Uku and Pixie are great practice management software for accounting firms in the United Kingdom market. When picking the right tool for your accounting practice, the decision should be based on how the features align with your firm’s needs.
Do Accountants Need Work Management Software?
Just as running shoes aren’t critical for running but significantly enhance performance, work management software isn’t required for accountants but will improve efficiency and productivity.
Accounting practice management software acts as a personal assistant, helping you with:
- Automating repetitive tasks,
- Encouraging team collaboration,
- Ensuring all contracts and deadlines are met.
- Gathering information in one environment and improve data analytics
All from a single, organised platform. It’s about working smarter, not harder. The freedom to do less, as we say in Uku.
So, how do you choose between Uku and Pixie, as both are excellent practice management software for accountants?
Let’s go feature by feature to get the best summary so you can consider your accounting firm’s needs.
Compare Uku and Pixie Features
| Features | Uku | Pixie |
|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | 14 days | ❌ |
| Onboarding help | Free for 2 hours | ❌ |
| Task Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Personalised Dashboard | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customisable Calendar View | ✅ | ❌ |
| Customisable Task Templates | ✅ | ✅ |
| Attachments, Checklists, Links in Tasks | ✅ | ✅ |
| Time Tracking | In-app | Via integration |
| Insightful Time-Tracking and Workload Reports | ✅ | ❌ |
| Automated locking of time entries | ✅ | ❌ |
| Automated Emails | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flextime - Vacation and Overtime Management | ✅ | ❌ |
| Detailed Business Analytics | ✅ | ❌ |
| Automated Invoice Generation | ✅ | ❌ |
| CRM | ✅ | ✅ |
| Client Portal | ✅ | ✅ |
| Live Chat with Clients | Coming soon | ✅ |
| Client Agreement Fulfilment Monitoring | ✅ | ❌ |
| AML Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Companies House Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Document E-Signing | ❌ | ✅ |
Accounting Work and Task Management
Pixie and Uku agree that automating task management is an essential practice management software feature to make accounting work easier.
Similar task management features
- Task automation and workflow management on a personalised dashboard.
- Deadline tracking through dashboards and calendars.
- Customisable and preset task templates and detailed process creation.
- Add custom date triggers, attachments, checklists, links and automated emails to tasks.
- Internal notifications and deadlines.
Differences
Pixie
- Integrates with platforms like Loom for training within tasks.
Uku
- Customisable calendar view to personalise work.
- Dependent tasks for a more organised approach to workflow management.
- Workload reports for team and individual performance.
- Comments for tasks or time entries to give colleagues and clients more information.
- Detailed business analytics for data-driven decision-making
- Project management for project-based services
Read more about Uku’s task management features.
Time Tracking and Billing for Accountants
Time-tracking is important for accounting firms and accountants to use their resources most efficiently. When they find out how much time they spend on each client and task, they often have to reconsider the prices they have set due to increased workloads.
Pixie and Uku’s Similar Time-Tracking and Billing Features
- Time tracking capabilities.
Differences
Pixie
- Simple integration with Clockify.
- There is no built-in billing solution.
Uku
- Powerful and easy-to-use time-tracking feature including stopwatch, manual and bulk entry.
- Time-tracking is integrated with automated billing.
- Automated invoice generation based on how much and on what was worked on
- Insightful reports about time-tracking by member, team, client or task.
- Product templates that can be adjusted for client-specific billing.
- Magic button for quick time entries
Read more about Uku’s billing and time-tracking.
Accountants’ Workflow Automation
Automating tasks helps accountants save time on mundane administrative tasks and focus on more analytical and advisory work. There are many tasks a work management software can automate for accountants.
Pixie and Uku Similar Workflow Automation Features
- Automated task templates with recurring tasks.
- Automated emails assigned to tasks.
Differences
Pixie
- No additional automations.
Uku
- Advanced automated reporting based on time tracking.
- Automated invoicing from data input.
- Automatic flextime balance calculation. The Flextime app overviews the accounting team’s working hours, overtime, and vacation balance.
Learn about Uku’s automated workflows, reporting, emails, and powerful billing solutions.
Accounting Firm Team Collaboration
There can’t be an accounting team with no collaboration. Pixie and Uku both enhance team collaboration for accounting teams.
Pixie and Uku’s Similar Team Collaboration Features:
- Internal notifications about task updates.
- Managing and delegating tasks to team members.
- Reporting with custom filters for insights about workflows.
Differences:
Pixie:
- Provides a snapshot of firm activities through reports.
Uku:
- Offers detailed time tracking reports.
- Includes a team calendar for better workload visibility.
Read more about Uku’s team collaboration possibilities
Accounting Practice Management Software User-Friendliness
Pixie’s straightforward tool appeals to those looking for simplicity.
Uku’s intuitive design makes even the most complicated tasks easy.
Accounting Client Management (Accounting CRM)
Managing client relationships is a necessity. Accountants deal with many tasks ranging from routine bookkeeping to complex financial analysis, often with multiple clients with varying needs and deadlines.
Pixie and Uku’s Similar CRM Features
- Centralised client information system with unlimited custom fields.
- Client portal for direct client communication.
- Integration with Companies House for UK-based client data management.
- Automated archival of emails and files to client records.
- Client onboarding workflows.
Differences:
Pixie:
- A CRM platform for smaller firms.
- Live chat with clients.
- AML integration, 1.60£ per check.
- Document e-signing
Uku:
- Comprehensive client profile with customisable fields integrated with accounting software like Xero or e-conomic.
- Transparent client profiles so every colleague replacing another has access to client info.
- Client agreement monitoring for effective workload and financial management.
Learn about Uku’s CRM, Client Agreement Monitoring, and Client Portal.
Uku and Pixie Pricing
Pixie has three different subscription plans. These prices are for accounting firms with under 250 clients:
- Advanced plan for 119€ a month
- Growth plan for 189€ a month
- Enterprise plan with a custom pricing plan for each client.
- No free trial or possibility of testing the system.
Uku, too, has three different subscription plans:
- Solo, which is free for a solo accountant
- Team plan with a price-per-user pricing model of 29£ per user per month.
- Enterprise plan for businesses who desire personal service at 59£ per user per month.
- Additionally, Uku offers a 14-day free trial and 2 hours of free onboarding with an expert to ensure correct data and live customer support.
See Uku’s subscription plans
Which Practice Management Software for Accountants to Choose?
So here’s a short overview of what the two accounting practice management software, Pixie and Uku, offer for your accounting firm.
Uku:
- Customisable dashboards adapt to your firm’s unique workflow.
- Advanced business analytics inform data-driven decisions.
- Integrated invoicing streamlines billing based on various metrics.
- Transparent client profiles ensure continuity in client management.
- Flextime app for the management to simplify overtime, vacation, and working hours management.
- A view of client agreement fulfilment to plan working time better.
Pixie:
- Simplified client communication with a chat feature in the client portal.
- Flat fee pricing could be advantageous for larger firms.
- E-signing for documents.
While Pixie holds its ground with solid offerings, Uku’s suite of features, particularly its customisable nature and comprehensive analytics and automated billing, could take your accounting firm to the next level.
See for yourself. Try Uku out for free or book a free personal demo so we can show you how Uku can enhance your accounting practice management.
