Over the last few years, the role of accountants has undergone a dramatic transformation. Gone are the days of businesses giving their accountants shoeboxes full of receipts to complete quarterly VAT filings and annual accounts.
Mass adoption of cloud accounting software, alongside a suite of time-saving add-on partners, are positioning accountants to take on the roles of business partners.
This is resulting in accountants having frequent interactions with their clients and providing input on a range of activities related to strategy and growth.
To deliver these higher-value services, accountants must generate real-time data and streamline their communications to make maintaining client relationships as frictionless as possible.
The Modulr Payments Dashboard is a vital tool for accountants to have within their armoury as it enables businesses to have their payments taken care of in a light touch way and also gives them flexibility about the timing of when funds are taken.
Introduce regular bookkeeping as standard
Clients can be provided with a high level of account management if they are provided with real-time data.
If accountants don’t do so already, they should include regular bookkeeping as part of their service offering. Importing purchase invoices and reconciling the bank weekly will allow accountants to provide timely insights to clients.
Core cloud accounting packages have powerful automation features that make bookkeeping relatively easy to keep on top of. This includes the ability to set up rules to code bank lines to specific categories and auto-matching invoices against bank transactions.
Provide a holistic offering with payments
Pay runs for clients can be a pain to process. They are time-consuming, there’s the risk of entering data incorrectly, and if due dates are missed, clients are chased by suppliers, damaging their relationships.
Accountants can remove this pain point for clients and get technology to do most of the heavy lifting.
The Modulr Payments Dashboard streamlines payments workflows, which are managed from one centralised dashboard. Payments data is automatically pulled across from accounting software to secure e-money accounts, saving time and removing the risk of data being entered incorrectly. Clients can maintain complete control by being the final approver of transactions.
The Dashboard also enables accountants to provide their clients with a high level of service due to its flexibility. It’s powered by the Faster Payments network, with transactions clearing in 90 seconds. Unlike BACs payments, which take three working days to clear, this allows for ad hoc payments to be made at short notice.
Don’t forget payroll
To turbocharge your client focus, use the Modulr Payments Dashboard for payroll as well as payments.
The software integrates directly with many leading payroll providers, including BrightPay, that also pull payments data for employee salaries and HMRC payroll taxes into e-money accounts to meet these commitments and allow clients to rest easy.
Additionally, accountants can provide a higher service payroll offering with the Dashboard. Its multi-approver layers enable them to hand parts of the process to junior team members, who can then submit them to senior staff for a first sign-off before finally being sent to clients.
Bundle up services into a subscription
Getting clients to enter fixed price annual retainers, with fees collected automatically via Direct Debit, will allow accountants to provide a full range of services while charging a single monthly fee. This will ease client relations as their invoices won’t have to be chased.
Retainers should scoop up all services, including bookkeeping, annual accounts, corporation tax, quarterly tax filings, payments and payroll. The same amount is billed to clients monthly, with quarterly and annual filing work spread evenly over 12-month agreements.
Payments transactions made via the Modulr Payments Dashboard cost accountants a nominal fee, so this retainer element should be priced by adding a sufficient margin,, as well as being able to cover a growing number of transactions in the future.
Streamline communications
Streamlining client communications will make it easier for clients to respond to queries and free up accountants to complete filings and deliver higher-value advisory services.
Using the Modulr Payments Dashboard to make payments makes approvals for clients light touch. Once opted in, they are sent emails, which will prompt them with a list of payments to approve, which can then be actioned with a couple of clicks.
Additionally, incorporating e-signatures for signing accounts and filings means signatures for documents can be requested via email and completed online, rather than clients having to post documents back manually.
Once you’re client centric, grow revenue further with advisory
Once all of the above has been adopted, you’ll be embedded within your clients' business and in a strong position to leverage real-time data and save time by introducing lucrative advisory services including access to finance, cash flow forecasting and business planning.
Modulr’s Payments Dashboard is a single online portal that brings all your workflows and payments together and automates them. Best of all, the dashboard integrates with you’re the accounting software you already use, such as Sage, BrightPay and IRIS, because we love them as much as you do! Which means you won't even have to consider an awkward breakup just to benefit.
Why Modulr? Well, Modulr is authorised and regulated by the FCA and we’re plugged into the same major payment schemes as UK banks, including Faster Payments, so your payments will clear within seconds, even on a weekend or bank holiday. The Modulr dashboard is secure and gives you and your clients full control and, because you'll be speeding through your payments within minutes, you'll have scope to start pushing your business in whatever direction you want to go.
Speak to an expert today.