Getting documents and important information from your clients can be a hassle. We all know the feeling of waiting for days or even weeks to receive documents from clients. As an accountant, you heavily rely on documentation from your clients to complete your work, which is why any delays should be avoided. Getting documents from clients usually goes something like this: An email is sent requesting specific documents and 3 days later the documents are still nowhere to be found. It’s even worse when the client sends over the wrong document, further delaying the work. The process is just completely inconvenient.
But we can’t put the blame solely on the client. Sometimes clients are busy doing their work, messages get lost in busy email inboxes, and maybe they’re searching in 5 different places looking for the document. Whatever the reason may be, firms need to put systems in place to speed up the process of receiving client documents. And no, the answer to the problem is not document storage rooms. I promise you, you and your clients will spend just as much time searching for information in a community file room. So, what’s the solution? Read through the 5 step guide to learn how your firm can receive and organize client documents faster than ever before.
5 Steps to Get Client Documents Faster
Step 1: Engagement Management Software
Engagement management software, like Notis, differs from the traditional project management software you’ve probably heard about. Notis is designed to help accountants gather client information and documents in a much more organized and efficient way via ‘Task Management Suites’. Our ‘Task Management Suites’ replace file rooms, providing a structured and organized way to manage client documents, and decrease the time it takes to search for them. With Notis, your firm can collaborate with clients through a separate but integrated client portal. Notis serves as a centralized place for document management and communication both internally and externally. Investing in engagement management software is the first step to increasing your firm’s efficiency.
Step 2: Reiterate Expectations for the Engagement
Before you start the engagement you must establish the expectations for it. Is there a specific deadline? Who will be working on the engagement? What is the end goal of the engagement? These are all very important questions that need to be answered before the start of the engagement. Once these questions have been answered, your firm will now have the necessary information to enter into Notis and move to the next step.
Step 3: Establish Due Dates/Priority Levels
Your firm can now provide transparency and accountability, with the information you received in step 2. The beauty of Notis is that it allows and encourages you to set due dates and priority levels for all requested documents. For example, the engagement typically begins with a PBC list or itemized listing that the client has received. This is a list of all the information/documents that the accounting firm needs to begin its work. In Notis, documents are managed and stored in this exact format. Each line listed on the PBC listing serves as its suite, and inside each suite is where all communication and documentation are housed for a line item. The most important documents needed to begin the engagement should have higher priority levels and sooner due dates. Notis holds the accounting firm and its clients accountable for completing documents and work on time. With Notis, there are no more excuses for not completing work by a specific due date.
Step 4: Communicate in One Centralized Place
As mentioned in Step 3, the task management suites house all communication and documentation. This allows all members assigned to a specific task line to understand the context of all messages fully. This method proves to be a much more effective and efficient way to communicate. Where you communicate is dependent on what document you are referring to. Notis eliminates all confusion by providing each user with their own inbox. All messages you are assigned to are sent to your inbox. To fully understand the context of the message, simply click on it in your inbox and Notis takes you to the exact line/suite the message was left. Notis takes communication to the next level by making it clearer than ever before.
Step 5: Watch it Change Your Life
If you’ve made it this far you must care about your sanity. If you want to truly make your firm and your client’s lives easier then I suggest you try out an engagement management software, like Notis. We’ve done the hard work to make accountants’ lives easier to collect documents, and communicate with their clients. If you want to increase productivity and efficiency, then you’ve just found a way to make that happen.
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