A firm that prides itself on meticulous work needs to give the same value to its client relationships. Firms that give equal attention to both grow and succeed. And those that don’t? They get left behind.
But excellent client or customer relationship management isn't simple—not without the right processes, team, and communication strategy. And definitely not without the right tools.
In fact, the firms leading the way in practice excellence are leveraging workflow and CRM technology 120-130% more than their less-competitive counterparts.
If your firm is struggling with siloed and scattered client data, a CRM solution might be the next tool you need.
The right CRM system will leverage automation and provide features like document management, a client portal, activity timelines, centralized communication, and onboarding assistance. And if you are a QuickBooks firm, a CRM with an Intuit QuickBooks integration will enhance each of these features.
With these tools in place, you can focus on the client relationship itself, knowing that the administrative client management work is under control.
QuickBooks CRM integrations: What are the benefits for accountants?
Better access to client data
Without timely, accurate data, an accountant’s job gets very difficult, very quickly. But with a CRM that directly integrates with general ledger tools like QuickBooks and Xero, client information can freely flow between each app. Client data is centralized and you reduce the need to
Again, because your CRM and G/L are integrated, your information is centralized, allowing you to provide a better client experience. Your CRM is your knowledge hub for client details, like name, email, business addresses, etc.
And if your CRM tool integrates with your email, client communication will be centralized too, giving you the ultimate single source of truth.
A more connected team
Having the right CRM software that centralizes client information, email, notes, or other relevant data will simplify your team members’ lives.
When your CRM tool integrates with QuickBooks, they won’t need to navigate between various apps just to get the information they need. As a result, their efficiency and productivity should increase. Not to mention their overall satisfaction.
Your team will also be more agile and your clients are more likely to receive a more consistent, high-quality service from your firm—no matter who they’re dealing with.
Workflow automation
Having robust, well-thought-out workflows is important for every accounting business. Bonus points if they’re equipped with automation that streamlines processes, avoids double data entry, and keeps things moving.
For example, you can use QuickBooks' two-way sync with your CRM to automate the creation of Quickbooks invoices and estimates.
Why finding the right CRM with a QuickBooks integration is important for accountants
In a study in 2014 by Nucleus Research, they found ROI on CRM to be $8.71 USD for every dollar spent. While there haven’t been further studies on this metric, estimates predict it to be much higher today.
US-based firm BWCO CPAs have been using Karbon as their CRM solution since just before the pandemic. They found it, along with its integrations, invaluable for processing a variety of tax returns, especially when they couldn’t meet in person during lockdowns.
Rebecca Sheer, BWCO client and owner of Sheer Celebrations, explains the benefits she reaps as a result of her accountant using the right tech:
“[BWCO] can send me comments and documents in Karbon, and I can upload documents with ease. Whenever I need anything, I can just go to them, and it's like having an extension of my family right there, available for me and my business.”
If you consider that number multiplied across all staff members over time, the hours saved quickly become days and even weeks.
What accountants should consider when choosing a CRM that integrates with Quickbooks
47% of firms report a massive impact on client satisfaction with CRM software, but not all CRM software solutions are created equal.
Finding the right CRM for your firm is a process. First, you need to pinpoint what you need it to do. Then compare your options, and finally, test it.
Figuring out your firm’s needs
The size of your firm impacts the uses it has for CRM software.
For firms looking to grow, software that includes scalable client onboarding processes is a must-have. Similarly, firms that are bringing on new staff will consistently benefit from centralized historical data, allowing team members to be brought up-to-speed quickly on different clients.
Understand how robust the QuickBooks integration needs to be
How deeply do you need your CRM to integrate with QuickBooks? Do you need all team members to have access to this integration, or will a single user be enough?
The concept of a CRM is not specific to accountants. Anywhere there are clients or customers, there is CRM.
Most CRM software is generic and built to cover needs across multiple industries. But when you’re finding the right software for your accounting firm, there are purpose-built tools that provide accounting-specific features.
One benefit to choosing an industry-specific CRM is having the right integrations. If you can integrate with QuickBooks Online, Ignition and other useful accounting software, you’ll save time and the hassle of not needing to move information across platforms.
With Karbon, for example, you can generate a proposal with Ignition, which can then kick off a workflow within Karbon—the whole process can be completely automated.
Plus, generic CRM tools don’t have accounting workflow template libraries to further speed up your processes.
The question is: when you are choosing between different software, why not go for the option that was built specifically for you?
The best CRMs with QuickBooks integrations for accountants
Here are 7 tools with the best QuickBooks CRM integrations:
Karbon
Karbon is an accounting practice management tool equipped with CRM features. Because it’s not a traditional, standalone CRM solution, Karbon does not offer every bit of functionality that you may expect from a CRM solution. But it also brings a significant advantage of being part of a wider practice management platform—and with that comes lots of other features and functionality from one single app.
Client management features in Karbon, including document management and client portal
Hundreds of accounting firms use Karbon as their CRM solution, streamlining their client interactions, centralizing their data, and enhancing their workflow efficiency.
What kind of firms use Karbon?
Accounting firms of various sizes leverage Karbon’s CRM as a system of record for their clients and the related information that they need to track in order to deliver services (e.g. TaxID, entity type, DOB, address, email, phone number, etc.).
Hubspot is a CRM tool that manages your contacts as well as your sales, pipeline, digital marketing campaigns, and lead nurture. It’s not specific to accounting firms, and appeals to a wide array of small businesses.
Contact information page in HubSpot
What kind of firms use Hubspot CRM?
Hubspot CRM is best suited for firms with a heavy focus on sales and marketing, and those that don’t mind a relatively shallow integration pool with accounting-specific software.
Company insights to help inform business decisions
Meeting scheduler to maintain regular contact with clients
Email template builder
AI email writer for email marketing
Automation and task alerts
Client and customer data profiles
Pros
Offers a free plan
Large market share with wide user-base
Extensive integrations library
Current and historical client information is available in one centralized location
Supports client lifecycle tracking
You can connect your social media accounts to see how your ads are performing
Marketing automation capabilities
Cons
Aimed at sales and marketing rather than ongoing client-based CRM
The free CRM plan has basic functionality compared to paid options, which can get expensive
Not built for accountants, so it lacks industry-specific features
No client portal
Free trial?
Yes
Pricing
For small teams, Hubspot’s CRM Suite offers a free service with the option of upgrading to a paid plan.
Free: $0 USD/month
Starter: $20 USD/month
Professional: $1,600 USD/month
Zoho CRM
Zoho is a comprehensive software suite for small-large businesses. One of their products is Zoho Books, an online accounting software that integrates with Zoho CRM. The following are features of Zoho CRM.
Insightly is a CRM and project management tool that helps small to medium businesses manage contacts, track relationships, monitor sales pipeline, and organize projects.
Sales dashboard view in Insightly
What kind of firms use Insightly?
Even though it’s not accounting-specific, its library of integrations does include a decent selection of apps firms use (i.e. QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Bill.com, Freshbooks). Firms that need their CRM to integrate with these tools will benefit from Insightly.
Insightly offers three different packages for its CRM with a free trial available.
Plus: $29 USD/month, per user
Professional: $49/month, per user
Enterprise: $99/month, per user
Freshsales
Freshsales is the CRM product of Freshworks, which is a customer service, IT and CRM software provider. Freshsales is a more sales-focused CRM designed to help you convert leads into clients quickly.
Client profile view in Freshsales
What kind of firms use Freshales?
Accounting and bookkeeping firms with a dedicated sales team or salesperson would benefit from Freshsales’ CRM features. And because the increases in price between each package are relatively affordable, it’s suitable for firms that are scaling.
Auto-profile enrichment automatically enriches lead, contact, and account profiles with social media information and actions taken on your website (only available with the Enterprise package)
Strong customer support across phone, email and chat—including the free version (however, it’s limited to work days)
Cons
Some customization options (such as custom fields), access to the API, workflows and dashboards, and a two-way email sync are restricted to higher product tiers
Integrations with other Freshworks tools are very basic
Not accounting-specific
Free trial?
Yes
Pricing
Freshsales offers four pricing options. The following prices are based on annual billing:
Free: $0 USD/month, per user
Growth: $15 USD/month, per user
Pro: $39 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: $69 USD/month, per user
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a simple and user-friendly CRM that focuses on your sales process. It’s also a generic CRM tool that applies to a wide range of audiences.
Sales pipeline view in Pipedrive
What kind of firms use Pipedrive?
Firms with dedicated sales teams would benefit from Pipedrive’s heavy sales focus.
Pipedrive offers five pricing options. Here are the tiers, each based on annual billing:
Essential: $14.90 USD/month, per user
Advanced: $27.90 USD/month, per user
Essential: $49.90 USD/month, per user
Power: $64.90 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: $99.90 USD/month, per user
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Salesforce is one of the most popular and customizable CRM products available. In fact, it’s so highly customizable that you can essentially configure your own bespoke app.
Salesforce Sales Cloud dashboard view
What kind of firms use Salesforce Sales Cloud?
Larger tax, accounting, and audit firms with dedicated sales teams and the time and money to take advantage of the customization capabilities would benefit from Salesforce Sales Cloud.
“We have been using Karbon for a few years now and had previously switched from a few different CRMs. Karbon is themost interactive, customizable and helpfulone we have found." — Marika T. on G2
“We’re really happy. Karbon’s given us the ability to really be able to grow our client base, automate work for our staff, and enable more transparency for both clients and staff. And we’ve been able to provide our clients with the best service by knowing them a little bit better.” — Ana Lukac, New Wave Accountants
“Our firm has grown because of our reputation for communication and responsiveness. Karbon helps us provide that.We're able to focus on the meaningful relationships and stand out against the crowd.” — Gary Wood, CRC
“I knew Karbon would be a game-changer to haveall our communication and client details in one system, while being able to provide clients with timely communication.” — Melissa Stout, mAccounting
Book a demo to find out how Karbon can help you manage your client relationships.
Steph covers off the 7 things you can do today to find your accounting firm's niche, that will help you become more efficient and increase your bottom line profit.
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