How to implement practice management software in a large accounting firm?

Published

October 17, 2023

•

3 min read

Leinonen Estonia

The international accounting firm offers their clients the full service from the start to the finish.

Employees

About 300 peole

Using Uku for:

Time tracking
Task management
Report
CRM
Monitoring
Flextime

Problem

Implementing practice management software for offices in 11 countries with 300 employees is a challenging task.

Solution

The main onboarding took 6 months with the help of Triin, Uku's project manager and Leinonen's structured approach to implement Uku.

Tips to make onboarding easy:

“It’s a marvellous tool, not an inefficient extra step that someone else demands to control employees.”

“You have to try Uku!”

Külli Kink,

Head of Accounting

Leinonen, an international accounting firm, offers accounting and payroll services in 11 countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

The large international accounting firm assists clients throughout their company’s life cycle – incorporation, accounting, payroll and legal or tax issues and, if necessary, liquidation or merging companies.

Leinonen Estonia differs from competitors in offering a tailor-made service using the clients’ software. In addition, Leinonen offers both Estonian and Finnish accounting and payroll. Long-term experience in the field makes them a reliable partner for the client.

How to implement practice management software for an accounting firm with 300 employees?

The wish to implement Uku came from Leinonen’s Estonian department. Triin Rast, Uku’s CEO and Growth Manager, led the Leinonen onboarding.

Initially, Triin and Leinonen’s management planned to deploy Uku in a month. However, they decided to break up the process to ensure complete control and learn all the practice management software possibilities. Running billing was delayed until autumn.

"Actually, it was perfect because now we can better prepare for learning to set up billing. We now have the experience of using Uku and can figure new features out even faster."

Külli Kink says: “Uku is not a newcomer in Estonia. We started it, and there was no turning back when everyone from other countries saw Uku.”

In January, Leinonen’s management and Uku’s sales manager and practice management software specialist, Triin, began onboarding the large company. Dozens of meetings and training sessions taught the 300 employees every detail of the software. Uku has been used in Leinonen around the world for half a year.

Thinking, planning and working together was the foundation of a successful cooperation.

Triin Rast reflects:

“Taking the software into eleven countries was a big challenge for all of us, but everything went smoothly. It turned out pretty well!“

Leinonen Estonia’s head of accounting, Külli confirms Triin’s words:

“We in Estonia are delighted!”

Introducing Uku to a large accounting firm according to Triin, the project manager

“The first and longest stage was building the CRM or client management side. We wanted the client part to get a comprehensive and strong foundation. We transferred data from both Excel and Directo. The next step was to build work plans, and as a final step, we will soon be setting up billing.

The beginning of April was exciting. While one of Uku’s most extensive customer onboarding processes was underway, I, the project manager, went on vacation for two weeks. Fortunately, colleagues helped to resolve all concerns, and there were no setbacks. In most cases, company employees are collectively responsible for adopting and learning Uku.

In Leinonen, they specifically determined:

Super-admin members who learn to make work plans;
Admin members who teach their team how to use Uku.

Such a teach-the-teacher approach differs significantly from introducing Uku in a small business.”

Introducing Uku, the practice management software to Leinonen's employees is going well

“We have a person who learns the basic things in Uku first. Then the team leader explains the goals and why and how we do something – from the point of view of both the clients and the employee,” Külli explains. For new and existing employees to get used to Uku, they have a step-by-step onboarding process built into Uku.

"Uku is tailored for accounting firms, and that's a strong advantage. It is exactly what you need, and you don't have to invent anything yourself."

Organising your work is easy with Uku’s various tools. Leinonen built their Uku workflows with the help of Triin so that the practice management software would be an easy-to-use and reminding daily helper for the accountant.

Külli says: “We have invested a lot in ensuring that all client information is available in Uku. No matter who opens, Uku can serve the client, and work doesn’t stop.” Even accountants feel unwell unexpectedly, but with Uku, you can easily delegate tasks to their substitute.