Best Accounting Practice Management Software in 2023

Last Updated September 4, 2023

Accounting practice management software handles all the operations, inside out, for firms that provide accounting services. When choosing a practice management software, you need to factor in a few considerations that an accounting software must-have. These include personalized workflows, sending invoices to clients, tracking employee work time, monitoring progress, and increased collaboration. The best practice management software will have all these features along with the best customer service, pricing, and mobile apps.

Here is the 7 best accounting practice management software:

Jetpack Workflow: Best for basic workflow automation
QuickBooks Online Accountant: Best for managing QuickBooks Online clients
OfficeTools WorkSpace: Best overall accounting practice management software
Xero Practice Manager: Best for managing Xero clients
TaxWorkFlow: Best for managing tax processes for clients
Sage Business Cloud Financials: Best for tracking profitability by client or project
My CPA Dashboard: Best overall accounting practice management software

Jetpack Workflow

Jetpack Workflow is an accounting practice management software that provides a great mix of features along with reasonable pricing that gives your small accounting firm maximum value for its investment. It provides a 360 transparency on everything going on in the firm, increasing productivity and offering a central platform to manage all the processes, helping the accountants and bookkeepers ensure that the most important tasks are identified and completed efficiently. Jetpack Workflow provides support and training helping the management of the team with ease.

Pros

Report generation
Robust integration with QuickBooks Online, Zapier, etc.
Unlimited jobs, clients, and documents
Transparent pricing structure
Integration with more than 3000 apps
Project management offers

Cons

No client portal
No CRM features
No mobile app
No customizable reports
Inability to update templates for assigned tasks

Pricing

Jetpack Workflow offers three service packages that include self-guided, Kickstarter starting at $299, and Done for you starting at $1299.

The plans offered are:

Organize: $45 per user per month and $36 when billed annually
Scale: $50 per user per month and $39 when billed annually

QuickBooks Online Accountant

QuickBooks Online accountant is one of the best practice management software that allows accountants to access their clients’ books online and share them. It provides remote access to files in real-time. It also has automation features that are supported by artificial intelligence. It helps improve the firms’ efficiency by showing the key trends based on client data, financial ratios, and performance indicators.

Pros

Simple and easy to use visual interface
Interactive tutorials
Third-party integrations
Tracking of projects across multiple clients
Client portals
Free subscription to QuickBooks Advanced

Cons

No CRM
Not compatible with QuickBooks desktop
No document management features
When employees time is written off of a project, the realization percentage isn’t calculated

Pricing

QuickBooks Online Accountant offers free subscriptions for accountants and bookkeepers.

OfficeTools WorkSpace

OfficeTools WorkSpace is a very comprehensive practice management software for accountants and tax professionals. It is an easy-to-use software that provides streamlined workflow, time and billing features, due date reporting, contact management, scheduling, and document management. It helps in the consolidation of databases and can efficiently track all necessary data. This software is the best choice for accounting firms that require a comprehensive solution for all their accounting needs, especially with integrations with software like QuickBooks, Lacerte, etc.

Pros

Offers 24/7 live rep support
Integrations with Lacerte, Office 365, and QuickBooks
Offers time tracking
Offers staff management
Client portal available
Offers document management
Allowing management of everything from a single screen

Cons

No free trial allowed
Expensive for firms with multiple users
Difficult to master
No dedicated app for mobile and Mac

Pricing

OfficeTools Cloud can be subscribed for $49 per month, per user whereas you have to request a custom quote for the OfficeTools WorkSpace.

Xero Practice Manager

Xero helps simplify day-to-day business tasks by streamlining the management of client tasks, timesheets, invoicing, and practice workflows. This software includes a number of quality features that lets you assign work to the team, track and bill time, sync with banks, create customized esports and allow integrations with other apps. It allows you to access accounting data remotely, from anywhere in the world. This software can also provide useful insight into the firm profitability by generating performance metrics.

Pros

24/7 live rep support
Time and billing features
Timesheets
Ability to assign tasks with due dates
Third-party integrations
Portal to client books
Free for silver, gold, and platinum members
Mobile app with various features
Offers project management

Cons

No stand-alone desktop
Lack of tools for efficient accountants
Expensive for new and Bronze members
No telephone support
Collaboration within the software

Pricing

The software provides three pricing plans:

Early starting at $12 per month
Growing starting at $34 per month
Established starting at $65 per month

There is no charge once you reach the silver, gold, or platinum partner status. It offers a 30-day free trial to see if your accounting firm needs its services.

TaxWorkFlow

TaxWorkFlow is the best practice management software for accountants and firms that provide ongoing services that include monthly bank statement reconciliation, annual tax returns, and compilation of financial statements. It is one of the most ideal solutions for firms that look beyond standard accounting practices. It has the flexibility to create a variety of reports from scratch as well as provide the option of saving them as templates. It can help analyze the profitability of both the clients as well as employees with its time and project tracking feature.

Pros

Mobile apps
Client portal
CRM functionality including email marketing campaigns
Collaboration with clients using an integrated calendar
Robust integrations
Due date list

Cons

No free trial offered
No monthly subscription is available
No direct access to the clients’ books
No integrated bookkeeping software

Pricing

The software is available at a flat annual fee of $1500 that includes unlimited access to all the features and free support, as well as unlimited users.

Sage Business Cloud Financials

Sage Business accounting is one of the best accounting practice management software on the market. It is a global brand that provides online accounting and business services. It is a portal for CPAs that were made to develop estimation and provide accounting services for small businesses. Sage can be used for accounts receivable, payable, and invoicing. This software makes it easier to run your firm’s financials by offering an integrated accounting system with a real-time overview of your finances as well as instant synchronization with mobile apps and banks.

Pros

Mobile apps for both Android and iOS
Generation of reports
Robust integrations
Financial institution integration with apps like AutoEntry and Zync etc.
Forecast cash flow
Dashboard view provides easy to read financial reports and analysis
Shared access using real-time on any device

Cons

No client portals
No project management

Pricing

The software pricing plan starts at $3 per month for accounting start and for accounting starts at $7 per month. It offers a free trial for firms that require a demo first.

My CPA Dashboard

My CPA Dashboard is one of the best practice management software that is used by small and large firms alike. The working framework of this management software is extremely straightforward, ensuring maximum productivity by accountants. My CPA Dashboard allows scheduling of tasks, tracking, invoicing, and coordinating with multiple clients and contacts with archives in one place. It is cloud-based accounting software that provides mobile access too. My CPA Dashboard allows you to use all the features without even having the premium package.

Pros

Task management
Multiple user interfaces
Branded client portal
Phone and email support
eSignature integration
Online document storage
Secure file sharing

Cons

Might be a little expensive for smaller firms

Pricing

My CPA Dashboard offers four different pricing plans which are:

Starter which costs $49 per month with up to 25 business clients and unlimited users
Small starting at $89 per month with up to 50 business clients
Medium starting at $239 per month with up to 350 business clients
Enterprise starting at $499 per month with more than 350 clients

My CPA Dashboard also offers a 30-day free trial.

Conclusion

Accounting practice software ensures that the firms’ financials are managed efficiently, and also ensures that the business processes are automated, and clients are billed and timed accordingly. The best accounting practice management software is one that suits all your custom needs and should have the essential features including: