1. Decide whose books you are managing
Define whether the first implementation covers the firm’s own books, an agreed client bookkeeping workflow or separate client workspaces. Confirm the legal entity, base currency, financial year, responsible finance staff and source of opening balances. Do not treat separate customer records as proof of separate client ledgers or access boundaries.
If another accounting system remains in use, agree which system owns invoices, payments, ledger entries and corrections. The finance-team workflow explains why operational billing and the accounting record need a deliberate handover. Avoid posting the same transaction independently into two authoritative ledgers.
2. Complete Accounting setup before posting live data
Follow the Accounting setup checklist and access guidance. Review the accounting basis, financial year, account structure, default accounts and closed-period controls with the person responsible for the books. Restrict settings and destructive actions to authorised users.
The module overview describes the Accounting dashboard, settings, transactions, banking, reconciliation and reports. Some screens depend on permissions or active optional modules. Confirm those dependencies in the actual workspace instead of assuming every demonstration screen will appear for every role.
3. Connect source documents to the ledger
Use the accounting mapping guidance to define the accounts used by supported sales, payment, credit-note and expense flows. Test a small representative set before enabling broader automatic conversion. Include at least a normal transaction and a correction relevant to your business.
Review the transaction centre to understand source and conversion status. Inspect the resulting ledger lines, source reference and account selection; total debits and credits must balance. Investigate missing or incorrectly mapped entries at their source. Do not rely only on a success notification or an apparently reasonable dashboard total.
4. Reconcile banking and manage supplier work
Agree how bank activity will enter the workspace: a supported provider connection or an appropriate import process. Bank-feed availability, account eligibility, provider access and any related terms must be confirmed for the proposed setup. A bank-feed screen in a demonstration is not a promise of connectivity to every bank.
Use the documented bank reconciliation process to match activity and investigate differences. Review supplier bills, recurring bills, payment allocations and approvals where those workflows are included. Keep the supporting documents and reason for adjustments with the financial record so another authorised reviewer can understand the result.
5. Review the books alongside practice delivery
Use the report centre to inspect the relevant balances, general ledger, trial balance, ageing and financial reports. Agree review dates and ownership. Check opening balances, unmapped transactions, reconciliation differences and unusual adjustments before relying on reports for decisions.
Connect unresolved bookkeeping questions to the practice’s client follow-up process, with an owner and due date. Keep professional review distinct from task completion: finishing a checklist does not prove the underlying accounts are correct. Changes to journals, mappings, closed periods or reconciliations should follow the approved permissions and retain an understandable reason.
6. Confirm the demonstration and any tax-filing extension
The standard demonstration shows CRM, practice management and accounting modules. Use it to examine a realistic customer-to-ledger workflow, the role differences and the checks after a transaction is recorded. Bring examples of your current software and a reconciliation question so the discussion can focus on the work you need to improve.
For an accounting-firm platform offered to multiple clients, request a customised demonstration and quotation. Tax preparation and submission require their own scope, authority, digital links and readiness checks. Read Pixie accounting and HMRC submission requirements before planning any filing capability. Compare all three models on the Pixie Accounting & Practice Management page.