Checklist
Practice management software checklist for accounting firms
A practical evaluation checklist for partners, managers, and operations leads comparing accounting practice management software. Use it to score client records, workflows, document requests, AML evidence, reporting, and implementation fit.
Published 12 June 2026. Print this page or use the sections below as your demo scorecard.
How to score each platform
For each checklist item, give the platform a score from 0 to 3. Weight the workflows causing the most pain in your firm more heavily than nice-to-have features.
Score 0
Not supported
The platform does not support the requirement without manual workarounds.
Score 1
Possible with setup
The platform can support the requirement, but only with configuration, integrations, or firm-owned maintenance.
Score 2
Supported natively
The platform supports the requirement in a normal workflow without fragile workarounds.
Score 3
Operational advantage
The platform makes this workflow materially easier, clearer, or more scalable than the firm's current process.
Evaluation checklist
Client record and firm visibility
- Each client has one reliable record for contacts, entities, services, owners, documents, messages, notes, and deadlines.
- Partners can see work status without asking managers for a manual update.
- Managers can filter clients by blocked work, deadline risk, missing documents, and team owner.
- The system records ownership changes and handovers clearly.
Workflow automation
- Recurring jobs can be templated for annual accounts, VAT, payroll, onboarding, reviews, and approvals.
- Tasks can be assigned to named owners with due dates and dependencies.
- Client requests can trigger internal workflow steps without duplicate data entry.
- Managers can update templates without rebuilding the entire system.
Client portal and communication
- Clients can upload documents securely instead of sending attachments by email.
- Requests show what is needed, who asked, and whether the client has responded.
- Client communication links back to the relevant client, job, task, or document.
- The system supports e-signatures or a clear integration path for signed approvals.
Compliance evidence and audit trail
- AML evidence, review notes, risk decisions, and approvals stay attached to onboarding and client records.
- The firm can see who completed or reviewed a check and when it happened.
- Documents and evidence are searchable and not dependent on a single person's inbox.
- The platform supports permissions, role ownership, and accountable access to sensitive client data.
Reporting and commercial control
- Dashboards show deadline risk, workload, client status, team capacity, and bottlenecks.
- Partners can identify work stuck with the client versus work stuck internally.
- Revenue or billing context can be connected to client delivery where relevant.
- Reports help managers change workflows, not just export static lists.
Implementation and adoption
- The vendor can explain migration, setup, permissions, training, support, and rollout sequencing.
- The firm knows which workflows will launch first and which can wait.
- Client-facing changes are simple enough to explain without heavy training.
- There is a 30, 60, and 90-day adoption plan with clear success measures.
Demo tasks to request
Ask every vendor to show the same tasks. This makes the comparison concrete and stops the demo drifting into polished but irrelevant features.
- Create a new client and assign an onboarding owner.
- Request missing documents from the client and track response status.
- Attach or record AML evidence against the client record.
- Move an annual accounts job through preparation, review, approval, and completion.
- Find all client work blocked by missing information.
- Show a partner dashboard for deadline risk and team workload.
- Hand a client from one team member to another without losing context.
- Explain what the client sees inside the portal or client-facing experience.
Red flags during evaluation
The demo depends on perfect sample data but cannot show a messy real workflow.
The platform needs a separate spreadsheet to answer basic status questions.
Client communication remains disconnected from jobs, documents, and deadlines.
AML or compliance evidence is treated as an upload folder rather than a workflow.
The vendor cannot explain how migration, permissions, and adoption will work.
The system is powerful but only one technical person in the firm can maintain it.
Bryxo fit
Score Bryxo against your current workflow
Bryxo is built for firms comparing whether one operating system can replace scattered spreadsheets, inbox chasing, document folders, disconnected client notes, and manual manager updates. Bring this checklist to a demo and score Bryxo against your real work.
Related buying guides
Frequently asked questions
How should an accounting firm use this checklist?
Use it before demos to define your requirements, during demos to score each platform, and after demos to compare vendors against the same operating criteria. The goal is to avoid choosing software based only on brand familiarity or feature volume.
What score should a platform get before shortlisting?
A strong contender should score well on the workflows that matter most to your firm. Do not expect every tool to score perfectly, but avoid platforms that score poorly on client records, workflow automation, document requests, reporting, or implementation support.
Should firms prioritise features or implementation?
Both matter, but implementation is often the difference between successful adoption and another unused tool. A platform with fewer but better-adopted workflows can outperform a feature-rich system that the team does not trust or maintain.