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Firm Management

How Online Form Builders Help Accounting Firms

Accountants work with forms, data, and spreadsheets all day. They’re experts at taking piles of papers, and processing and consolidating them down to a final balance sheet or report. Sometimes this involves using automated systems; sometimes it’s an exerc

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Accountants work with forms, data, and spreadsheets all day. They’re experts at taking piles of papers, and processing and consolidating them down to a final balance sheet or report. Sometimes this involves using automated systems; sometimes it’s an exercise in diligent tedium.

Any time you can streamline a manual process, such as data entry, you’ll improve the end result. Sifting through boxes of receipts, invoices, contracts, and purchase orders is not only time consuming, but also error prone. There are many ways accountants can use online form builders to improve their processes.

Collecting information from clients

This is the most obvious use of customizable online forms. Online form builders, such as Google Forms, allow you to create as many fields as you like to collect exactly the information you need. Perhaps you just need client contact information. Or maybe you’d like to set up a form to gather profits, expenses, tax, or any other piece of information. Rather than sending clients emails and copying their responses to a spreadsheet or your accounting software, you can collect it directly through a form. Many online form builders integrate directly with Google Spreadsheets, or even your accounting software, such as Freshbooks.

Collecting payments

Speaking of integrations, a great majority of online form builders integrate with payment portals, most prominently PayPal or Stripe. You can send form invoices directly to your clients and collect payment right away. These can be linked with your own accounting system so it’s easy to keep track of.

Signing contracts

Gathering signatures for contracts has been through many changes over the years. It wasn’t too long ago where snail mail and pen and paper were the only way to go. This was replaced with faxing, which was a huge improvement. Then things progressed to creating PDFs and emailing them as attachments. People would print, sign, scan, and return the document. While these methods of signing contracts are all still in use, there’s now a much better way. Popular services such as HelloSign provide everything you need to bindingly sign contracts. One popular online form builder, JotForm, offers a direct integration with popular esignature tools including Adobe Document Cloud eSign Services. This allows you to turn your online forms into legally binding contracts.

Working with customizable online form builders can greatly improve accounting workflows. Here’s a list of fourteen top providers to help select the right tool for your needs.

Have experience using an online form builder to improve accounting processes? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Steve Gibson is a Director at JotForm, and advocates the use of customizable online form builders to improve business processes across all industries and departments.