One of the most hotly debated topics in the accounting industry app space is the use of CRM software. What actually is a CRM? And why is it a highly debated topic?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management Software. In short, it's software that helps manage all your relationships and interactions with team members, clients and potential clients.

Accountants are often hesitant about using a CRM because the software that has been designed for accounting practices has never gone to the lengths of capturing the requirements of what a CRM does. For accounting software, tax has always been at the forefront when developed and there has never been a strong focus on sales and marketing, because the ATO has also always guaranteed accountants with a constant and steady stream of clients due to tax work and all other accounting and compliance work related. While it doesn't guarantee that you'll have good quality clients, it does mean that you will always have clients. In addition to this, many accounting practices also rely on word of mouth and referrals allowing them to grow organically. The game, however, is changing.

We were recently featured on the Talking Numbers Podcast with Paul Jansz. Paul has spent the last 22 years working deep within the accounting industry in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and throughout the US.

In the podcast, Amy & Paul talk about various topics including the challenges businesses are facing with COVID-19, and the benefits of simplifying processes and moving your accounting practice to the Cloud.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Over the last 2 years or so, we've had a number of wonderful industry contacts, clients and advisors tell us about their favourite personal and professional books... Books they have recommended that Clarity Street should read in order to develop our skills!

The list is varied and wonderful... oldies and new books. Full of professional, business and personal development topics - areas we all need improvement in. 

Now that you're considering implementing new cloud software, it's time to rethink and re-order your client lifecycle!

The cloud-based software in our recommended app stack supports you every step of the way.

Our Director Amy Holdsworth talks us through what a traditional firm's client lifecycle looks like vs. what the process should be!

Watch the video below:

When Xero first acquired Max Solutions (now known as WorkflowMax - WFM), they purchased an, at the time, leading cloud job management solution that filled a need for Xero - a job/workflow application to help compete with MYOB AO/AE, APS and Handisoft! We found an original blog post here re the acquisition.  

A few years later, Xero added Xero Tax and Xero Practice Manager (XPM). At the time, however, this meant there were two different sub-domains; the original WorkflowMax and Practice Manager.

Fast forward 6 years and Xero has now completely split off Xero Practice Manager from WorkflowMax. This should allow the two products to go in different directions and allow future development of the products to be independent of each other. This also means a better result for the end users!

We have a very quick video of the new login process here:

Have you always preferred using Trello because you like the Kanban-style view better than the Jobs List view in Xero Practice Manager? If so, you'll be excited to hear that FYI Docs have released one of their best features to date!

You can now connect Xero Practice Manager to FYI Docs, and manage your jobs in a much more visual way, making the whole process a lot easier to use!

Watch the FYI Docs video below for an insight into how it works!

As you may have already noticed, Practice Ignition have recently released a new update for their Client Billing Schedule. This update allows for improved visibility into your client relationships. The changes may be a bit overwhelming at first, but we can guarantee you'll love them once you get the hang of it!

We were recently interviewed by Sam Dean on The In Demand Accountant Podcast. In Episode 40, Sam has a brilliant conversation with Amy Holdsworth, the CEO and Founder of Clarity Street. Amy and Sam discuss her background and why she started Clarity Street, how we can supercharge our processes as an industry as well as the beliefs that have served our industry well in the past that now need to change going forward.