Best CRM Solutions for Accounting Firms in 2024

In all Insightly is a great CRM option for businesses that want to automate key business processes, saving time and money. The platform offers some affordable plans, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes. AlternativesWith prices starting from $249/mo for two users and up to 1500 contacts, Keap certainly isn’t the cheapest option on this list, making it a poor choice for most small and start-up businesses. If Keap’s price is just too much, look to HubSpot for a generous free plan or Monday.com for a budget friendly plan starting at $12/seat/mo. Keap keeps it simple with pricing and totally abolishes feature based plans.

Pricing

1. For example, its integration with Google’s G Suite and Microsoft’s Office 365 makes it easy to send invitations to customers or potential clients outside an organization.
2. That said, Freshsales doesn’t have any accounting-specific features, other than integrations with some of the bigger accounting software platforms.
3. Overall, they have mixed feelings about its affordability for small businesses and the quality of its customer service.
4. Apptivo CRM calls itself an all-in-one CRM suite for business growth.
5. This is on top of the $1,500 guided product onboarding and a $3,000 minimum annual spend for Premier Support and Success (or 20% of the license, whichever is higher).

The free plan is very generous and a perfection option for start ups. The major downside is the big leap in paid plans, going from free to relatively expensive right away – which is something start ups should be aware of when considering their future needs. Although Salesforce is the best for most businesses, in most cases, it isn’t always the right fit. For example, for start-ups and cash strapped businesses that need advanced features, Salesforce can be expensive.

If your organization will have 20 employees using the software, that can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $30,000/month in total. For basic plans, prices can range anywhere from $7 to $25/month per user. So, if 20 employees in your organization will be using the software that can cost anywhere from $140 to $500/month in total. For larger organizations with 100 users, that’s anywhere from $700 to $2,500/month in total. I made sure automations are easy to build and manage, and that each tool made it easy for teams to access and share client details. Zendesk’s customer service features allow firms to manage their client relationships closely after the sale and answer questions or resolve issues quickly.

Sync all client information in relevant parts of your integrated accounting and bookkeeping apps to save time. Your CRM software should offer user-friendly, intuitive interfaces and features and allow you to build custom workflow automations that help streamline customer support and client relations for your team. HubSpot is widely known for its sales and marketing software that can help businesses automate many time-consuming tasks, improve processes and drive more sales. While I find its CRM to be a quality solution, HubSpot has a subpar Trustpilot rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, all without knowing which solution those customers used. Years ago, I found it to be a cumbersome and arduous software, but it has since become very well-designed and easy to use. Accounting Seed is a cloud-based accounting software built natively on the Salesforce platform and made for businesses of various sizes.

The Best CRM Software for Small Businesses

It’s also customizable so that you can tailor it to match your business needs. The return on investment from selecting the best CRM software can be massive. However, with so many CRM platforms on the market, the search can be overwhelming. To help combat decision fatigue, start by reviewing the key features of various CRMs, as they all offer slightly different feature sets.

The right tool can enhance financial forecasting and improve project planning. However, finding the best option can be difficult with so many available choices. I scored every CRM provider on this list against an inhouse rubric created by our team. This rubric is outlined with criteria and subcategories of standard CRM features and functionalities. Then, I identified an ideal use case for each provider that summarizes the product’s best offerings to help guide you to a provider that could fit your requirements.

How does CRM software integrate with the sales pipeline?

Rita also volunteers her time as a SoleMate, or charity runner for Girls on the Run, raising money for scholarships for girls. She is a regular columnist for Kiplinger & US News & World Report, and a past spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign. In 2023, she was named the No. 2 Most Influential Financial Advisor in the Investopedia Top 100. These include NCH, Zoho Books, Kashoo, ZipBooks, Sunrise, GnuCash, TrulySmall Invoices and Wave Accounting. To determine the best accounting software, we meticulously evaluated numerous providers across specific categories. Each software was scored based on its performance in these areas, and these scores were calculated to determine the product’s total score, with a potential maximum of five stars.

HubSpot is a great alternative in this case, offering plenty of functionality on its free plan. Salesforce is a global leader in CRM, with advanced, customizable functionality, user-friendly design, and outstanding reporting tools. They proudly state on their website that “98% of customers meet or exceed their ROI goals” which is quite impressive. Your accounting CRM may offer a wide range of integrations to migrate and sync client information directly from other apps. Once the client data is compiled, your team can continue collaborating by creating custom reports or using automation to optimize data quality.

Finding the Right Accounting CRM Software for Your Business

One thing about Nimble that I find not only unique but also very helpful is that in addition to its CRM, it also has a sales prospecting extension. With it, users can more quickly source new leads, enrich existing contact records with information from social media and websites, and quickly access contacts from any webpage. Zoho CRM has also worked to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its features, though this is a premium tool only available with the Enterprise and Ultimate plans. AI primarily assists in predicting bcc ymca customer responses and determining the optimal times or methods to engage with them. Zoho also uses AI to transcribe and summarize calls, allowing team members to understand the most crucial conversation points as quickly as possible. Most accounting software providers offer free trials, so you can try out the software before you commit to it.