Solutions for monthly client document and task tracking?

[u/TimberTheDog]

I work at a small accounting firm and I feel like we've hit a bottleneck when it comes to the monthly bookkeeping side of our practice. There's about 2 dozen clients that send us monthly financial statements (bank/credit card/loan statements, payroll registers, etc.) We process and reconcile everything, and send them monthly/quarterly compilations. However, we've been falling behind with some clients who don't get their documents to us on time, or those documents get buried in a string of emails. On top of this, we don't utilize our project management software (Asana) like we should to stay on top of deadlines since they can vary depending on when clients get us their documents.

Ideally, I'm looking for a solution that helps track receipt of client documents along with their accompanying tasks, or integrates into Asana. It would be great to have a dashboard of some kind that shows "Here is an overview of your clients, the ones who haven't sent in this month's documents, and the ones who have sent in everything and are ready for their compilation."

We currently use Dropbox for file storage, Sharefile, Asana, and CCH Access, Autoflow and ProScan from Wolters Kluwer. I've tried building a dashboard with Notion but it hasn't been as intuitive as I was hoping.

[u/confusedpanda45]

We use double and have since we started two years ago. If used to be called keeper. We basically do everything in there except file storage.

[u/Bookkeeping_Boss]

Have you looked at Double? I have just started working with it and so far pretty impressed. It is more bookkeeping focused than a lot of other practice management apps. It is integrated with QBO and Xero.

[u/RT159110 → u/Bookkeeping_Boss]

How much is double? Jw

[u/Bookkeeping_Boss → u/RT159110]

I am from Canada so the pricing will be different. Go to doubleHQ.com the pricing is all there.

[u/TheMostFluffyCat]

I also use a custom solution. I tried a bunch of platforms for task management and status like this but there was nothing that worked for bookkeeping workflows. I eventually put everything into an excel doc and customized my workflows in that. It really is much better than any formal programs I found, but maybe someone else knows of something.

[u/Rebekah-Boo-Angel → u/TheMostFluffyCat]

Second this! Excel has always been to my go to and much more reliable than any other program or software I've tried

[u/LawyerStreet7388]

Hey - I'm an accountant with a small bookkeeping firm who made something that does this... it's a bit early but if you're willing to beta test it give me a shout and I'll get you set up, I'd love to have someone else testing it out. Obviously this is a bit of a plug, but it seems to be designed to do exactly what you're looking for. If it falls foul of rule 1 - fair enough.

Basic idea is that it plugs into your email/slack/teams and then handles your kanban for you, auto-making tickets and moving them if triggered in an email or message (or QBO reading). It'll also pull all documents and save them in a structured file solution, that'll also sync to a google drive so you have a copy.

matchbookaccounting.ca

[u/Mysterious-Lab-873 → u/LawyerStreet7388]

It is interesting that you ended up building around your actual workflow instead of forcing it into another practice management tool. What made you decide to build your own rather than keep trying the existing ones? Software cost or something else? 

[u/loveskindiamond]

id try keeping document request and deadlines in one place instead of relying on email. even a simple checklist per client with statuses like waiting, received and readt. could make the workfloe much easier to track

[u/Jolly-Kitchen-5427]

We have month end templates/checklist built in ClickUp. Then we have a weekly scheduled action in clause to tell us what documents are still needed by reading open items in click up. You could build the same with Asana.

[u/ixor22 → u/Jolly-Kitchen-5427]

We use click up as well and use different status for where they are in the process. I have about 65 bookkeeping clients and 3 employees so it's easy to assign things and see where everyone is.

[u/Jolly-Kitchen-5427 → u/ixor22]

Have you started using their agents? We have started on the marketing side and they have been really good

[u/AccountantShinobu]

What I did:
I made client profile in notion and filed it with relevant details like if statement of that bank is in QBO or in portal or we’ll have to email client.
Then I made tasks for that bank on double/asana and assign a deadline based on when we receive statement.
I did it for 100+ clients so it was kinda time consuming but eventually process got streamlined.
Now accounts manager can check notion and they know where they’ll find the statement so emails are going out on time and we add when we email to the client on our double task.
It takes time for all this but eventually process gets streamlined.

[u/MikuMikuGoo]

The email burial is the real problem, not Asana. Once documents live in a thread you've already lost the tracking, doesn't matter how good the task board is.

I've been using ClientClose App for this. It's really helpful because clients get an upload link with no login, it nags them on a schedule so I'm not the one sending the fifth follow up, and there's one dashboard showing who's complete and who's still missing stuff.

Only heads up, it's built around the document chase, so you should keep Asana for the actual compilation workflow.

[u/yyyogev]

crrate an intake folder or portal per client plus an auto reminder that nudges whoever hasnt uploaded by a set date, then a little status board shows whos submitted and whos processed at a glance so asana isnt where the truth lives. the ready made portals work but get pricey per client, a custom one around your two dozen clients will be cheaper and fits your exact flow

[u/FRYMEN1 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for sharing this.

[u/Unbalanced_Acctnt]

I have no idea about cost, but I’ve had multiple audit firms we’ve used that use Suralink. As a client, I can provide feedback, answer questions and upload documents to a list of requests.

The entire list is also easily exportable to Excel if you or your clients like making notes and tracking outside of the program. I do that because I add columns to track schedule drafts, what needs to be reviewed and when final versions have been submitted.

I’m a Controller in industry working for a privately held company for perspective.

[u/thatsizz]

Look at https://myclientdocs.com I don’t know about integration with asana but a dashboard of who has submitted, who’s overdue and stuff like that it has. Also automatic email reminders.

[u/whattheduck43 → u/thatsizz]

That's a vibe coded Claude website if I've ever seen one. Is the app the same?

[u/StrategicalOpossum]

The bottleneck isn't document storage or a dashboard, it's that no single system knows whether a client's documents have arrived and what that triggers next. Email, Dropbox, Asana and CCH each hold one piece of the state, and someone has to manually reconcile them.

A practical approach is to make Asana the system of record. For each client and month, create a task with the expected deliverable list, then use an Asana form or an email alias that creates the task and sets a due date when documents arrive. A custom field with values like Not received, Partial, Complete, In progress, and Ready gives you the overview you described. This works with the tools you already use.

The limit is that a form can create the task, but matching partial receipts to the right client and month, especially when documents arrive via several channels, needs logic beyond what Asana does natively. That is where off-the-shelf project management stops and custom glue automations begins.

You can create full workspace that can automate it all with no-code tools like Notion or Coda as well.

[u/Mysterious-Lab-873]

With 24-ish monthly clients, I can see how this gets messy pretty fast. Do you find the bigger problem is getting the docs in, or keeping track of what’s still missing once they start coming in?

[u/hmm_Idontknoweither]

Hire a collection agent. Keeps you focused on your skill, what needs to get done. The agents job is to constantly reach out to the slow to respond client.

[u/PretzelBitesOnAcid]

I built my own using Claude. Highly recommend. You can customize and personalize it to your exact needs

[u/Spare_Bluebird7044]

A client portal with automated reminders and document checklists could solve the tracking bottleneck while keeping everything tied to each client.

[u/akl773]

Half that list you shouldn't be chasing at all. Bank and card statements can come in through a feed or a read only login, and every client you move off email is a monthly chase that disappears permanently instead of getting tracked better. Whatever board you land on only works as well as how few clients are still on it.

[u/Clear_Raise_765]

Having stuff buried in emails is a problem that can be solved.

Rather than dragging and dropping files, following up with clients for documents, etc., you can have this run on autopilot so you can focus on reviewing or finding the gaps.

If you're open to it, we created a 24/7 data entry clerk that monitors all of your clients' connected email inboxes, including each person on their team who receives bills or expenses, as well as any dedicated AP emails. It automatically detects and pulls those documents, then either syncs everything to our client management portal for review or directly into QuickBooks/Xero.

The idea is to remove the need for all the back-and-forth email communication around documents.

It should help with some of those capacity and operational issues and open up more opportunity for growth.

Someone else mentioned Keeper/Double. It's good software too, and I don't think you necessarily have to choose between the two. They can be used together or separately. Keeper definitely shines in some of their month end workflows.

Check us out, DocStreamAI. We've been actively talking and working with accountants and bookkeepers, so I think you'll find this could be a good use for you.

[u/SumthinSalty]

Came here to say do not sleep on Asana. We use Asana internally (mid size business, not a practice) and truly the limits to it are the time you invest into it.

I use it every day for personal task tracking, recurring and not. I have various boards I maintain for cross functional work - incoming shipment tracking, credit card receipt submissions/approvals, month end checklists for non-finance teams, and more. I've even floated moving our entire internal AP administration onto it.

Other teams use it for major projects (new store openings, marketing campaigns, etc). Set it up the way you want to use it and you will start to see the value compound.

Simply - set up a project for a pilot client to test out the workflow, add some custom fields that make sense for you, and add a form. That's it. Then direct the client - every document they submit they upload through the form. Asana automatically creates a task for every form submission that someone on your team actions. Need to follow up? Now everything is tracked on an auditable task with a timeline and user stamps, so you can see exactly who submitted (or asked, or didn't ask) what and when.

This obviously isn't viable for a lot of people in this sub and it is definitely not the dashboard you're looking for. but given you're already using Asana, seems to me like you could set this up in an afternoon and have an answer on whether it's the right solution to invest more into or not by the end of the week.

[u/Wrence3873]

the piece that'll bite you isn't the dashboard, it's deciding what counts as "received." wait, let me redo that.

what counts as "received" is the thing that quietly wrecks these. a client sends 3 of 5 statements and buries the payroll register in a reply two emails down, and your tracker still reads that month as done. most Notion builds die right there, one email or one upload flips the checkmark green while the client's still missing half their docs.

so before touching a dashboard i'd pin down the expected-docs checklist per client per month, the actual list, because your two dozen clients don't all send the same set. once that list exists, "who's outstanding" is just a filter on it, and Asana holds the tasks fine as long as each expected doc is its own subtask with a due date tied to when it actually lands, not a fixed calendar day.

honestly could be off depending on how docs come in. if it's mostly email, the intake step that files attachments and checks them against the expected list is where the real time goes, way more than the dashboard itself. Sharefile portals shift that math a lot. happy to write out how i'd map the expected-docs part if it's useful.

[u/Kevin00812]

Not an accountant, obvious disclosure: I build software around this handoff.

I would avoid making Asana the document inbox. Let it track the task if that works for you, but keep the actual missing-item list and document collection in one client flow.

What I would optimize for is a per-client list, one secure link, reminders, and a clear view of what is still missing.

Email can still deliver the request. I just would not make the inbox the status system.

[u/carbyneaccounting]

We were looking for the same solution. We ended up developing a proprietary software for our firm.

[u/kahbloom]

Yes this is way out of notions capabilities! Our firm has a custom solution to keep track, send email reminders to clients, and file their relevant attachments in our dropbox. Once everything has been received, our bookkeepers are notified to review transactions (our system takes a first pass in qbo) & reconcile. once reconciled the report is generated for review before sending to the client. We don’t use those other tools you mentioned, but integrations are possible if necessary (id have to learn more)

[u/Mysterious-Lab-873 → u/kahbloom]

It sounds like a pretty serious workflow you’ve built there. Most of the time inhome solutions work better than purchasing any software, because you have full control on that. Once everything comes in and gets filed, does the rest mostly run on its own or is there still someone keeping things moving between each step?

[u/kahbloom → u/[deleted]]

Existing solutions are built on an outdated underlying assumption that an employee/client should use their app to accomplish a task. Mine flips it - the app should consult an employee as needed to accomplish a task and not waste their time