What is practice management software? 7 ways it can skyrocket your firm’s efficiency

When your internal operations are chaotic, everything else follows – from the tools you use, how your team communicate, to ultimately, your clients’ experience. Organisation is the foundation of your practice, and more and more practice owners are turning to software to assist them in this – from systemising their workflows to collating their client lists.  

Although the uptake in practice management software in the last few years has been remarkable, most firms still aren’t using any software and don’t yet appreciate what practice management software is and what impact it can have on your firm.   

1. Brings the virtual office to life 

Love that ‘going to work’ feeling? Practice management software is the equivalent of virtually walking into the office every morning. How? It gives you and your team complete visibility of exactly what needs to get done and when, without having to stand around a whiteboard (or spreadsheet) in the office.  

As with all cloud-based software, hybrid working businesses also offer you and your team the ability to work anywhere in the world, albeit in the office, at home or even on the beach (if you wish to do so). 

2. Helps keep track of every deadline 

At the end of the day, clients are only interested in one thing – not missing their deadlines. And from your perspective, you want to make sure that work is getting done at the right time, every time. 

That’s why with practice management software, you can see your firm’s priorities, filter them by deadline, delegate work automatically to specific team members, and see a bird’s eye view of exactly who’s working on what in real time. This means you can scrap the sticky notes around your desk and take your foot off the gas when it comes to managing the chaos of work that flows in and out your firm.  

3. Takes the heavy lifting out of onboarding compliance 

Ultimately, practice management software is all about increasing professionalism while reducing the administrative burden associated with running a busy practice.  

This is most apparent with onboarding, which we can all collectively agree on, can be a slow and monotonous process. Yes, it’s essential and involves some crucial compliance steps – whether it’s sending out a letter of engagement or filling out a risk assessment. However, in today’s world, this no longer requires as much human intervention as it used to. 

With the right software, professional proposals can take just minutes to produce. It does this by chasing up prospects for you and, once they accept, provides them with a customised letter of engagement based on the services agreed.  

From your perspective, you just need to send the email, sit back and let the system do the rest. Don’t worry about checking if a client has signed up – the system will notify you of that once it’s taken place. 

Tired of waiting for a previous accountant to get back to you for professional clearance? Struggling to find time for AML work? We can automate all of this for you. That way, each hurdle in your onboarding race takes minutes to complete rather than hours. 

4. Transforms client engagement 

You likely already use cloud-based software to work with your clients. Most often, it involves bookkeeping, payroll and data extraction. However, is your clients’ experience consistent when they’re interacting with you?  

All too often, accountants provide services to clients using the latest technology, but their own practice hasn’t kept up on an internal level. 

For instance, do you or the team have to chase clients for their books and records? Software can now automate that process for you, so you can now spend that time in more valuable ways. How do clients sign off their accounts? Are they still coming into the office to sign off with a pen and handshake? Software doesn’t eliminate these personal interactions with clients, but improves how clients work with you, ultimately improving their experience. 

How? Practice management software can write up almost every email you’d ever need to think of, and can be programmed to send and chase clients as often as you like until you get what you need. On top of that, client portals let clients upload records, sign documents, and even check their tax liabilities (so you don’t have to). 

5. Standardises processes and enhances professionalism 

When clients start using slick and modern processes, and have a more seamless and personalised user experience – they usually think “Wow, that firm’s really on it!” when, in reality, all you’ve done is clicked a few buttons. 

Also, rather than having client files scattered across USB sticks, Excel sheets and cabinets, you can store everything on just one tab on your browser. This keeps your firm tidier and more organised, and makes client docs much easier to find. 

This is the power of choosing the right software – you can send out everything in an instant without having to rewrite and redo it all. It skyrockets your perceived value, increases your professionalism, and makes your team’s life easier – all of which, in turn, improves staff and client retention. 

6. See how efficient your firm really is 

Imagine having all of the data that you need at your fingertips to make the best-informed business decisions for your firm? Well, that’s what you get with practice management software. 

No more wasted hours getting poured down the sink. The software lets you keep tabs on how much time and money each task and client are taking up. That way, you see who your most and least profitable clients are, and adjust your priorities for 2025. 

7. Foundation for scalability 

The beauty of practice management software is that it can easily scale alongside you. So, whether you have 5 or 500 clients, the quality of your work doesn’t diminish. You can send out 5 emails just as quickly as 500, nudge them all as often as you like, and update Companies House changes for all clients in just one click. This means you can buckle up, take off to the moon (and beyond), free from any growing pains.  

Practice management software is the landing base that your firm’s efficiency can skyrocket from. But in order to do this, it has to have the right fuel to support it. Because it acts as your central database, all other software should integrate with it too. That way, all data is consistent across the firm.