In 2023, the worldwide document management automation market was valued at $6.23 billion, and this number is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.9%, reaching $24.91 billion in 2032.
Such stunning growth is no surprise, considering the benefits document management systems (DMS) bring businesses of all stripes and colors, including accounting and tax professionals.
Whether you’re a standalone CPA or part of a firm, the ability to leverage accounting document automation will improve workflows and reduce human error.
Read on to learn how.
Benefits of implementing accounting document management software
Here’s how you can streamline your practice management with paperless accounting workflows:
- Time Savings: Use customizable accounting and tax templates to significantly reduce time spent on document creation and editing, tailored to your branding and industry needs.
- Reduced Human Error: Automation ensures accurate presentation of client data and financial information, minimizing the risk of misplacing sensitive information.
- Enhanced Security: Benefit from stringent security standards like SOC2 Type 1 compliance, robust data encryption, and two-factor authentication. Advanced access controls ensure only authorized users can access sensitive information.
- Improved Efficiency: Automate the generation, search, and retrieval of all financial and tax reports and audits, boosting your accounting firm’s overall performance.
- Anywhere Access: Cloud-based systems allow accounting professionals real-time access to documents, enabling approvals and e-signing from any location.
Accounting document automation software: top use cases
Whether you’re dealing with client documents or specific internal files, there’s always room for automation.
Here are some examples of tasks you can significantly speed up.
Billing
Document management systems consolidate financial information from purchase orders and contracts.
Automation allows you to populate predefined templates with smart content to generate invoices dynamically.
Then, invoices are approved with in-built signatures and distributed through a secure client portal for payment processing.
Document automation software also ensures that all the billing documents are compliant with relevant laws and regulations.
For example, Falck, the world’s leading ambulance operator, slashed their billing cycle by six months.
Inspired by the results, the company followed the automation paths with other forms, including record requests, complaint forms, and refund requests.
Filing
Underpinned by customizable templates with smart fields, you can accelerate the process of filling in audit forms, tax returns, and other documents key to bookkeeping and tax preparation.
This allows your team to bypass manual data thanks to automatic data transfer from customer service software to related documents.
A case in point: HPC, an accounting, tax, and advisory firm serving clients across six continents, streamlined their proposal and contract management thanks to document automation tools.
PandaDoc and its seamless third-party integrations.
With seamless third-party integrations, the company can now create, approve, and send documents without ever leaving HubSpot CRM, and when a deal is closed, the team can immediately invoice clients.
The result has been a 20% increase in close rates.
Signing
Electronic signatures make the approval of accounting documents such as contracts, tax forms, and financial statements easy to execute, and automation software takes it to the next level.
Documents are automatically sent to the properly authorized users, and process security is enhanced via an audit trail that includes IP addresses, timestamps, and the signers’ authentication.
A case in point: Crosscard, a leader in European digital issuing solutions, leveraged the ability to templatize their proposals and contracts to automate document management.
This resulted not only in more accurate customer engagement, but also a 90% decrease in the time needed to generate contracts.
Reporting and archiving
Accounting document management software supports report automation.
The tool pulls information from CRMs and ERPs and uses that data to generate profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and other relevant financial documentation.
Accounting firms can also benefit from the software’s archiving capabilities, as it automates record retention and secure disposal according to relevant laws and regulations.
The solution also handles litigation holds and updates records automatically in response to changes in laws or business operations.
How to choose the best accounting document management software — key features to take into account
When looking for a document management system to help automate your accounting workflows, pay attention to the following features and capabilities.
Built-in e-signatures
Robust document management software solutions leverage ESIGN and UETA-compliant e-signature technology, allowing your accountants, auditors, and clients to easily and rapidly e-sign agreements, reports, and other legal documents that need approval — from any computer or mobile phone.
The process is underpinned by instant notifications to the document participants once the signature requests are delivered, and once the document has been signed.
E-signing the signature field of an employment contract
E-signing the signature field of an employment contract
Robust integration capabilities
Another accounting must-have is seamless integration with top third-party software, including CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive, etc.), secure client portals like Zendesk, and cloud storage apps such as Dropbox.
This functionality enables automatic client data transfer from existing customer records to relevant documents.
Real-time collaboration
Make sure your accounting document management software has advanced built-in commenting functionality, allowing for public and private comments inside every document.
This facilitates instant feedback to and from your financial analysts, audit specialists, and accountants, as well as improving client communication.
Adding a comment on a business proposal in PandaDoc.
Making an inline comment public or private on a business proposal in PandaDoc.
Version control
Document tracking, versioning, and an audit trail are huge assets for accounting professionals.
These features allow tracking changes and restoring previous document versions if data is accidentally deleted or modified.
For example, they help accountants revert to a prior version of a financial report if an error is introduced or ensure compliance by maintaining a clear history of edits for audits and regulatory reviews.
Streamline your accounting document management
PandaDoc is an all-in-one document management solution that covers every aspect of automating your accounting documentation.
Our team also offers a comprehensive suite of onboarding services to help you kick-start.
We’ll assist you with the entire setup and configuration of your account.
Seamless content migration, secure integrations with enterprise software, tailored document workflows implementation, on-demand training via online webinars — we’ll do the heavy lifting for you.
Disclaimer
PandaDoc is not a law firm, or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. This page is not intended to and does not provide legal advice. Should you have legal questions on the validity of e-signatures or digital signatures and the enforceability thereof, please consult with an attorney or law firm. Use of PandaDoc services are governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
