Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for cPA firms.
A checklist built from how cPA firms work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Client and engagement register
- Due dates, extensions and recurring jobs
- Document requests and client portal
- Preparer, reviewer and partner sign-off
- Time and utilisation
- Billing, write-downs and collections
- Staffing and busy-season workload
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For partners
- For managers
- For staff accountants
- For administrators
- For clients
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Deadlines and extensions by week and person
- Document requests outstanding by client
- Files awaiting review or partner sign-off
- Hours and realisation against budget by engagement
- Unbilled work and write-downs by partner
- Aged balances by client
- Fees billed by service line and month
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Client portal
- SMS
- Card and bank payments
- Tax preparation software export
- Accounting package export
- Calendar
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it replace our tax preparation software?
- How do clients send documents?
- Can a partner see what is waiting for sign-off?
- How are extensions handled?
- Does it track hours against a fixed fee?
- Can it run monthly bookkeeping and payroll jobs?
- Can we limit what seasonal staff see?
- How do we move client data across?
- How is it priced?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Deadlines are tracked in a client spreadsheet
- Document requests are chased by email
- Review notes live outside the file
- Staff hours are not tied to the engagement fee
- Unbilled work builds up after busy season
Prefer to talk it through? See the cPA firms page.