How To Create An Efficient Accounting Kitchen


Kitchens are where we learn some of life's most important lessons.


::Together With Financial Cents::

Billing and Proposals is live in both the US and Canada now. Imagine the freedom of integrating this directly into your workflow!

Does your current tech setup feel like a crowded counter of half-used gadgets? 

Let’s sharpen the knives, clear the clutter, and prep a streamlined spread that keeps your firm cooking with gas.

Why Cloud Apps Are the Modern Convection Oven

  • Accessibility & device independence

  • Automatic backups and server storage redundancy

  • Centralized, real-time data 

  • Fewer maintenance headaches 

  • Predictable pricing

  • Integrations & collaboration 

The Pantry Staples of a Modern Firm

Accounting

  • Document management

    • Dext, Hubdoc

  • General ledger

    • Campfire, Freshbooks, QBO, Xero

  • Payment processing

    • Bill, Melio, Paypal, Plooto, Ramp, Stripe, Square

  • Payroll

    • ADP, Gusto, Onpay, Wagepoint

  • Reporting

    • Fathom, LiveFlow, G-Accon, Reach, Spotlight 

  • Specialty apps

Back Office

  • Backups and security

  • Communication

    • Email (Google, Microsoft)

    • Form builder (Cognito, Google/Microsoft, Jotform, Typeform)

    • Meeting (Meet, Slack, Teams, Zoom)

    • Online scheduler (Acuity, Calendly, TidyCal)

    • Signature (Adobe - integrates with Financial Cents, Docusign, Signwell - soon to integrate with QBO)

  • Efficiency & intelligence

    • AI in many forms and iterations

  • Marketing

    • AI, Canva, Grammarly, Social media, Website

  • Practice management

    • Client tasks & communication, firm tasks & communications, proposals, time tracking

Fun & Efficient

  • AI, of course…

    • Marketing, spelling & grammar, coding, data verification 

  • Text expanders

  • Streamdeck

  • Widescreen monitor


Ahhhh… I love my setup! The widescreen monitor is extra deep so I can access those action buttons at the bottom of apps, and the little colorful gadget under my riser is my Stream deck.


My Can’t Live Without Ingredients

Financial Cents is the foundation app that holds our firm together.

We run our client work and our business with it.

Selecting Ingredients Carefully is Key To A Great Meal

Yes - It suits the meal you are planning.

  1. API & integrations 

  2. Creates efficiency or automation 

  3. Corporate culture fit

  4. Evolving and iterating

  5. Feature fit

  6. Price

  7. Security

  8. Support

No - just because all your friends are raving about it (I personally can’t stand “truffle oil” anything).

Making Sure the Tools Pass the Taste Test

Features alone are not enough. UX/UI is one of the biggest factors.

 If you, your clients and your team don’t love it, they won’t use it well, or possibly at all.

 UX/UI creates ease of use, confidence, and comfort when using the app.

  • Clean, consistent design

  • Consistent branding

  • Simplicity

  • Speed & performance

Financial Cents: The Sous-Chef That Never Sleeps

Automation (with dependencies for the win)

  • Client task reminders, change tags, recurring projects, send emails, start a new project 

Billing and proposals

Chats

  • Client and team-facing, broken into topics

Folders

  • Drag & drop

  • Open docs in the app (annotate in-app is coming)

Integrations

  • Doc storage coming, QBO, Zapier

Settings

  • Customizable for branding, integrations, notifications, time zone

Templates

  • Email, workflows, folders

  • Template library

UI/UX

  • Confetti bursts (fun is underrated)

  • Simple, intuitive, with a ton of “quality of life” features 

Universal search

  • Totally, absolutely universal

Workflow

  • Custom upload buttons

  • Custom recurring dates/days for projects

  • Sections for client and team tasks

  • So many little things

Great kitchens don’t run themselves, but smart mise en place makes service feel effortless. Audit your tech pantry, prep your processes, and keep the heat on the work that truly feeds your firm.


Join Your Peers Here

Bridging The Gap

  • July 22-24, 2025

  • Denver, Colorado



Kellie Parks, Certified Professional Bookkeeper

Accounting 4 Accountants

I free firm owners from the time and pressure of doing their own books.

Just because you can do something does not mean you should do something. Or you will do something.

As a firm owner, you’re focused on your clients—but who’s keeping your own books in balance? I specialize in handling accounting firms’ bookkeeping, so you don’t have to. From bookkeeping to creating efficient systems that streamline your workflow, you will experience the freedom of beautiful, compliant and organized financials.

Certified or partnered in over two dozen cloud applications, Alumni of both the Intuit International Trainer Writer Network and the FreshBooks Partner Council.

I am a runner, water/snow skier and live-music fan.

https://www.accounting4accountants.com/
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