1. Agree what the practice workspace will do
Start with one recurring service, such as monthly bookkeeping coordination or year-end accounts preparation. Write down the intake information, delivery stages, reviewer, client handover and completion evidence. Distinguish a task deadline from a statutory filing obligation: creating a reminder does not submit a return or establish the correct tax deadline.
Use the practice management overview to discuss specialist requirements. Agree which capabilities are included, which need configuration and which remain in another system. Avoid moving a process simply because a similarly named module appears in the catalogue.
2. Build a useful client and contact record
Create a consistent client record with the contacts, services and responsibilities needed for your engagement. Identify who supplies information, who answers queries and who approves changes. Use Create a customer for the documented customer workflow, then confirm the record can be found by the colleagues who need it.
Link relevant engagement documents and working context to the correct client or project. Keep sensitive internal notes separate from material intended for clients. Define an owner for correcting duplicate records and updating contacts when a client’s staff or responsibilities change.
3. Turn recurring work into clear responsibilities
Use tasks and workflows to organise preparation, document chasing, review and follow-up. Each task should have an owner, a meaningful due date and a clear completion condition. Record what is missing when work is blocked, rather than marking the whole engagement as simply “in progress”.
For work with several deliverables, follow Create a project and keep the agreed scope, files and decisions together. Review the proposed recurring-work schedule before enabling reminders. Check how holidays, reassignment, exceptions and changes in client circumstances affect the plan.
5. Connect delivery with time and practice billing
Use time and timesheets where recording effort helps you understand delivery or prepare agreed fees. Define when time needs review and how it relates to the client’s commercial agreement. Time recorded, work completed and money ready to invoice are different states.
For ongoing services, assess recurring invoices alongside the billing contact, fee schedule and change process. Review the first cycle before relying on automation. In this model, CRM billing records support the relationship; they do not automatically replace the firm’s bookkeeping ledger or tax-filing software.
6. Check the workflow and choose your next step
Walk through an example from new enquiry to completed engagement. Confirm ownership, permissions, missing-document follow-up, reviewer handover, client visibility and the billing outcome. Check a failure case as well: an absent reviewer, missing attachment or incorrect contact should leave an understandable next action.
The standard demonstration shows CRM, practice management and accounting modules. Choose this first model if you want the practice workflow while retaining other financial systems; seeing an accounting module in the demonstration does not require you to adopt it. For a branded client software service or bespoke filing workflow, request a customised accounting-firm demonstration and quotation. Compare the three Pixie accounting and practice management options before confirming your scope.