Building Client Trust with Cloud-Based Expense Management

Originally posted on Intuit Accountants News Central

As an accountant, your work is tireless. Keeping close track of your busy clients’ financials is crucial. Yet, relying on them for information can be a tedious exercise in frustration.

How can we build trust, and not drive one another crazy along the way? ProAdvisors^® are focused on expanding their client base. While that’s key, keeping current clients is just as important. You’ve invested time building a relationship with your clients. On that note, we’ve compiled five ways to perfect these relationships and keep your clients around for the long run: 

Stay current with the latest accounting solutions. Your clients choose to work with you for a reason – ProAdvisors are experts in accounting. Cloud-based tools, such as QuickBooks^® Online, will show clients that your firm uses the best industry practices. Staying on top of accounting trends also means that you can be a source of knowledge for your clients. If clients question you about new accounting technology, it’ll be because they are confident in their ProAdvisor.

Swap the shoebox of receipts for automation. While expenses are an important part of business, manual expenses are time consuming. Neither you, nor your client, enjoys tracking down errant receipts. ProAdvisors don’t love sorting through shoeboxes full of receipts either. An automated process eliminates manual entry. This means you’ll no longer worry about missing GL codes, or incorrect receipt data. Feature, such as SmartScan from Expensify, capture all relevant expense data with just a picture. You and your clients will be happier knowing SmartScan logged every expense with expert accuracy. Now, your correspondences can be positive, rather than a “where are the receipts” hassle.

Build trust with accuracy. On top of being “ahead of the game,” clients also depend on their accountants foraccurate financial reporting. Human error is hard to avoid, but automated expense management solutions can improve precision. For example, Expensify’s OCR technology records expenses with greater accuracy than a person – 98.5%! Your dedication to accurate accounting helps clients build trust and confidence in you.

Provide visibility into the accounting process (show clients the money!). For some clients, the most important part of the expense process is getting reimbursed. When choosing a QuickBooks-integrated expense management software, pick one that provides transparency. Visibility into whether a report has been approved or reimbursed gives clients peace of mind.

Make corporate card reconciliation more bearable. When it comes to reconciling corporate card expenses, no one gets off easy. Accountants have to email clients to ask for receipts, and clients have to explicitly state the purpose for each charge. The costs in question are from weeks (or even months) ago. This time lapse leaves time to lose receipts and forget expense information. Expense management platforms let you and your clients avoid the inconvenience altogether. In turn, this provides everyone with more time to do important (non expense-related) work.

When used with an expense management platform like Expensify, these five tips can help ProAdvisors scale with clients and ensure they’re still working with you as both businesses grow over time.