Published Date: September 17, 2020 . Last Updated December 30, 2022
Naturally, when accountants use client portals they want to use an easy dashboard interface. Technology pairing with the best client portal for accountants was not successful overnight. It took time to prepare, leverage the work automation for accountants and provide the best cloud storage platform for accounting firms.
Using client portals brings in a lot of questions from the clients like “is it safe to use accounting software?” or “how safe is the client portal?” and so on. My CPA Dashboard has tried to answer as many queries about the client portal as possible. However, the most common question of all is related to maintaining the accounting software.
The growth of cloud technology is constant, the former tech diminishes with the new update. So, in such a case how effective a client portal for accountants will be?
To provide high-leverage cloud-based services it is important to secure and maintain the client portal software for accountants. To help you understand this, we have enlisted a list of ways accounting firms can maintain their client portals.
Table of Contents
Is It Easy To Maintain The Client Portal?
Software of any kind needs upgrades and performance checks from time to time. If you think just buying a Subscription plan to an affordable client portal software will do the deed, then you are wrong.
To remain financially inclined toward your accounting system, it needs to be updated every quarter or annually. This way you can better keep up with the market trends. Therefore, according to the varying technological elements, a client portal software keeps having the necessary updates. The costs of the client portal may vary with each upgrade.
7 Most Common Steps To Maintain The Best Client Portal For Accountants
Clients want to experience the latest benefits of using the client portal. Therefore as the accounting software service provider, you must be able to drive highly efficient and automated workflows in favor of the accountants.
Progressive firms these days are managing the client portal software in the following ways.
Information Gathering
Did you ever notice the amount of time required to chase the clients with relevant information? Client portal software minimized the time investment required to deliver the reports about taxes and audits.
To maintain the client accounting portal, it is best recommended to work on the secure file request. This feature eliminates the effort to pitch the information to each client separately. Requesting the same type of information every other day annoys the clients big time. So once the work is assigned to the team, the access given to cloud storage will allow you to maintain the workflow.
Cloud-based client Relationship management software
After efficiently gathering client data, the next step is to handle that data well.
You should maintain a master contact list in one place to effectively handle contact information such as birthdays, social security numbers, phone numbers, dependents, and more.
If you store information in Excel, your email, and a Word document, it can be quite easy to lose track of it. Not to mention, it is doubtful that every location will have the most recent information on every contact. Your contact list can be organized in a variety of ways with the use of cloud-based CRM software.
Backup contact lists that are dispersed throughout your computer or office will no longer be necessary. Every member of your team will always have access to the most recent information because updates will be made in real-time. Strong filtering options, the ability to record client notes, and other features are frequently included in effective CRM software.
When compared to keeping client information in a spreadsheet, using cloud-based CRM software, like MyCPADashboard, designed exclusively for accountants should improve how you manage customer information.
Handling Transcripts
Despite the fact that IRS transcripts have a bad reputation for being complicated, an accountant who knows how to read them can use them to their advantage. After all, the IRS claims that they serve as a record of the activities that have occurred in a person’s tax history.
The Practitioner Priority Service line and e-Services are two popular ways to obtain client transcripts.
If you’ve used either, you’ve probably spent a significant portion of your day being put on hold. Or perhaps you spent hours waiting for transcripts to arrive—possibly even longer if you had many years’ worth of transcripts to pull.
Even more inefficient than waiting for delivery is the process itself.
Transcripts can include cryptic information that must be broken down line by line. Although more frequently employing IRS transcripts is a positive step toward better servicing your clients, e-Services and the priority line are not the most effective solutions.
A better method of retrieving transcripts is provided by contemporary accounting software. With the use of e-Services, third-party transcript software like MyCPADashboard may retrieve transcripts without the shortcomings of the IRS website.
When transcripts are supplied instantly to your computer, waiting time is significantly reduced.
Improvise The Task Management
An extensive workload affects work productivity levels. It becomes a challenge to overcome the low priority task. It is crucial to deliver the work on time. The best client portal for accountants can be further improved with the task management feature, in case it needs an update.
For instance, My CPA Dashboard lets the accountant take care of the task assignment. The notification feature consists of the starting date and ending date of the task. Later you can also generate the work progress report too. If your client portal software is missing this feature it’s best to tweak it.
Channel Communication
If you think emails are long-dead means of communication – think again. Emails are the most underrated means of marketing and communication. However, it is one of the most effective too. The best client portals for accountants use encrypted emails for push notifications, and informing updates, and are easy to schedule too. For a modern-day accounting solution, additions to email communication will help bring clarity to the clients.
Clients can add comments, and send direct messages even to the team helping create a collaborative experience at both ends.
Access Control
The best way to maintain the client portal is also to use the highest level of SSL encryption. It promotes data transfer security between accounting firms and clients.
Once data is stored in the cloud storage, it is encrypted so that it is safe and secured right away when uploaded. Also, keeping the backup of all data is essential to maintain the consistency of the client portal. To make it a reliable option the backup is a vital piece to earning the client’s trust too.
But that’s not just it. Who will have access to the stored data? Since companies are always concerned about regulatory complaints, access control must be smart. Limited access means better control with the users so clients are aware that it’s accessible only by specific users.
Dual Focus On Client Management
Accountants can maintain their focus on clients switching the best financial strategies by drafting reports timely. It’s best to change the features of client portal software for accountants or upgrade them according to the regulatory changes. This will help with the workflow automation for the accountants.
Improve the accounting portal by also applying the latest practices. The aim of using technology is not to remove the human force behind it but to engage the accountants and clients at the same level.
So once the vital pieces of financial information are managed through the client portal software, you will have a happy client on the other side of the table.
Bottom Line
Trying a new client portal software is too risky, and probably the unknown technology creates the fear of using it too. However, you have nothing to worry about with My CPA Dashboard. As a client portal, it helps to stay at the top of an everyday work basis. However when we feel the features need an upgrade or a new addition is required, everything is taken care of.
For a meaningful engagement with your remote bookkeepers and accountants, it’s easier to work on a simple and easy-to-maintain client portal like My CPA Dashboard.
