications, but clients also have to deal with multiple portals, documents to sign, invoices, and emails. For clients, working with a tax professional can be overwhelming and tedious.

However, tax practice management software can help.

Using a single tool, like TaxDome, improves the client experience because everything is in one place. If your team needs to request new forms or files from the client, they can look at the request on their phone and upload files from the same app.

Everything can be done in a simple portal, including but not limited to:

Clients only need a single link to log in to the client portal and help meet their client obligations. When all files, communications, and other tasks are kept in one place, it drastically improves the customer experience.

The right practice management software will have the features your firm needs to improve customer relations and experience while offering the best experience to employees and clients.

The Features of the Best Practice Management Software

Top practice management software will have the features your firm needs to streamline projects. A lot of features may be available, but the five most important features in practice management software are:

1. Easy and Secure Document Sharing: Portals can allow clients to rapidly upload files onto a secure platform. Firms can then share documents and files with the client on the same platform with no need for pesky email chains. 
2. User-friendly Client Portal: The portal that the client uses should be user-friendly and easy to use. Ease of use increases portal usage and will improve the client experience.
3. IRS-compliant E-signatures: Offering the option to e-sign using IRS-compliant signatures helps speed up projects for clients and firms. 
4. Online Payments: Accepting payments directly in the client portal can speed up invoice payments and help reduce the risk of late payments.
5. Easy Task and Project Management: Creating new tasks and projects is a tedious process. Project management software for bookkeepers should have templates, or allow you to create them, to make the process faster.

Before you choose software for your firm, be sure to demo products or spend time reading through features to ensure that the software meets your firm’s needs.

Final Note 

Accounting practice management software is an integral part of an accounting firm’s growth and evolution. When a firm grows, it’s more important than ever to put systems in place that make it easy to communicate with teams and clients, create projects, share documents, receive payments, and adhere to strict deadlines.

If your firm isn’t using the top practice management software, it’s time to consider one.

TaxDome offers state-of-the-art features, a user-friendly interface, and all of the key features outlined previously.