How to Choose Accounting Software for an Accounting Agency: Questions to Ask Before You Decide

It is easy to choose accounting software based on price or habit. Still, an agency that works for dozens of companies has different needs than a company that keeps only its own books. Software that is good enough for a single company can cost an agency many hours every month, because the same work is repeated for every client.

When people compare accounting software, the conversation usually starts with the list of modules and the price. For an agency, other questions matter just as much: how much work stays manual as the number of clients grows, how the accountant keeps track of all companies and what clients can do on their own.

The questions in this article help you compare programs by how much time they save the agency in day-to-day work.

Before comparing: start with what takes up most of your time

Every agency owner knows what their month looks like and where most of the time goes: entering bank statements, retyping invoices, payroll or preparing the same returns for dozens of companies. That is also a good place to start when you choose software.

Pick a few tasks that take up the most hours each month. At the presentation, ask the software vendor to show you exactly those tasks, using examples from your own work. This way, you judge the program by what really matters to your agency.

Also involve the colleagues who handle payroll, VAT and inventory accounting in the choice. They know exactly where time is lost in your current program.

1. Are all companies in one system?

In some programs, each company is a separate database. When the same task needs to be done for all clients, for example posting bank statements or preparing VAT returns, the accountant switches from database to database and repeats the work for each company, and there is no overview of all companies together. With several dozen companies, this takes a lot of time.

Ask whether all clients are in the same system and whether the number of companies is limited. Also ask how a new client is added: whether you simply add the company or it needs a separate installation and setup.

Also watch for limits that are not obvious at first glance. Sometimes the number of companies is tied to a package or license, and the agency finds out only when it takes on new clients.

Neksus is a centralized system: all companies are in one place, and the number of companies is unlimited.

2. What can be done for multiple companies at once?

The work that takes an agency the most time is work done separately for each company. Posting bank statements, VAT returns and payroll repeat regularly across many clients. If each of these tasks is done company by company, the time needed grows with the number of clients.

Ask which tasks can be done in batches and which only one company at a time. Also ask whether the chart of accounts, posting templates and payroll parameters are set up once for all clients or separately for each company.

In Neksus, you can post bank statements and inventory documents, create VAT returns and run payroll for multiple companies at once. The chart of accounts, posting templates and payroll parameters are set up once and applied to all clients or to selected ones.

We write more about this in the article Working with Dozens of Clients: What an Agency Can Do for All of Them at Once.

3. How does the accountant check all companies?

With many clients, it is important to see quickly where something is missing. Before filing returns, the accountant needs to know for which companies the work is finished and where documents or postings are still pending. If this is checked company by company, the review takes a long time, and an oversight at one company can easily go unnoticed.

Ask whether all companies can be checked at once or only one by one. At the presentation, ask them to show you how to see the status of several clients together.

In Neksus, the accountant has checks and reports for all companies at once. For example, they can see unposted documents and unconfirmed general ledger entries in one place. They can also see which small entrepreneurs have reached the annual revenue limit for keeping small entrepreneur status, and which companies have reached the VAT registration threshold.

4. Who decides how the data is handled?

Some programs lock certain options in advance, so for every change the agency has to ask the vendor for help or find a workaround. The accountant is the professional responsible for their clients' data, so it is important that they also make the decisions about how that data is handled.

Ask which options the program leaves to the agency and what is locked in advance.

In Neksus, the agency has freedom in its work and responsibility for the data. It decides on changes and uses user permissions to set who can do what.

5. Can clients enter documents themselves?

If the client issues invoices and enters inventory documents on their own, the agency does not have to retype paperwork at the end of the month. There is less waiting for folders, fewer photos sent by phone and less back-and-forth about missing documents.

Ask what the client can enter and what only the agency does. It helps if this can be set separately for each client, because one company only issues invoices while another also runs a warehouse.

Agree with each client in advance on who enters which documents and the deadline for entering the previous month's documents.

In Neksus, the operator at the client's company does the work agreed with the agency: they can create inbound and outbound documents and track the status of payables and receivables. The agency gives them user permissions for this, and checks and posts the documents in the same system.

For example, the operator creates a proforma invoice, and the final wholesale or retail invoice is created from it automatically.

Payroll work can be shared too: the client keeps timesheets in the program, and the agency runs payroll based on them. This way, the agency does not have to retype paper timesheets the client brings in.

We describe how this kind of cooperation works in practice in the article From Paper to Cloud: How Neksus ERP Changes the Way Companies and Accountants Work Together.

6. Does the program have a POS and fiscalization?

Many companies use a separate application for their cash register. Register sales then arrive in accounting as a report that the accountant retypes and posts, separately for each company and each period.

Ask whether the program has its own POS and whether register sales are posted without manual transfer. Also ask whether it supports fiscalization both for companies that issue their own invoices and for agencies. Clients sometimes ask the agency to handle fiscalization for them as well.

Neksus has a POS module that is part of the same system: register sales are reflected in inventory and posted to finance in real time, without manual transfer. Neksus supports fiscalization for both companies and agencies: a company can fiscalize its own invoices, and the agency handles fiscalization for clients who ask for it. The agency can view and control the fiscalized documents of all its clients, and those documents are posted automatically.

7. How much of the data entry is automated?

Entering inbound invoices and bank statements is work that repeats for every client. In an agency that handles 40 companies, that means a large number of documents every month that someone has to retype. Manual entry is slow, and errors in amounts and dates are hard to find later.

Ask whether the program can recognize invoice data on its own and import a bank statement from a PDF file. Ask them to show you this on the kinds of invoices and statements you usually get from clients.

Neksus uses artificial intelligence to process inbound invoices automatically and import bank statements from PDF. Read more in the article Neksus OCR: Automated Inbound Invoices Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

8. What does the program prepare for the Tax Administration and APIF?

Returns and reports for government institutions are prepared for every client, so it matters how many of them the program prepares from data it already has. Every time data is copied from the program into another application, it takes time and leaves room for error.

Ask which returns and reports the program creates and what the accountant has to retype by hand. A good answer is specific: which file the program creates, where it is submitted and whether the data can be reviewed before export. Also ask who keeps track of changes to the forms and how those changes get into the program.

From the data in the program, Neksus automatically prepares the Monthly Withholding Tax Return (Form 1002) as an XML file for electronic filing with the Tax Administration of Republika Srpska.

For the Agency for Intermediary, IT and Financial Services (APIF), the program creates a file that is imported into APIF's FIA application. The file contains all financial statements: the balance sheet, the income statement, the cash flow statement, the annex and the others.

In both cases, the accountant can review the data before export.

9. How do you switch from your old program?

It is a good idea to discuss the switch as early as the presentation, before you decide.

Ask which data is transferred, who helps and whether you can switch gradually. Ask them to tell you clearly what the agency prepares, what the vendor's team does and what training your staff will get.

Let your clients know in advance if the way they deliver documents is going to change.

You do not have to move all companies to Neksus at once. Agencies usually start with a few companies and add the rest at their own pace. Some move the companies with the most documents right away, to start using automatic document processing as soon as possible.

Our team prepares the basic data and imports the companies, business partners, items and employees the agency provides. If needed, opening balances are also imported, directly from the trial balance, along with opening inventory balances. The agency's staff receive training, and our team remains available for support afterwards.

10. How is the price set?

When comparing prices of accounting software, people usually look only at the amount in the quote. Programs are priced in different ways, so for an agency that handles many companies the difference can be large. Ask how the price changes as you add new clients.

Ask for a quote based on your actual workload and the growth you plan. Ask what is included in the price, for example migration, training, support and new versions of the program, and what is charged separately.

Compare the price with the time the program saves. A lower-priced program where every task is done company by company can cost the agency more in working hours.

We prepare Neksus quotes based on the needs of your agency. Get in touch and we will prepare one for your workload.

11. Does the program work online?

Online accounting software runs in the cloud, so the agency does not need a server in the office. The accountant can also work from home, and the client from their own office.

For the agency, this means less worry about equipment and easier work when part of the team is out of the office. When the agency and the client work in the same program, fewer files are sent back and forth and there are fewer copies of the data.

Data in the cloud is also safer than in a program installed on office computers. With traditional software, data is often on a single computer or server, backups depend on someone making them regularly, and documents are sent by email or carried on a USB drive. In the cloud, data is in one place, only authorized people have access, and backups are made on a schedule.

Ask where the data is stored and who makes the backups. Also check whether a web browser is all you need to work, or whether something has to be installed on each computer.

In Neksus, both the accountant and the client work through a web browser, with no server and no manual backups. The data is stored in an Oracle database, the connection is encrypted, and backups are made automatically every day.

Read more about the differences in the article Security of Your Business Data.

12. What has been the experience of other agencies?

When you look up reviews of accounting software online, you find individual opinions that are hard to compare. The experience of an agency with a similar number and type of clients tells you more.

If you know colleagues who already use the program, ask them how the switch went, how support works and which task the program made easiest for them.

Besides the presentation, it is useful to see how the program works at an agency that already uses it. We describe the example of an agency with 70 clients on the Accounting Agencies page.

In short

When choosing accounting software for your agency, look at how much work can be done for multiple companies at once, how you check all your clients, who decides how the data is handled, what clients can enter on their own, whether the program has a POS and fiscalization, what it prepares for the Tax Administration and APIF, and what the switch looks like.

Write down the answers to all twelve questions for each program you are considering. That way you will compare them using the same criteria.

If you want to compare Neksus with the program you use now, book a presentation.