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I've noticed a new kid on the block has just launched with an interesting range of investors (including the CFO of Receipt Bank) and with Mark Lee as a NED.
One of the big advantages of getting in early with a PM provider is that you can help shape and develop the direction of the product.
Not every accountant works the same but if one has work practices that are better than another and a PM product caters for that, then that can be a big win for that practice.
Yes its difficult trying to build product review and implementation into heavy workloads but it will definitely be worth it.
Its the admin time which kills productivity and this is only going to get worse. Getting a modern cloud based PM solution is essential for small, lean and profitably small practices. Its int
Yes there are naysayers, there always will be. Cloud solutions are here to stay, those that don't adopt will get left behind.
Just to confirm one inaccuracy - additional users on Glide cost just £8/£15/£25 depending on the features that you require, not £39 as stated in the article.
We thank Accounting Web for producing this summary, and would be happy to offer an additional free introduction webinar to anyone considering Glide.
My apologies to Glide and any readers who were mislead by the earlier version of the text, which has now been corrected.
It was all down to poor version control on my part. Glide did correct my initial text before publication, but I neglected to transfer it to the text on the server. We'll try to ensure there aren't any other blips in the more detailed follow-up articles which will appear shortly.
Interesting, would like to hear more about the findings.
There wasn't much said on workflow/ deadline managment or MTD transition but presume the panelists looked at this.
Also would like to have heard about Xero PM or Logical Office .
There are more detailed individual product reports to come - just putting the final touches to them now, but in response to previous requests we wanted to get the general summary out into the open asap.
Just to let you know, the workflow capabilities were very prominent in discussions at the workshop. And while the practitioner panellists emphasised the importance of these facilities for managing clients through MTD, the four developers present were all a bit hazy on that.
As PM specialists, I don't think they've woken up to the MTD challenge in the way that old fashioned compliance suite developers like IRIS, Digita and TaxCalc have.
The workshop may have alerted them to that situation.
More to follow...
For me, the plethora of good cloud apps was enough to drag me away from the fully integrated solution from one supplier (Iris), realising that, no matter how good individual components might be (accs, tax, PM etc) the single software suite would never be a close fit, especially as I developed the practice and it stayed where it was.
I see the same considerations above but now with PM alone. It was always the most important part of the Iris suite for me as it has the potential to do so many more things than the single issue accounts or tax return prep bits.
So, as discussed above, these days, it's integration between apps that I think holds the key, allowing us to tailor systems to how we work today, then tweaking them as new features or needs arise.
So I'd chose a core PM app that best suits how I like to work (Kanban, workflow, mind map etc etc) then bolt on other bits via Zapier, eg calendar, gmail, time tracking, crm.
I haven't tried any of the main systems discussed above as (like Iris) I feel I'd be paying a lot of money for features I either didn't need or that didn't suit how I wanted to work, so I have gone for popular Kanban system "Trello" that's designed for any business, is incredibly cheap, but which enables loads of integrations.
PS: Another plug for Onkho, mentioned by Jonathan above, saw it in development, looked good and actually designed around a busy practice.
When dealing with a supplier do you look beyond the glitzy website, wizzy features etc and look at the financial strength of the company you are dealing with?
Heading down a path with a company commits you to a large extent into their ecosystem and all is fine as long as you keep paying.
My question to all these new companies is what happens to our data and information if they run out of capital and go bust ?
This is a very excellent strategic question.
It does surprise me that when Gauke was Treasury Minister he used FreeAgent as the lead exemplar in his push for MTD. FreeAgent has yet to make a profit, and only stayed solvent through its recent IPO. Xero, similarly, is not profitable. At least Intuit is profitable!
Will the government, having mandated digital record keeping, evade political responsibility if it does not also mandate proper recovery processes in the case of insolvency or major technology failure? I doubt it very much. But unless I've missed the memo, it seems to me that they are taking a big risk on this point.
Disclosure: I am an Intuit, Xero and FreeAgent partner.
For me, I decided to move away from the traditional suite of products a year or so ago.
I see me developing things with all clients on Xero, or similar (full accounts done within software including tax provisions etc Senta linking it all together with a product like Taxfiler dealing with Stat accounts and Tax returns.
That gives me everything I need for £60 per month which
should be a fairly smooth operation, fully cloud based and at a fraction of what a full Digita, Iris or Sage suite would cost.
With MTD coming and everyone moving to bookkeeping software that linking me to the client was going to be key.
I looked at XPM and although good, it did not do enough for me and the offering from Senta, and Mtrio really stood out as they do so much now, and have committed to add in the bits they don't do currently over a fairly tight time scale. I chose Senta as I felt they were further developed with their product, although I appreciate others will catch up over coming months.
I had allowed March to get it up and running, but as I have been quite busy with new clients signing up I have not progressed as far as I would have liked but it will present massive time savings once in place. It will need a large admin time input to set it up beyond what I initially expected.
I would imagine it would be difficult to do this in a larger firm with many staff, but ultimately It will need to be done as I was starting to struggle managing deadlines in my small practice as it is never mind when MTD comes in.
I have been a sole practitioner for the last 5 years and started using Glide after getting fed up of using spreadsheets to monitor my workflow and deadlines.
North East Accountant makes a valid point. Because we are built upon Salesforce, which is used by large institutions, banks and governments your data is very secure. However, you can get your data out whenever you like and if in the event of any significant changes that guarantee continues and we would ensure everyone had their data/information
Anyone using Jetpack workflow. I've got the free trial and it looks good, but just wondered if anyone is using in properly yet and if so, any comments, good or bad?
Anyone using Pracman www.pracman.co.uk/
Not too pretty, but not expensive, and if it does the job...
Anyone using Pracman www.pracman.co.uk/
Had a look but you can't import your existing client list and deadlines, so evaluating it would be too time consuming. I asked the vendor about this and I found the response quite arrogant, telling me I should just go ahead,manually import my data and start using it. Emails are signed off from Mr Pracman, instead of using a real name, which I thought was a bit rude.
Great article. In our experience, integration is the key. Practice Management software must work alongside a fully featured CRM program. This would include integration with Outlook/Exchange, mobile devices and leading email marketing platforms such as MailChimp or Campaign Monitor.
Too many PM systems purport to offer CRM capabilities however they often lack the required depth of functionality.
Also true that software alone is not necessarily the only success factor. Working closely with a software provider that understands the accountancy market and that can help with the practices CRM strategies is equally important.
[quote=FibreCRM]
Too many PM systems purport to offer CRM capabilities however they often lack the required depth of functionality.
Love what you did there Simon, you are quite right with the difference between CRM and Practice Management.
This is why we built mTrio on one of the Salesforce platforms.
The future is exciting and we are looking forward to some interesting discussions during Accountex as I feel there will be a lot of talk this year around this very hot topic that the community here are discussing.
Big up for John, Ben and the team for highlighting the need for dedicated Practice Management solutions. Thanks guys.
Just to add to the discussion. Richard recently wrote about our practice manager (https://www.accountancymanager.co.uk) here:
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/practice-software/accountancymanage...
I have been using Accountancy Manager for a few months now and I really like it. Automatic client reminder emails are good, as are the secure client document area and the slick onboarding process but what I really love is the task list; it just gets so much information on one screen.