Where is the best bang for your buck in software? Odds are you can’t go wrong spending it on faster and better delivery. 

If you’re churning through piles of Div 7As or fixed asset registers, then it could be worth using off-the-shelf packages that provide a library of the most common calculators and templates. 

The category of practice tools is fairly loosely defined as any software that can help with the myriad tasks of delivering accounting services (separate from workpapers apps, which deserve their own category). Often integrated into your practice management system, these productivity tools can systematise repetitive tasks and streamline common processes across a firm.

Category leaders

ChangeGPS and AccountKit are the two main competitors in the ‘accounting toolkit’ category. 

ChangeGPS consists of five apps; Core, Engage, TaxPlan, Progress and Protect. Each app is available in one to three versions, Lite, Pro and Enterprise. The Pro plan includes a couple more tools than Lite, while the Enterprise plan usually adds a training package. With five apps and multiple plans per app, ChangeGPS is useful for firms that want to pay for specific features, rather than buy a suite of tools. 

ChangeGPS’s Core app automates fundamental accounting workflows with pre-built templates and processes. It streamlines routine tasks like BAS lodgements, annual compliance and ASIC requirements.

The Engage app streamlines advisory conversations and service delivery. The app provides structured frameworks for conducting business health checks, financial reviews and strategic planning sessions.

TaxPlan helps accountants identify tax-saving opportunities and present options clearly to clients. It includes features for Division 7A management, trust distribution planning and small business CGT concessions, with built-in compliance checks that reduce risk.

The Progress app focuses on practice growth and profitability analysis. The application provides detailed insights into firm performance, capacity planning and resource allocation. 

The Protect app safeguards firms against compliance and regulatory risks. The application maintains audit trails, manages document retention and ensures adherence to professional standards. 

Pricing for the Core app starts at A$335+GST a month for three users or A$795+GST a month for 10 users. The TaxPlan app starts at A$565+GST for 10 users and A$795+GST for 10 users on the advanced plan. Engage starts A$115+GST for three users and Progress starts at A$335+GST for 10 users. 

Natalie Lennon CA of Two Sides Accounting used to do all her tax planning in Excel. Once, while doing end-of-year work for a client with a complicated structure and several Div 7A loans, she realised that the tax planning contained several errors due to incorrect Excel formulas.

“I said, ‘I'm not going to use spreadsheets anymore’ because there's just too much margin for error,” Lennon says.

She chose ChangeGPS’s TaxPlan module and “it revolutionised the way we do tax planning”. 

Previously, Lennon would do tax planning calculations in a spreadsheet, meet with the client face to face in their office, then go back to her own office and update the spreadsheet. Then, she would either organise a follow-up meeting or write up the changes and email them out to confirm with the client. 

Now, Lennon holds a Zoom meeting with the client, shares her screen so they can both see the ChangeGPS report and changes the figures on the fly. 

“I think it would have probably cut my time by half,” she says. “I’ve got 60 clients that we’re doing tax planning for and I do them all myself, with help from my team. At my old firm, I probably did 20.”

Another option

AccountKit focuses on tools that automate typical accounting tasks, although it lacks a tax planning module. One of its notable features is the ability to centralise searches for client-related files in one location. It integrates with document management platforms such as FYI and SuiteFiles, as well as popular cloud storage solutions like Sharepoint, Google Drive and Dropbox

It has other integrations too, with Outlook 365 and SMS platform Twilio, BGL and NowInfinity for corporate compliance, and FuseSign and Annature for e-signatures.

Chris Wheatley FCA from Queensland-based Scope Accounting launched his own practice 10 years ago. He had used macro-driven spreadsheets at his old firm to calculate FBT, Division 7A and other requirements for his workpapers, but found that it was overkill for a solo operator. In 2021 he found AccountKit and realised he could use the software to perform calculations that a staff member would otherwise have to do. 

“The big benefit is automation. Journal posting is an easy win for equipment finance and Div 7A, and it has a great two-way integration with Xero Practice Manager,” Wheatley says. 

He estimates that it saves him an hour and a half per annual compliance job. “It’s great for anyone doing a good amount of compliance work,” Wheatley says.

AccountKit bundles features under three plans, Compliance, Professional and Practice. 

The Compliance plan serves as the entry point, providing essential tools for day-to-day accounting operations. It includes fundamental features like client detail management, family group structuring, and basic workflow capabilities. 

Firms gain access to critical calculators and tools including Division 7A management, equipment finance tools and fuel tax credit calculations. While the plan offers basic document management functionality, it notably excludes advanced features like template creation and PDF editing.

Professional, the mid-tier offering, introduces integration with major platforms including NowInfinity and BGL, and client relationship features such as business structure diagrams and birthday tracking. The Professional plan also has document management capabilities such as template folder creation, PDF editing and e-signature integration.

Practice, the premium tier, introduces advanced features like repeating templates and email connection in workflows. This tier also provides advanced permissions management, essential for larger firms requiring granular control over staff access and responsibilities.

The entry-level Compliance plan starts at A$275+GST monthly, while the comprehensive Practice tier costs A$595+GST a month. 

“The big benefit is automation. Journal posting is an easy win for equipment finance and Div 7A, and it has a great two-way integration with Xero Practice Manager”

Software for faster answers

Another tool to improve practice efficiency is MyProsperity. Initially launched as a client portal for wealth advisers, the platform has added a second pitch to accounting practices that want a streamlined way to collect data from clients.

These features include checklists to standardise routine processes like tax returns and pre-populating digital forms with existing client information to reduce the number of requests for each client.

The platform includes automated reminders to clients following up on requested documents, which it tracks through a unified dashboard.

For firms that include wealth advisory, MyProsperity has rebadged its client portal as a data room like those used in mergers and acquisitions. In mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, data rooms serve as secure digital environments where multiple parties share sensitive financial information, due diligence documents and communications. 

Similarly, MyProsperity’s ‘Rooms’ feature creates secure spaces for document sharing and collaboration. However, unlike M&A data rooms which typically operate for specific transactions, MyProsperity's Rooms function as ongoing collaboration spaces for wealth advisory services.

This ties in well with MyProsperity’s original concept, as a centralised dashboard for client’s assets to easily calculate net wealth. The platform has many integrations that pull in feeds from bank accounts, share investments, property valuations and so on.

The software starts at A$279+GST a month. 

Taking the pain out of ATO communications

With every Australian client you onboard comes another stream of messages from the ATO. Two apps, ATO SmartDocs and ATOmate, help streamline communications with the tax office.

The apps are registered with the department as digital service providers, certified as IS0 27001 and connect directly to the ATO’s systems on behalf of each client. When the ATO sends through a notification, the app downloads and categorises the document, then files it against the customer record in the firm’s practice management system. 

Both apps integrate with all major practice management software (Xero, MYOB, HandiSoft, etc.), some newer systems (for example, ATOmate connects to LodgeIT; ATO SmartDocs connects to GovReports and GreatSoft), and the more popular document management systems (FYI, HowNow and SuiteFiles, among others).

The platforms differ in their pricing approaches. ATO SmartDocs employs a volume-based model, ranging from A$395 a month for practices handling up to 500 returns, to A$660 a month for those processing up to 2000 returns, plus set-up fees. 

ATOmate's pricing structure isn't publicly available but focuses on unlimited document processing.

“I think [holding Zoom client meetings, sharing screens and using ChangeGPS] would have probably cut my time by half. I’ve got 60 clients that we’re doing tax planning for and I do them all myself, with help from my team. At my old firm, I probably did 20.”

Stay alert for client concerns

One app that is highly useful for practices with bookkeeping divisions is XBert. The original pitch was to create a collection of automated alerts (‘XBerts’ is a play on experts) that applied to all your client files, to save time checking the files individually. 

These alerts could be for bookkeeping purposes (‘Alert me if a suspense account is >0 at the end of the month’) or business development for CFO services (‘Alert me when any of my clients’ revenue drops 20% month on month, so I can schedule a business advisory meeting’). 

Angela Fisher CA of Auckland-based ClockWorX has been running XBert in her 37-staff bookkeeping business for the past year. 

She recommends XBert for CAs running accounting practices for quickly evaluating the complexity of a Xero file. The software shows volumes of bank transactions and supplier invoices, Xero tracking categories and so on. 

Fisher uses XBert extensively for pricing her recurring-fee services (charged quarterly) which the firm calculates using factors such as the number of bank transactions. She also uses it for onboarding; the software can quickly evaluate a Xero file through a health check that shows the number of common errors, such as duplicate or incorrectly coded transactions and other data integrity issues. 

While this is a critical service for bookkeepers, “it’s probably a good angle for accountants, knowing the integrity of all their Xero files in terms of their month-end close”. 

The XBert agents notify ClockWorX bookkeepers when a transaction doesn’t look right. While generative AI’s accuracy can be hit or miss, Fisher says she has found the machine learning AI in XBert generates very few false positives or negatives.

“The times that we have dug down because we believed there’s a false positive, there turned out to be a (valid) reason for the alert,” Fisher says.

In June 2024, XBert announced an upgraded AI engine that monitors transactions in client files for data quality and suggests customised alerts. The custom alerts are based on your clients’ ledger, transactional patterns and payroll data, and provide timely, personalised notifications about financial opportunities and risks. 

The base user fee starts at A$29+GST per user, monthly.

Productivity tools are only as good as the effort you put into using them. Firms need to set aside enough time to learn how an application works properly and test it against their current processes, before knowing whether the return is worth the investment. 

Set aside time in the slow months to experiment and you could find that the right tool can save you a couple of hours per accounting employee each week.  

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Better deals on e-signatures

Electronic signatures are standard fare in business these days. The savings alone in practice efficiency (no more printing, packing and posting) and faster turnaround have had a huge impact on closing sales, setting up accounts and lodging trust deeds. 

The remaining question is how to best incorporate e-signatures into your workflow. Do you use a dedicated e-signature tool or the free versions that come with document management and practice management software? 

The advantage of a dedicated e-signature application is that all your signed documents are in one place. And, you may already be using one. Xero firms use Adobe Acrobat Sign, rebadged as Xero Sign. Request e-signatures in Xero HQ, Xero Practice Manager or Xero Tax.

Some e-signature apps also offer a range of features that are particularly useful to accounting firms. FuseSign, part of the FuseWorks suite, can send a pack of documents to multiple signers and request signatures in a particular order, which is great for family trusts and businesses.

The downside is cost. The more basic e-signing tools charge a relatively high price per user for what has become a commoditised feature.

This expense rankles when practice tools can come with their own e-signature ability. Karbon offers a free trial and reasonable pricing, and MYOB has digital signature integrated with its practice software.

If you are looking for a more fully featured e-signature tool, Adobe Acrobat Sign, Docusign, FuseSign and PleaseSign are compatible with a number of softwares popular with accounting firms.

For firms looking for a more cost-effective method that doesn’t add another firm-wide subscription for all staff, Australian e-signature solution Annature is worth considering. It costs A$1.75 per ‘envelope’ sent.