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The Complete Tech Stack for Accounting Firm Success
Accounting
The Complete Tech Stack for Accounting Firm Success
The accounting industry has seen a steady upward trajectory in recent years. It has now become one of the high-profile careers, and the trends are changing continuously. This leads to increased workflow for accounting firms, which demands meeting deadlines and efficient time management. This is where a well-structured tech stack for accounting becomes essential for firms to stay efficient and competitive.
In this guide, you will learn the importance of the tech stack for accounting firms and how to build an ideal tech stack for a CPA firm. You will also explore the top 10 tools for an ideal tech stack and discover how MYCPE ONE is ideal for CPA continuing professional education.
Importance of Tech Stack for Accounting Firms
An accounting firm's tech stack is a combination of digital tools and software solutions that streamline, automate, and enhance various accounting operations. It includes platforms for bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll, client communication, reporting, and data analytics.
In today’s fast-paced and competitive landscape, building the right tech stack is crucial for accounting firms that aim to boost efficiency, reduce errors, and scale their operations. The right combination of tools can automate repetitive tasks, improve client service, and free up valuable time for strategic work.
A tech stack for accounting firms can include various accounting software solutions for management, automation, payroll, ledger, tax preparation, customer relationships, and data analytics. According to a Sage, 92% of accounts spend too much time on manual tasks.
An accounting firm's tech stack can either make or break the overall vitality. Hence, it is crucial to consider factors according to your firm’s requirements in order to choose the right tech stack for accounting firms. With so many options, these tools can either improve your productivity or burn you down entirely.
A complete tech stack for CPA firm is a cohesive ecosystem meant to eliminate manual work and accelerate the process. Whether you are an intern, a manager, or a partner, it is accessible to your infrastructure.
However, you might feel that:
Choosing the best fit may become increasingly challenging yet crucial.
How can you avoid confusion?
How can you build the best accounting firm?
The Accounting Software Market size is estimated at USD 19.74 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 30.66 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 9.20% during the forecast period (2024-2029).
How to Build an Ideal Tech Stack for Accounting Firms
Although spreadsheets can sustain your accounting firm when you have just started, as you start to grow, you will need to replace manual methods with an upgraded tech stack.
Achieving consistency in your workflow is the most challenging aspect for accounting firms. According to the 2023 State of Accounting Workflow Automation Report by Financial Cents, workflow issues were the number one issue faced by 67% of accountants in 2022.
However, after workflow automation, their manual work time was significantly reduced from 1-10 hours to 0-5 hours.
The big question is: what should be in your accounting firm tech stack? Or around what you should build or tech stack? Before jumping into tools, let’s have a look at what purpose these tools fulfill:
General Ledger Accounting Software
In a tech stack for accounting comes a general ledger accounting system which provides financial data management for a firm. GL software establishes a common repository and allows companies to track the various types of financial transactions. (sales, purchases, payments, receipts, etc.) It is the entry point for financial statements and reports that summarize what is happening to the health of the firm and promote growth.
Expense Management
An expense management system will automate time-consuming admin and reduce errors. As a crucial part of your tech stack for accounting, expense report software and management systems remove the need for endless spreadsheets, paper receipts, and clunky filing systems. You can snap, upload, and submit receipts as expense entries straight from your phone. This feeds directly into your financial reporting.
Practice Management
A practice management system is an all-in-one solution for your firm and a vital component of your tech stack for accounting. It nurtures an easy workflow for your accounting team. You can track client work, assign work to team staff and collaborate, manage capacity, and keep up with deadlines, all in one place.
Client Relationship Management
An accounting CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software that helps accountants collect, organize, and share client information to streamline their dealings with clients. As a crucial part of the tech stack for accounting, the CRM sector experienced a 10% growth throughout the pandemic.
This indicates that companies recognize the need to enhance their relationship with their clients. An accounting CRM provides your team with a hub where they can see a summary of your client's history. Thus, your team can continue building the relationship and dive deeper into clients.
Payroll
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43.0% of U.S. private establishments paid their employees biweekly, the most common pay cycle, as of February 2023. Cloud payroll accounting software, an essential part of a modern tech stack for accounting can automate tasks and eliminate manual efforts. It has the same tools as the big, dedicated companies. You can access the system at any time, from anywhere, utilizing any mobile device with internet access.
Budgeting for new clients and setting up their employees is easy. You use the same processes for each client, enabling you to grow your revenue streams quickly. In addition, you can now provide your clients with limited access for entering data and reporting, saving the firm a significant amount of unproductive admin time.
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Taxes
According to the most up-to-date Federal Income Tax 2024 data, Americans filed 153.6 million tax returns. They also reported earning more than $14.7 trillion in total adjusted gross income (AGI) and paid nearly $2.2 trillion in individual income tax.
Filing taxes is much more than sitting on the fence, and it takes expertise, experience, and tools. However, this tax preparation software can relieve tax filers of their tax headaches. In fact, this tax software does far more than just ease the tax filing process.
Project Management
Accounting project management software is a multipurpose tool that integrates project planning, organization, and tracking into a single repository of tasks, milestones, responsibilities, deadlines, and files. A new PMI survey reports that 58% of financial services companies use agile methods on a regular basis, more than any other industry.
Time Tracking
In the U.S., 38% and in Canada, 58 % still utilize paper time sheets, spreadsheets, and punch cards to record their time. However, 88% do not use a regulated system to track time. Whether for billing, time management and organisation, or just providing your clients with a proper image of what their money is getting spent on, good accounting time and billing software is typically a lifesaver.
As a vital component of the tech stack for accounting, time tracking software would help any accounting practice streamline its work and billing. The right accounting time sheets would also help with work efficiency and provide better time resource management.
Communication
The easiest method to achieve seamless communication with clients is to use cloud-based accounting software with built-in collaboration features. Software like Caseware eliminates the negatives of communicating through email.
Another helpful way to enhance client communication is to create a client portal. This is an area of a website or project that clients can access. Automated notifications and reminders keep the lines of communication open so that both the accountant and client remain informed of critical milestones and the status of the project.
Client Proposals
Potential clients usually want proposals, which can be a tremendous time sucker and requires too much effort. Proposal software can help alleviate most, if not all, of your proposal frustrations.
It's time-consuming to create accounting proposals manually, but proposal solutions include pre-built templates and many auto-fill features, which make the entire process much faster.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the proposal management software market size was USD 2.33 billion in 2022. It is projected to grow from USD 2.59 billion in 2023 to USD 5.81 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 12.2%.
Your proposal software should let you build reusable templates, with pre-filled sections for services, pricing, and terms. Including services, pricing, and terms fully or partially helps you establish consistency across all proposals while reducing redundancy across proposals.
It would be even better if they allowed customization to fit your branding. Look for e-signature capability, natively built or relying on integration. It will enable clients to review and e-sign proposals immediately on any device, without the need to print and sign or scan and email back and forth.
Tools for an Ideal Tech Stack for an Accounting Firm
1. Expensify for Expense Management
Expensify is a comprehensive financial management platform that helps individuals and firms easily track expenses, manage reimbursements, and generate detailed reports.
Key Features
It offers all-in-one solutions for expense tracking, travel booking, reimbursements, and report creation.
Users can use their corporate cards or opt for the Expensify Card with cashback benefits.
With 45+ integrations, including QuickBooks, Xero, and Workday, it fits smoothly into existing systems.
Pricing
A free plan is available, while the $5/month and $9/month tiers add advanced tools like approval workflows, payroll integration, and custom reporting.
HubSpot is a powerful CRM and marketing platform widely used by accounting firms to streamline client management, automate marketing, generate leads, and analyze data in real time.
Key Features
HubSpot offers custom properties
AI-driven duplicate management
Custom objects for flexible data storage
Required fields for consistent input
Contact scoring for segmentation
Association labels to define CRM relationships
Pricing
Plans start at $45/month, and pricing increases based on the features of CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service tools.
Zoho is an all-in-one firm platform offering tools for accounting, CRM, and project management. It helps firms streamline operations, manage finances, and enhance client relationships.
Key Features
Track billable/non-billable hours with Zoho Projects and auto-generate invoices via Zoho Invoice. Use the drag-and-drop interface to build automation easily. Seamlessly integrate with other Zoho apps and third-party tools for added efficiency.
Pricing
Zoho offers a free plan for small firms, with paid plans starting from $57/month. Enterprise-level plans are available on request.
Close is a sales CRM and lead management platform designed to help firms streamline their sales processes, boost productivity, and close more deals easily.
Key Features
It offers a customizable sales pipeline, email and phone integration, real-time notifications, and Smart Views for lead prioritization. The powerful search tool helps reps quickly locate key info across past conversations and documents. Integrations with marketing and project tools enhance workflow efficiency.
Pricing
Close offers a 14-day free trial. Based on features, paid plans range from $19/month to $139/month.
Jetpack Workflow is a project management platform tailored for accountants. It is designed to streamline operations, improve accuracy, and boost team efficiency. Features like task tracking and workflow automation help firms stay organized and focused on what matters most.
Key Features
Create and customize work templates in seconds
Prioritize tasks with cascading deadlines
Automate routine accounting workflows
The platform also provides visibility into team activities, allowing firms to monitor progress and plan easily. Its seamless integration with other accounting tools facilitates data sharing.
Gusto is an all-in-one HR, payroll, and benefits platform ideal for accountants and small firms looking to manage HR tasks with greater efficiency and accuracy. It simplifies payroll processing, employee onboarding, and benefits administration to save time and reduce errors.
Key Features
Post jobs to top platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed and easily manage applicants.
Use custom onboarding checklists to issue documents, enroll employees in benefits, and keep all team data in one place.
Gusto also integrates smoothly with accounting software for better workflow management.
Pricing
Plans include Simple at $49/month, Plus at $60/month, and Premium at $135/month, each offering increasing levels of support and functionality.
Pros
Streamlined HR tools, improved accuracy, software integration, and mobile access.
Cons
Higher pricing tiers, a learning curve, and limited customization.
Rippling is a cloud-based HR, IT, and finance management platform that helps accountants streamline operations, reduce errors, and boost productivity. It simplifies processes like employee onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, and IT asset management, all from one integrated platform.
Key Features
Create automated workflows triggered by events from Rippling or third-party apps.
Build custom reports using a user-friendly, point-and-click interface to visualize data and make informed decisions.
Use dynamic Supergroups to apply and update company policies based on employee roles or locations.
Pricing
Rippling starts at $8 per user/month. Additional features and customized plans are available upon request.
LivePlan is a firm planning and financial forecasting tool designed for accountants who launch, grow, or advise firms. It simplifies the creation of firms' plans, financial projections, and pitch presentations with step-by-step guidance and AI-powered suggestions.
Key Features
Create profit & loss statements, cash flow forecasts, and budgets using templates and definitions for key terms.
LivePlan syncs with QuickBooks and Xero to pull in accounting data, enabling real-time comparisons between projections and actuals.
Progress tracking and forecasting updates keep plans accurate and actionable.
Pricing
The Standard plan is $20/month, and the Premium plan, at $40/month, includes QuickBooks integration and advanced features.
Pros
Streamlined planning
Forecasting tools
Accounting integration
Expert guidance
Progress tracking
Cons
Cost, limited customization, and no offline access.
9. Slack for Integration and Project Collaboration
Slack is a communication and collaboration platform that helps accountants and teams stay connected, share files, and manage projects more efficiently. With chat, video conferencing, and integration options, Slack enhances productivity across departments.
Key Features
Use Slack Connect to collaborate with clients and vendors securely.
Automate workflows with Workflow Builder, integrate over 2,600 apps, or build custom tools with Slack’s APIs.
Improve response times, reduce backlog, and speed up deal cycles with real-time communication tools.
Pricing
Slack offers a free plan. The Pro plan is $7.25/user/month, and the Business+ plan is $12.50/user/month. Enterprise Grid pricing is available upon request.
Zapier is a powerful automation tool that connects web applications to streamline workflows and eliminate repetitive tasks. For accountants, Zapier simplifies operations by automating data transfers between tools like CRMs, accounting software, and project management platforms.
Key Features
Create “Zaps” by linking two or more apps with a trigger and an action. Zapier supports over 7,000 integrations and lets you build workflows using natural language, drag-and-drop tools, or custom code. Enhance automation with AI to personalize emails, summarize content, or analyze data effortlessly.
Pricing
Zapier offers a free plan for basic use.
Paid plans with multi-step automation start at $19.99/month.
80% of the content on MYCPE ONE is rated more than 4.5 by professionals, and you get 4 times more content for one-third the price. The content is educational and unbiased, and it is updated monthly and quarterly.
Conclusion
Selecting the best tech stack for accounting is critical for productivity, accuracy, and improving client satisfaction. Whether it is cloud-based accounting solutions, automated expense tracking, or tools that facilitate collaboration, an appropriate tech stack allows accountants and firms to achieve better results. MYCPE ONE delivers tailored CPE courses and other resources to cater to professionals and educate them about technology trends and trending compliance needs.
FAQs
Look for signs like manual data entry, lack of integrations, frequent errors, or compliance issues. If your software doesn’t support automation or cloud access, it may be time to upgrade your tech stack for accounting.
Yes, a tech stack for CPA firms can and should be tailored. For example, firms offering forensic accounting or nonprofit audits can integrate tools specific to those services for better efficiency and compliance.
Cybersecurity tools are a non-negotiable part of any modern tech stack for accounting. Encrypted client portals, two-factor authentication, and secure file-sharing tools help protect sensitive financial data.
MYCPE ONE offers courses that help CPAs and accountants stay current with technology trends and optimize their tech stack for accounting with best practices and tool training.
Shawn Parikh is the CEO and Co-Founder of MYCPE ONE. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, he has over 15 years of experience of being a problem solver for small to mid-size firms and over time he has given consultation to thousands of CPAs, accountants and tax pros. Shawn has always been a big believer and advocate of social enterprises and small accounting firms & businesses. He consults and speaks on several topics ranging from Building Remote Team - Remote Working, Offshore Staffing, strategic planning, Scalability of Accounting Practice, cloud accounting, practice management, LinkedIn marketing, etc.
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