QUESTION
Does anyone use the Notion app with it’s workspace sharing and many integrations to:
make notes
store data as wiki
manage databases
link and view documents stored elsewhere
and, collaborate with team members.
If so…
What do think about using Notion for tax prep?
How do you use it?
In my option, Notion seems to new, niche, and techie for client communications.
Notion
BACKGROUND
One of my website and online marketing trainers uses Notion to communicate with her students and her coaching clients. Now I have no choice but to learn and use Notion to get her resource links, coaching, and support.
Back in 2018 when I was first introduced to Notion I dismissed it for several reasons. I have been using MS OneNote since 2003. It took me a long time to learn all the various ins and outs of working with Outlook and OneNote. Now it is second nature. I had tried Trello and Asana. I tried several other workflow and practice management tools. Eventually settled on a Pixie, 17Hats, and OneNote.
Now I am wondering, if Notion can help me this tax season as a note taking and linking hub.
Pixie
Pixie is good for workflow documentation, client and project tracking, automation, and more. It has tons of free templates tax and accounting templates that I can clone and modify. Great training. Great support. A bit pricing if you don’t use it as your core practice manager. But much less expense and already built out when compared with many alternatives.
17Hats
17Hats is good for a sole practitioner as an all-in-one online platform, calendaring, marketing, pricing, email templates, and much more. 17Hats has native integration with Google Workspace such that I don’t need to use Zapier for many basic automations. Plus I am grandfathered in at the highest plan on a dirt cheap 5 year purchase. So I don’t care that it is not niched to accounting because it does so much else.
In conclusion
Since I am learning and setting up Notion anyway, I am wondering if anyone is using it in anyway to run their tax practice.
I’ve looked at Notion and it’s a great app. You should have at least a basic understanding of data structures before you dive into it but it’s like a blank canvas and quite flexible. I used it a bit on a trial basis for tracking client notes and keeping web links/information. Notion could work well for T1’s but it would be a real time investment for most practitioners. From what I have read, it has been beefed up some since I last used it. The good thing about Notion is that you can fit the T1 tracking to your needs instead of making your needs fit within what the Client Manager provides.
For T1 tracking, I use the client manager within TaxCycle but I use various fields in the Engagement tab for tracking the progress of the returns. I have created a number of scripts in AutoHotKey (it’s an incredible scripting program) that allows me to track the progress of T1’s and do my invoicing.
As you mentioned, many people are now using Glide, Zapier, and others apps to track and transfer information within apps, such as making QuickBooks Online entries when you issue and invoice. Each of these apps run on a subscription basis so they can get pretty expensive to use.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. They dovetail with what I have learned so far.
My takeaway from your comments are:
Notion may be useful for some or all of my T1 practice management.
Learn the various data structures
Watch out for the costly automations/zaps. They can add up.
My objective
I have used OneNote since 2003 and TaxCycle Client Manager & Templates since 2016. I still need a CRM, a more robust Practice Manager, and email automation. I am building out the T1 prospect, engagement, onboarding, and delivery workflows in a combination of Pixie, 17Hats, and ConvertKit. Now that I am using a series of apps, documenting workflows, adding automation, and creating content, I looking for one central hub from which to manage everything. I will test to see how Notion would fit this need. If it works well, then I can expand to other areas.
A friend’s recommendation
One of my good online friends uses Notion to run her photo organizer business and to work with a VA.
Fancy Ruff-Wagner
The Family Photo Keeper.
Fancy has suggested that with respect to learning and implementing Notion I do the following:
consider using the PARA method to organize digital information .
Instead of using projects in Notion, Fancy suggested that I use Plan because it encompasses Project and more.
Forte Labs + PARA
PARA = Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive
Michelle Watson, The Better Grind, training + templates
In addition bought a planner course using Notion from Michelle, at The Better Grind called "Create Digital Templates with Notion Course.
Michelle:
"Notion is a digital planning software, similar to Microsoft OneNote but it has slightly different features. A few of the cool features which are unique to Notion are:
Easily create calendars with advanced features like reminder notifications;
Ability to do calculations within Notion;
Use databases to visualize your notes in different formats (this is way less complicated than it sounds and really cool!"
I don’t understand the need to have 20 apps doing what ClienTrack does, for much less. Load up clients as they are onboarded to your company, select the tasks and timing. Save.
Each year the update to fresh to-do lists (on a “Due this week” “Due this month” and “Overdue” basis)
Sometimes all these automation apps just simply take up too much of the time you are supposedly saving by implementing. (A few exceptions are our there of course, but I dumped them all when I got ClienTrack)
Hi Debbie,
Nice to hear from you. I am happy for you that you are satisfied with Client Track. I am not. Many others are.
No, I do not use 20 apps. Up until now I have used only MS OneNote, free Trello boards, Excel, TaxCycle Client Manager and the built in Intuit bookkeeping client managers.
Now I want to scale by improving effectiveness, efficiencies, workflows, client communications, value added services with a totally virtual/online practice. So, I have dropped Trello. I no longer use OneNote and Excel to manage my clients, tasks, and due dates. I have tried and test 10+ apps during the past three years. Finally, I have added three apps which I think will do the trick for me and am considering a fourth one.
Purchased
Pixie - workflows,templates and free automations for tax and bookkeeping.
17Hats - prospect marketing, client onboarding and nuturing with templates, esignatures, calendaring, and free Google integration.
ConvertKit - email auto responder for broadcast emails, optins, and marketing
Adding
4. Notion - for note taking, goal setting, and much more.
Hi Irfan,
ClientTrack is a Customer Relations Management program. It tracks all tasks due for all of your clients, both corporate and sole proprietorship as well as all those T1 clients.
It does take some time to learn it and set it up, but the Customer Support is awesome and very responsive.
Easily create calendars with advanced features like reminder notifications;
Ability to do calculations within Notion;
Use databases to visualize your notes in different formats (this is way less complicated than it sounds and really cool!"