BrightManager is a practice management system built for chartered accountants and bookkeepers in the UK and Ireland. Formerly AccountancyManager, in 2022, it was acquired by Bright, a UK tax, payroll, HR, and bookkeeping software group.
As a comprehensive practice management solution, BrightManager’s top features include:
Workflow and job management, including repeating jobs, automatic client reminders, and work templates
A CRM that gives you custom forms, custom fields, bulk email send, and texting capabilities
Automated proposals and letters of engagement based on the services you provide to the client
A secure client portal for practice owners to share documents and forms, and request eSignatures
AML checks and risk assessments that screen and capture risk-related data
Custom forms in BrightManager, screenshot from BrightManager's website
How much does BrightManager cost?
BrightManager starts at £33.60+VAT/month, per user (billed annually), with Enterprise pricing available for firms with 12+ users.
Is BrightManager your ideal practice management solution?
BrightManager is an adequate solution for accounting firms with one to three full-time employees. It can automate some common processes like client onboarding, project management, and document collection.
But for larger accountancy practices with distributed teams, BrightManager has a few limitations that might not serve your needs.
Why you should consider BrightManager alternatives
1. Lacklustre project management and workflow automation
BrightManager offers a ‘tasks’ module to help you and your team manage client work and stay on top of deadlines. You can create tasks from pre-built task templates or build them ad-hoc to suit each client’s unique requirements.
All client tasks are outlined in a list view in the ‘tasks’ area. You can also see the number of subtasks, progresses, deadlines, and assignees of all your client work in the same space.
Task and subtasks in BrightManager, screenshot taken from BrightManager’s product demo
For a small team working independently on client jobs, BrightManager’s task and workflow management functionality is an improvement from manual to-do lists or Excel spreadsheets.
While it provides a centralised location to view your client work, it lacks crucial workflow automation features like task automators that boost your productivity—for example, automatically changing work statuses and reassigning tasks.
For larger accountancy firms with multiple team members working together on the same client job, BrightManager will likely fall short of your needs.
2. Insufficient collaboration and communication features
Internal collaboration features like the ability to @mention colleagues, add comments or notes on clients, jobs, or tasks are critical for harmonious collaboration between team members in a remote or hybrid work environment.
In this area, BrightManager is limited.
Currently, the only internal collaboration functionality in BrightManager is the ability to leave notes in client tasks or in the CRM. You can’t @mention a colleague in the notes, nor can you add comments or notes to an email thread.
Notes on tasks in BrightManager
For non-urgent communication, notes might be sufficient.
But for client jobs that require time-sensitive collaboration from multiple colleagues, those conversations and communication will have to happen in separate apps like Slack or Teams.
3. No customisable reporting options
While BrightManager does offer a ‘Profitability’ feature that tracks key business metrics like revenue, time spent on client jobs, cost of labour, and profitability rate, it's a pre-built report that you have limited options to customise.
Profitability dashboard in BrightManager
It might be adequate if your team and client size is small and you’re confident that these metrics can give you the necessary insights to run your practice.
But for larger firms, chances are the you need a practice management software with customisable reporting capabilities to answer critical questions like:
How many days on average do we spend waiting on client records?
What’s my team’s capacity this week?
How much work is ready to start, in progress, in review, or completed?
The 5 best BrightManager alternatives for accountancy practice management software
Like BrightManager, Karbon has key practice management features to help accounting professionals manage their clients and work.
But Karbon is ideal for larger firms or small firms that need customisable reporting and seamless collaboration between team members. It’s also one of the first practice management software to integrate GPT-powered AI for email management.
Kanban workflow dashboard in Karbon
Karbon’s top features
Integrated email (Gmail, Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange)
Document management (native storage and integration with Dropbox and OneDrive)
Email comments and @mentions
Time tracking and budgets
Analytics and reporting
Billing and payments (in beta)
GPT-powered AI (in beta)
Integrations with industry-specific software, including Companies House, Xama, Ignition, and GoProposal
Open API and Zapier integration so you can build your own custom solutions
Karbon’s pros and cons
Pros
Karbon is the only accounting practice management solution that allows you to @mention colleagues and comment on emails, turn emails into tasks, and assign emails to colleagues, client and project timelines
Senta is a practice management system for accountancy firms in the UK and Ireland. After it was acquired by IRIS in 2021, Senta has become IRIS Elements Practice Management for accounting firms in the UK and Ireland.
Setting up client services in Senta by IRIS
Senta’s top features
Project management and workflow automation
Client management
Secure client portal
Email management
SMS capabilities
Email templates
eSignatures
Proposal and engagement letters
GDPR compliant
Senta’s pros and cons
Pros
Strong CRM capabilities with custom forms and fields
Bulk email, email templates, and email placeholders
Built-in SMS functionality
Automatic client reminders in email and SMS
Cons
Suited to smaller firms, which means you’ll likely outgrow it
Limited workflow automation
No ability to @mention colleagues
No built-in reports or analytics dashboards
Who is Senta best suited for?
Senta is ideal for accountancy firms already using the IRIS software suite.
Reviews
Here’s how Senta and BrightManager stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
Senta starts at £32+VAT/month, per user on a monthly subscription or £25.60+VAT/month, per user on an annual subscription.
As you add additional users, the cost per user, per month decreases incrementally. Here’s a look at Senta’s full pricing scale.
Senta or BrightManager?
In terms of CRM and workflow management, BrightManager and Senta are both good choices. But neither have the necessary collaboration functionality to support larger teams.
Ultimately, if you’re an existing IRIS user, you might prefer Senta over BrightManager. But if you’re an existing Bright customer, you might enjoy BrightManager’s integration with your current tools more.
Pixie
Pixie is also a UK-based practice management system built specifically for accounting firms. Because it was founded in 2019, it’s one of the newer players in the market.
Work view in Pixie
Pixie’s top features
Integrated emails
CRM with custom fields
Workflow management
Recurring tasks
Workflow template library
eSignatures
Client reminders
GDPR compliant
Pixie’s pros and cons
Pros
A clean, modern design that’s easy to navigate
Flexible recurring work functionality that can be customised to suit a client’s specific year-end date
Best-practice template library
Affordable pricing, especially for firms with fewer than 50 clients
Cons
Limited collaboration functionality (unable to @mention colleagues in comments or notes, making teamwork difficult)
Limited automation
No time and budget tracking means that productivity and profitability insights are limited
No Kanban board view, which makes it difficult to get a high-level view of your firm
No ability to assign a job’s subtasks to different team members
No client portal to securely collaborate and exchange files with your clients
Who is Pixie best suited for?
Pixie is best suited for UK-based accounting firms with a smaller client base (under 250 clients).
Reviews
Here’s how Pixie and BrightManager stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
Pixie’s pricing is based on the number of clients you have and includes unlimited users. Within each client size cohort, there are two pricing plans:
Less than 250 clients
Advanced plan: £99+VAT/month
Growth plan: £149+VAT/month
251-500 clients
Advanced plan: £149+VAT/month
Growth plan: £249+VAT/month
501-1,000 clients
Advanced plan: £249+VAT/month
Growth plan: £599+VAT/month
More than 1,000 clients
Custom pricing
Pixie or BrightManager?
Overall, Pixie and BrightManager are comparable, but BrightManager offers a few more features than Pixie, including a client portal, invoicing, proposal management, and custom forms.
And they have different pricing models too—AccoutancyManager charges by the number of users and Pixie by the number of clients (with unlimited users).
Either platform can help you run your practice. The difference comes down to your must-have features and functionality, and cost.
Glide
Glide is a UK-based practice management tool used by accountants and other professional service providers. It’s particularly known for its CRM, workflow management, and integration with CCH.
Dashboard view in Glide
Glide’s top features
Workflow automation (drag-and-drop flowcharts)
CRM
Automated client requests and reminders via emails and SMS
Staff scheduler
Time and fees (paid add-on)
GDPR compliant
Glide’s pro and cons
Pros
Strong workflow management capabilities
Useful integrations, including CCH, Xero, Companies House and HMRC
Email and SMS alerts (although they’re convoluted to set up)
A staff scheduler helps to visualise staff allocations
Cons
Inbound email is non-existent in Glide—you can only send emails as alerts, not receive them
Limited collaboration functionality (no ability to use @mentions for internal collaboration)
Who is Glide best suited for?
Glide is best suited for mid-tier accountancy firms that also use CCH’s suite of accounting, tax, or audit software.
Reviews
Here’s how Glide and BrightManager stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
Basic: £41.23+VAT/month for the first user, increasing incrementally with each additional user
Advanced: £63.22+VAT/month for the first user, increasing incrementally with each additional user
Professional: £82.46+VAT/month for the first user, increasing incrementally with each additional user
Glide’s Time & Fees module is a paid add-on for each of these tiers, starting at £6.51+VAT/month for the first user.
This means that an accounting firm with 20 users on the Advanced plan with the Time & Fees module would pay £585.25+VAT per month.
For firms with over 100 staff, Glide offers custom pricing.
Glide or BrightManager?
Glide is more suitable for mid-tier to larger accountancy firms that also use CCH products.
BrightManager is more effective for smaller accountancy or tax practices that need as many features as possible, even if not all features have deep functionality.
Client Engager
Client Engager is one of the newest practice management tools is founded by Andy Wainwrights, Managing Director at Wainwrights Accountants, and prides itself on being ’designed by accountants for accountants and bookkeepers’.
As the name suggests, Client Engager’s features are heavily focused on client management.
Client Engager dashboard during a demo with Director Johann Goree
Client Engager’s top features
Letters of engagement and disengagement
A comprehensive CRM with custom fields
Client portal
Document storage and folders
eSignature
Email integration with Microsoft 365
Workflow management with task lists and Kanban boards
A pricing tool for firms to quote their services
Custom forms
Integration with Companies House, HMRC, Xama, QuickBooks Online and Xero
Client Engager’s pros and cons
Pros
Robust CRM
Unlimited users (because it charges by number of clients)
A unique pricing tool that customises to suit your firm’s menu of services
Cons
It’s new to the market, so some essential features might not be available or they’re in-progress, as some reviewers have mentioned
It’s heavily focused on client management, so its workflow management, automation, and collaboration features are basic compared to other solutions like Karbon
Who is Client Engager best suited for?
Client Engager is best suited for accountancy and bookkeeping practices with a smaller portfolio of clients.
Reviews
Here’s how Client Engager and BrightManager stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
Client Engager charges by the number of clients you store in the platform:
0-10 clients: £9+VAT/month
11-50 clients: £19+VAT/month
51-100 clients: £29+VAT/month
101-250 clients: £49+VAT/month
251-500 clients: £99+VAT/month
501-750 clients: £149+VAT/month
751-1000 clients: £199+VAT/month
1001+ clients: custom pricing
Client Engager or BrightManager?
If you’re looking for a strong CRM with basic workflow management and client collaboration functionality, Client Engager is a better choice than BrightManager. And for sole practitioners with fewer than 100 clients, Client Engager is cheaper.
But if you want a more comprehensive platform with more features and workflow capabilities, BrightManager will better suit your needs.
Try Karbon for free
With this overview of the best alternatives to BrightManager, you should have a clearer idea about which is the ideal option for your practice.
To see how professional services firms save an average of 19.9 hours per employee each week, you can explore the Karbon Effect. Or you can use the Karbon ROI calculator to see what your return on investment could be.
Karbon has solved the 'silo' problem in my business. Complete visibility of communications between team members and customers is now a reality. The Karbon development team and support team are amazing and really care about me and my business.
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