Keep Clients Out of the GL

Simplify the Front End, Strengthen the Back End

AP/AR is the chore nobody wants but every firm must tackle. The all-too-common, tedious, manual AP/AR grind that eats up profit margins and can fray client relationships is not the only option. And it begins with the GL…

For too long, AP/AR has been a messy drag on firm growth. It’s a workflow blockade that creates cash flow headaches, data silos and unneeded stress. Even the most advanced firms experience the same challenges: drain on staff time, killer of advisory opportunities and propellant of messy general ledgers.

And let’s be clear, if the GL is messy, you’ll have nothing but problems from the get-go. It’s the starting point of clean numbers — the data that feeds other services and positions a firm to offer profitable advisory offerings.

And because the GL is where it all begins, even more reason that your accounting software should be a client-free zone.

Why keeping clients out of acounting software is key

The truth is that most clients don’t want to use accounting software in the first place. Hovering over the numbers only serves to keep them away from what they love most which is running their businesses and interacting with customers.

From the firm’s perspective, you don’t want clients in the GL either, especially if they’re not equipped to handle it. And most clients aren’t.

Take the newest QuickBooks interface. It offers so many bells and whistles that clients can get lost, leading to issues like accidentally misclassifying, duplicating or even deleting transactions.

Clients, of course, don’t intentionally mess up the GL, but it does happen. And more often than you think. It’s then left to the accountant to figure out what the client did, where it went wrong and what got changed. A recipe for costly cleanups and lost time.​

Give clients a simple, clean AP/AR environment

This is about positioning clients for success and that means keeping them out of the books. Popular client accounting solutions are just too complex and feature heavy. Clients just need a system to send invoices and pay bills.

It’s about creating a client experience that’s simple and easy. Clients only need to know what they need to know, so don’t overwhelm them with a long list of functionalities that aren’t relevant to their day-to-day work life.

Melio is designed precisely for business owners who want simplicity, not a crash course in accounting, supporting a painless way to:

• Pay bills

• Record payables

• Manage AP/AR in an interface built for clarity, not complexity

• Lose the complexity while enjoying seamless sync

Systems like Melio not only offer a simple dashboard but also seamless sync with QB. This means that both clients and accountants see the data, but only one holds the keys to the books (that’s your firm). The firm manages the GL with confidence while the client avoids the confusion and risk that comes with a complex accounting dashboard.​

Two-way syncing means your AP/AR platform and your accounting software talk to each other in real time, automating the process end to end. No more toggling between systems or re-entering the same data twice.

Here’s how it plays out day-to-day:

• Automagic data flow. This is possible when clients aren’t bogged down with complex functionality and handling accounting tasks that are beyond their acumen. With automatic sync between QuickBooks and Melio, when clients create invoices or pay/update bills, changes are instantly reflected in both systems.

• Error reduction. By default, keeping clients out of QuickBooks means a reduction in data errors. It’s really hard for clients to mess up the books if they’re not allowed anywhere near the GL. No more manual entry mistakes and duplicate records.

• Faster reconciliation. When clients are only creating invoices and paying bills, it translates to faster month-end reconciliations. No more chasing down missing transactions or hunting for discrepancies caused by the client.

• Consistent reporting: Clean books equal easy, consistent reporting. With data synced (and clients out of the GL), you can generate reports with confidence, knowing you’re working from a single source of truth.

“Oversight not overwrite”

This is the new AP/AR mantra (or it should be), reframing AP/AR from a liability into an opportunity. And here’s what that means…

Melio offers firms full visibility into transactions — reviewing, interpreting and advising based on client input — but the client never gets a chance to accidentally overwrite or derail the books. This split not only preserves data integrity but also gives clients what they truly want: a simple process to pay bills and run their business without accounting headaches.

For the accountant, it’s a chance to modernize, monetize and maintain sanity. AP/AR oversight then becomes a scalable advisory service. One where firms can offer differentiated packages from full-service advisory to clients who only require “light” support.

One of the biggest benefits is peace of mind. Firms get full visibility into what’s going on for all clients, and clients don’t have to worry about complex AP/AR functionality.