When it comes to marketing your accounting firm, many accountants resort to the same old techniques that have been mainstays for decades, such as advertising in the phone book or newspaper. Unfortunately, these aren’t the places where business owners are looking for accountants these days. Instead, they’re online, asking for recommendations on social media and looking at your website.
The online world can be daunting, but luckily, there are heaps of simple and inexpensive apps that make it easy for you to market your accounting practice in the digital age. As well as this, apps can help you streamline processes and create a more enjoyable experience when clients sign on with you, so they’re more likely to recommend you to others.
Here’s our list of the top ten apps that will help you with marketing your accounting practice
1. Loom
Loom enables you to create quick videos that can be shared with your clients or on social media. Many accountants use Loom to send client updates or help onboard customers. They’re particularly good if you want to provide advisory services to clients who can’t meet face-to-face. You can also use Loom to create social media content to share.
Get it now: https://www.useloom.com
Cost: Free!
2. Canva
Canva provides an incredibly simple platform to create professional-looking graphic design elements in minutes. If you need a quick graphic for a social media post or to jazz up a presentation or report for a client, you can whip it up in Canva in no time.
With hundreds of pre-made templates for all kind of professional uses and handy image and font suggestions, even the most design-challenged among us can create something classy and professional.
Get it now: https://www.canva.com
Cost: Free to use, with some premium fonts, templates, and images having a nominal cost.
3. Buffer
Buffer is a social media management tool. It allows you to find things or prepare content in advance and then add it to your social “buffer” to be posted later. If your firm has more than one social account, you can manage them all from the Buffer dashboard.
Using Buffer allows you to batch your social media marketing activities, which will help you streamline your efforts and save time.
Get it now: https://buffer.com
Cost: Free to use, with premium packages offering advanced features.
4. Asana
Asana is a simple project management tool designed to help teams organised their workload and get more done. In Asana you can map out steps, assign work, see what’s currently in progress or what still needs to be done, track due dates, and see visually how work is tracking. It’s a great tool to help your team manage their workload and to give you visibility over how client work is tracking.
Get it now: https://asana.com
Cost: Free to use, with premium packages offering advanced features.
5. Slack
Getting bogged down with hundreds of unnecessary emails that take you hours to clean out each morning? Slack is designed to help eliminate emails from your organisation, to clear up the clutter in your inbox.
So what exactly is Slack? It’s a messenger/chat app, but it’s so much more than that. Team can have their own chat boards for project work, you can deliver news and updates organisation-wide, direct message people about lunch dates, and link or upload files or images. It’s particularly useful if you have team members who work out of the office or who are frequently travelling.
Get it now: http://slack.com
Cost: Free for small teams, with premium packages offering advanced features.
6. Yesware
As an accountant, you no doubt send and receive a lot of email. With slack cutting down on organisational emails, your next step is to streamline client emails and find out what’s working and what isn’t. That’s where Yesware comes in.
This clever app allows you to use simple email templates, see who actually opens your emails and clicks on any links, and save time with other cool email tools and shortcuts. It integrates with Gmail and Outlook, so you don’t have to learn a new tool.
Get it now: https://www.yesware.com
Cost: $12 per user per month, with a free trial period.
7. Trello
Trello is a project management tool, much like Asana, but it’s probably even simpler. It’s great for small teams that don’t need a ton of tools or features, but just want to get more organised and have visibility around their workload.
Trello works with a system of cards – like virtual index cards on a big virtual pinboard. You can move and arrange the cards any way you like, and add due dates, files, and collaborators.
Get it now: http://trello.com
Cost: Free, with premium packages offering advanced features
8. Omni Calculator
As an accountant, you’re forever needing to calculate things. Omni calculator can take away some of the hassle, with over 400 free calculators that can calculate anything under the sun. In the business section you’ll find calculators for break-even, ROI, online marketing conversions, GST, sales tax, VAT, depreciation, Gross to net, earnings per share, salary to hourly … all valuable tools that may be useful for particular clients.
Get it now: https://www.omnicalculator.com
Cost: Free
9. Witeboard
If you can put aside the fact that the word “white” is spelled incorrectly, Witeboard is an awesome app. It’s basically a big blank screen. You can draw anything, erase it, change it up, and share it with your team.
Witeboard is a great tool for team meetings when everyone is scattered geographically. You can plug it into slack for better team collaboration. Many accountants also use Witeboard during strategy sessions with their clients.
Get it now: https://witeboard.com
Cost: Free.
10. Full Story
Ever wanted to know what your website visitors do once they land on your homepage? Want to find ways to convert more leads with your site design or copy? Then you need to try Full Story.
Once installed, Full Story tracks website visitors and shows you what those visitors actually do in a recorded video you can replay. It also shows you where your site traffic comes from and highlights areas of your site that cause visitor frustration. It’s great if you want to improve your online marketing for your accounting firm and understand the effectiveness of recent marketing campaigns.
Get it now: https://www.fullstory.com/
Cost: Free, with premium packages offering advanced features
These are ten apps we see many of our top clients using, but there are heaps of others that provide useful tools for accountants. Which are your favourite apps for accountants?
Tim Davidson | Connect Outsourcing
Tim's experience was recognised by his appointment as Chairman of Polaris International - Oceania in 2010. This role sees Tim leading & representing accounting and business services firms from across the Oceania region.
- 5 Tips to resource a profitable accounting team in 2021 - 22 March 2021
- How to take your staff on the outsourcing Journey… - 13 May 2019
- 10 Productivity Apps to Help Your Clients - 28 April 2018
