The never-ending task list: arguably one of the most overwhelming aspects of working in an accounting firm. Clients, work, deadlines—keeping pace with every task quickly turns into an uphill battle.
But it doesn’t need to be this way.
Leading accounting and bookkeeping firms are investing in accounting task management software to help them streamline their workflows, reduce burnout, and increase productivity and visibility across their firms.
Here’s a breakdown of the benefits of accounting task management software, including 11 of the best solutions.
What is accounting task management software?
Accounting task management software is designed to assist tax and accounting firms in organizing, tracking, and managing their tasks, projects, and workflows efficiently.
At its core, it’s a centralized hub where accountants can create, assign, prioritize, and monitor tasks related to all of their client engagements, deadlines, and internal processes.
Accounting task management software improves your work in a number of ways:
Improved organization. Accounting task management software provides a centralized hub where all tasks and projects can be systematically organized and categorized. This helps firms maintain clarity and structure in their workflow, ensuring that no task slips through the cracks.
Increased productivity.Automating time-consuming tasks helps to increase your productivity, allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional service to your clients and growing your firm.
Teamwork made simpler. With handy features like communication and collaboration tools, these software solutions make teamwork a breeze. You can easily assign tasks to team members, keep track of progress, and communicate updates or questions.
Better resource management. By giving you a bird's-eye view of all tasks and deadlines, accounting task management software helps you allocate resources and manpower more effectively. This means no more burning the midnight oil or scrambling to meet deadlines – you'll have everything under control.
Happy clients, happy firm. Timely completion of tasks, proactive communication, and accurate reporting are just a few ways you'll impress your clients and earn their trust and loyalty.
11 best accounting task management software
1. Karbon
Karbon is the #1 ranked collaborative practice management platform for accounting and bookkeeping firms. This means that workflow management is only one aspect of the Karbon offering.
Real-time integrations that make sense for you (i.e. other leading accounting software, including QuickBooks Online Accountant and Xero Practice Manager)
“I love that Karbon allows us to request info directly from the client and send tasks to them automatically. The workflows are easy to use. I love using the templates feature so we don't have to reinvent the wheel every time a task comes along. It allows us to have repeatable consistent workflows that take the mental load off of our staff.”
Easily customizable to match your practice’s workflow
Open API so you can integrate apps, build custom solutions, and optimize workflows
CRM capabilities track your firm’s relationship with every client and deliver the service you promise
It’s the only accounting practice management tool where you can @mention colleagues and comment on emails, turn emails into tasks, and assign them to colleagues, clients and jobs.
Karbon Analytics guides critical firm decisions and improves efficiency
Karbon is built by a team of passionate industry experts
Engaged user community with 3,000+ members
Offers a free trial
Cons
May require more time for set up and onboarding because it is a robust solution
Functionality is geared toward teams, so may not be suitable for small teams of one or two
What kind of firms use Karbon?
Though ideal for medium-sized firms, Karbon can also suit firms ranging from 2-250+ employees. Karbon blends deep functionality with an intuitive interface for clarity, communication, and insight. But if you’re only looking for something to manage tasks and nothing more, then Karbon isn’t for you.
Pricing
Karbon has three pricing plans: Team, Business, and Enterprise (the pricing below is based on annual billing). Keep in mind that these prices include more than just task management.
Team: $59 USD/month, per user
Business: $89 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Book a free demo to learn more about Karbon and how it can help you manage your firm’s tasks.
2. Financial Cents
Financial Cents is a simple practice management solution for accounting firms looking for an entry-level task management tool.
Financial Cents work dashboard view
Key features
Email integration
Workflow management
Time tracking and invoicing (through QuickBooks Online integration only)
“I love being able to have task-related resource links right there so all team members can get to the sites quickly…[however] I wish dependencies were visible in the task list itself.”
“I log in every day and start my day by seeing what's on task for that day. As things arise it is easy to just add them in on the fly. Users can comment, share and pick up others’ tasks if they have free time.”
Quick to implement (however this might be a drawback for some firms looking for a more powerful solution)
Integrations with Quickbooks Online, Gmail, and Microsoft Outlook
Offers a 14-day free trial
Cons
Limited workflow templates
No email templates
Lackluster internal collaboration features
Limited app integrations
Lacks reporting, insights, and business intelligence analysis capabilities
What kind of firms use Financial Cents?
Financial Cents is best suited for small firms that are just getting started with project management. Growing firms will eventually outpace its basic functionality and limited integrations. As needs grow more complex, many teams compare Financial Cents alternatives to find a more scalable fit.
Pricing
Financial Cents has three pricing plans (the pricing below is based on annual billing):
Solo: $19 USD/month, per user
Team: $49 USD/month, per user
Scale: $69 USD/month, per user
All three plans are available as 14-day free trials.
Canopy is an accounting practice management solution that offers basic task management features for streamlining work.
Canopy’s modular pricing means that accounting firms can pick and choose which features to add on. But keep in mind that most add-on features are core to accounting practice management. This means you’ll likely want them all, which will end up significantly increasing how much you spend.
“We have the ability to see all client emails, files, and tasks in one client profile…[however] Canopy still seems to be refining its platform a lot and adding new features. In short, they are still in build mode.”
Tax resolution cases and integration with IRS (paid add-on)
Flexible document and file management functionality (paid add-on)
Time, billing and invoicing capabilities
Offers case service assistance
Offers a free trial
Cons
Key product features are only available at additional costs (e.g. workflow management and document management)
Complicated and expensive pricing (pay per client, per add-on module, per user)
Limited workflow templates
Despite the prebuilt reports available, customized reporting is minimal
What kind of firms use Canopy?
Canopy is best suited for accounting firms that value task management alongside tax resolution cases and integration with the IRS.
Pricing Canopy has a modular pricing model that charges by the number of features you add on.
Their Standard and Pro pricing tiers include 250 free contacts and charges extra for these add-ons:
Document Management: starting at $40 USD/month, per user
Workflow: starting at $35 USD/month, per user
Time & Billing: starting at $25 USD/month, per user
Tax Resolution: starting at $50 USD/month, per user
Canopy also offers two other tiers for firms with fewer than four staff members:
Starter: $45 USD/month per user, plus $50 USD/month per user for their tax resolution feature.
Essentials: $45 USD/month per user, plus $50 USD/month per user for their tax resolution feature.
For a 10-user firm with 500 contacts and each of the add-ons on the Pro plan, you can expect to pay $1,085 USD/month, billed annually (plus an implementation fee).
TaxDome markets itself as the ‘all-in-one platform for accounting, tax, and bookkeeping firms’. It offers a breadth of basic functionality for task management.
Affordable pricing (however the primary user must sign up for an annual subscription)
Cons
TaxDome has a large amount of features, which makes it difficult to do them all well—this means they generally feel underdeveloped
No budget vs. actual reporting
No high-level visibility across your entire firm’s work (limited to each ‘pipeline’)
No built-in reporting and analytics or customizable business insights dashboards
No free trial
What kind of firms use TaxDome?
TaxDome is best suited for tax firms that are looking for functionality across a wide range of features, but don’t require depth to these features.
Pricing
TaxDome offers three pricing tiers. Pricing depends on how many years you sign up for and payment is required upfront (only billed annually).
The pricing below is based on a one year subscription:
Solo: $800 USD/year per user
Pro: $1,000 USD/year per user
Business: $1,200 USD/year per user
For a 5-user firm on a 1-year contract on the Pro plan, the total price would be $5,000 per year.
Pricing and tiers change for those in other countries, including Australia and the UK.
Karbon vs. TaxDome: which practice management solution is right for your firm?
5. Jetpack Workflow
As the name suggests, Jetpack Workflow’s offering is workflow management. So it’s important to note that if you’re looking for a more holistic solution to manage other parts of your firm as well as your tasks, you may find Jetpack Workflow doesn’t cut it.
“Jetpack Workflow does what it says it will very well: which is internal workflow management and data housing…[however] it is limited to a specific wheelhouse and we quickly outgrew the product.”
“I found that it was easy to enter in tasks and make them recurring. We used Jetpack for a year and then moved on to Karbon because of the email integration, but overall my experience with Jetpack was actually pretty good.”
Useful dashboard with a high-level overview of work
Offers a free trial
Cons
Limited email management capabilities, which means you will need to constantly switch between Jetpack Workflow and your inbox
Limited automation that doesn’t provide the complexity that most accounting processes require
No client portal means you’ll need to find a separate solution to securely streamline client communication and collaboration
What kinds of firms use Jetpack?
Jetpack Workflow is suited for smaller firms wanting a basic solution that they don’t anticipate outgrowing.
Pricing
Jetpack workflow has two pricing plans, plus a 14-day free trial (prices below are based on annual billing):
Organize: $36/month, per user
Scale: $39/month, per user
Karbon or Jetpack Workflow? Get a side-by-side comparison so you can decide which is better for your firm.
6. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a generic collaboration workspace for businesses to manage tasks and projects, and collaborate internally. It’s not an accounting-specific tool, so keep in mind that features are not geared toward the nuances of how you operate.
“The platform offers powerful project planning, task management, and time-tracking attributes. It enables users to create projects, assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and keep track of progress.”
“I've used it to create tasks for team members, and it's quite successful since it establishes timeframes, enables you to add observers and participants, and allows you to add subtasks to the primary task.”
Bitrix24 is designed with a focus on sales and marketing teams. While it’s possible for accounting teams to manage tasks in Bitrix24, large firms looking for integrated accounting features will quickly outgrow the product.
Zoho is a comprehensive software suite for small-large businesses. One of their products, Zoho Projects, is a project management platform. The following are features of Zoho Projects.
Mock up of a Gantt chart in Zoho Projects
Key features
Task automation
Reporting
Collaboration features like @mentions and chat rooms
“While Zoho Projects is highly functional, its broad array of features can be somewhat overwhelming for new users, resulting in a steeper learning curve compared to other project management tools.”
“I love Zoho Projects for its all in one approach, [which] simplifies project management with initiative features and seamless integrations, making teamwork efficient and streamlined.”
Zoho Projects has three pricing plans (prices below are based on annual billing):
Free: $0 USD/month (up to three users)
Premium: $4 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: $9 USD/month, per user
8. Asana
Asana is one of the most well-known industry agnostic project and task management tools. But because it’s aimed at many different industries, it lacks in certain areas specific to accounting and bookkeeping firms.
Payroll processing workflow example in Asana
Key features
Workflow and project management
Workflow automation
Task dashboards
Mobile app
Comments, @mentions and notifications
Reporting
Team management
Extensive template library, however, none are accounting-specific
“The ability in Asana to update the status and progress of projects and goals is helpful [for] an overall general idea of where work needs to be picked up and what work is going well.”
Asana’s pricing is divided into three tiers, all offering free trials (the pricing below is based on annual billing):
Personal: $0 USD/month, per user
Starter: $10.99 USD/month, per user
Advanced: $24.99 USD/month, per user
9. ClickUp
ClickUp is a powerful task management software solution designed to help you keep track of your work, collaborate with your team, and automate routine tasks and subtasks.
Similar to other generic task management solutions like Asana, Monday.com, and Trello, ClickUp is designed to appeal to a wide range of industries, rather than focusing on any particular niche.
A list view of a payroll processing workflow template taken from theKarbon Template Libraryand rebuilt in ClickUp
Key features
Workflow automation
Real-time chat
Project and task dashboards
ClickUP AI for smart suggestions and email writing
“ClickUp has been a huge help in terms of keeping track of everything that needs doing within the company, from scheduling meetings and updating calendars to keeping track of individual projects.”
“ClickUp helped us to reduce the amount of time working on clients so we could get into work faster and communicate progress on larger projects…[although] because there is so much flexibility, it can be easy to overcomplicate things and inefficiencies can creep in.”
Like Asana, Clickup is a project management tool that helps teams across all industries keep track of their tasks. It works for robust teams that need highly customizable workflows and reports, but accounting firms that use Clickup may find it doesn’t offer the accounting-specific features they need.
Pricing
Clickup offers four pricing plans, including a free trial (the pricing below is based on annual billing):
Free: $0 USD/month, per user
Unlimited: $7 USD/month, per user
Business: $12 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing
10. Basecamp
Basecamp is a task management and collaboration tool that helps small teams communicate and delegate tasks across their projects.
A mock up of an organization's 'Home' dashboard in Basecamp
“Basecamp is very easy to use and very quick to load. All-in-all, it's an OK tool to use if you're just getting started with your company and you need some place to add to-do lists. But if you want to scale your business, you need a more advanced tool to manage projects.”
“The software is not as customizable as some of its competitors,...[but] it’s a user-friendly interface. The software is easy to navigate, even for those who are not tech-savvy.”
Basecamp is best for smaller teams like entrepreneurs, freelancers, small businesses, and departments within large organizations.
Pricing
Basecamp offers two simple pricing plans, plus a free 30-day trial (the pricing below is based on annual billing):
Basic: $15 USD/month, per user
Pro: $299 USD/month, unlimited users
11. Trello
Trello is a task management tool designed to help you keep track of your projects, organize workflows, and collaborate with your team.
But just like similar solutions like Asana, ClickUp, Monday.com and Wrike, Trello is focused on meeting the needs of a wide range of businesses, rather than any particular industry.
“Trello allows us to centralize a project's resources into a single point making it possible to have a unified view of the entire project. This makes it super easy to monitor the performance of the projects by tracking the progress of activities and tasks.”
“In Trello, the visibility of tasks and the ability to collaborate in real time with colleagues has significantly improved my productivity…[however] scalability can be an issue.”
‘Trello boards’ (similar to Kanban boards) help to visualize tasks by status
Integrates with common tools like Salesforce, Slack, and Google Drive
Desktop and mobile apps
Offers a free trial for Premium plans
Cons
Not an accounting-specific tool
Doesn’t offer pre-built financial templates
No out-of-the-box recurring work capabilities (needs to be built using a Power-Up tool)
There is no way to send clients automatic reminders
No direct email integration
No CRM capabilities
No native time tracking or time budgeting information available
Doesn’t directly integrate with accounting software
No client portal
Customer support isn’t specific to accounting
What kind of firms use Trello?
Trello is suitable for solo accountants or bookkeeping firms that are just getting started. Beyond that, accounting firms that use Trello may find that they’ve outgrown the tool due to its lack of accounting-specific features and processes.
Pricing
Trello has four pricing plans (the pricing below is based on annual billing):
Free: $0 USD/month, per user
Standard: $5 USD/month, per user
Premium: $10 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: Starts at $17.50 USD/month, per user
Choosing the right accounting task management software
Each of these task management tools provides a certain level of value, but what exactly is the specific (and highest) value that aligns with the needs of your firm?
To answer that, it can be useful to consider the size and stage of your accounting firm:
Small firms: Focus on cost-effectiveness, scalability, and ease of use.
Mid-sized firms: Look for solutions offering comprehensive features to manage growing client bases and increasingly complex workflows.
Large firms: Prioritize advanced functionality, robust integration capabilities, and customization options to accommodate your diverse service offerings and extensive teams.
But, regardless of your size, there are a handful of features that any task management software you choose to invest in should offer—right out of the box.
Big picture visibility. Access to real-time work dashboards and reports for comprehensive insights into firm-wide operations, performance, and project progress.
Automation. Task and project management software for accountants should automate manual and repetitive tasks so teams can focus on high value and billable client work.
Control of all systems and processes. It should be a centralized platform to house client information, communication, tasks, and deadlines for maximum visibility and control.
Standardizing processes with templates. Task management software should provide a template library for important workflows, ensuring consistency and efficiency across your most important tasks.
Individual task delegation and tracking. The ability to assign tasks to specific team members, set due dates, and monitor progress is crucial.
Activity timeline. To enhance project management, give your team a visual roadmap to view all project timelines and key milestones.
Document hub. You’ll need a secure client document hub for storing, sharing, and collaborating on important financial documents.
Time and resource estimates. These tools empower your firm with the ability to accurately forecast project durations and the time and budget needs for every task.
Digit Pro reclaimed 8 hours a week firm-wide by automating all tax-related tasks and recurring work.
TMS increased productivity by 40% with streamlined work distribution and better, more accurate forecasting.
Better task management is right around the corner.
For a more in-depth understanding of how Karbon can directly impact your accounting team’s productivity and profitability across every key task, book a demo or start a free trial.
Accounting practice management software can save your firm thousands of dollars per year per employee. Find the best practice management platform for your company.
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