How to put together the perfect app stack for your accounting practice

QuickBooks is more than a cloud accounting platform. It also connects to a vast ecosystem of different software applications to make it even easier to run an accounting or bookkeeping practice.

A great QuickBooks’ feature is the ability to connect to a range of different applications or apps that extend the functionality of our core cloud accounting program.

These apps help accountants, bookkeepers and their clients streamline their operations and automate a huge range of different processes, from payroll to document and project management. The result is greater efficiencies and more time to spend helping clients grow their business. 

An app – short for application – is a software program that performs special functions or services, while an app stack is a suite of software applications that work in combination to make it easier to run a cloud-based accounting or bookkeeping practice.

Every business’s app stack will be different depending on its needs and the way the business works.

Here are some of the apps, which are also known as plug-ins, you can use to make up your app stack:

Time tracking and billing apps

Tracking how much time you spend working on each client’s file is essential for every busy accounting and bookkeeping firm. It means you can accurately bill your clients and justify any queries they may have about their bill.

QuickBooks connects to a number time tracking and billing apps, including TSheets and Bill.com. These tools allow staff to accurately record their time and also help you to easily track how your employees spend their time.

Apps for electronic document management

Accurate record keeping is at the heart of every accounting and bookkeeping practice. After all, an essential part of compliance is being able to verify and justify clients’ and your own business expenses. But in the past this was a time-consuming and fiddly process, which involved matching paper-based receipts with bank statements. All too often receipts were lost, which made it hard for clients and their accountants and bookkeepers to keep on top of their bills and expenses.

Being able to connect in QuickBooks to plug-in apps like Hubdoc and Receipt Bank makes it easy to manage clients' documents and receipts. These apps allow you to photograph, scan or email documents like receipts and bills and extract the information from them, including bill amounts, supplier names and invoice numbers. This information can then be surfaced in QuickBooks to ensure clients’ accounts are accurate and up-to-date.

Payroll apps

Payroll is a notoriously complicated aspect of accounting and bookkeeping. It demands accuracy, as the risk of errors has potentially serious consequences.

Technology can help firms and their clients manage this risk, ensuring staff are paid the right amounts, taking into account awards, pay rates and bonuses.

Apps like Gusto and ADP that are integrated with QuickBooks give accountants, bookkeepers and their clients confidence their employees are paid accurately, on time and in line with all relevant regulations.

Project tracking apps

Accountants and bookkeepers are always juggling the needs of multiple clients with very different profiles and requirements, not to mention managing the ever-changing requirements of their own firm. This means superior project management is essential for every practice.

Access to great project management tools gives practitioners confidence they are meeting milestones and properly prioritising activities across the firm. QuickBooks’ practitioners can use apps like Asana and Trello to easily manage projects and ensure they are completed on time.

The result is a well-managed business, great resource management and a manageable workload across the practice.

Apps for reporting and insights

If data is the fruit that powers an accounting firm, reports are the juice that separates the good practices from the great ones. Great reporting derived from accurate, up-to-date data allows accountants and bookkeepers to produce validated insights that can help guide clients’ strategic direction and growth strategies.

Apps like Fathom and Spotlight Reporting turn financial data into intelligent insights in seconds, turning a previously labour-intensive process into an easy business task.

These are just a few examples of the apps that connect to QuickBooks you can use to help power your and your clients’ operations. There are many more integrations available to build your unique app stack.

So check out our app ecosystem to explore all the different options that help you streamline and automate your business and give you more time to spend on value-added activities.