Working in the firm workspace: from work queue to calendar

How do you see which client has work waiting?

The work queue is the screen a firm lands on. Each administration is one row. If a client runs a sole proprietorship next to a B.V., that is two rows, each with its own numbers: they are two sets of books, each with its own VAT return. The list sorts itself by urgency. A VAT return that is past its deadline weighs heaviest, followed by a failed import and reconciliation checks that are red.

Red is what is already going wrong. Amber is what needs attention before it goes wrong, by default a VAT deadline within 10 days while work is still open. Ordinary work, such as bank transactions still to be matched, gets no colour: that is a backlog, not a problem. Every number is a click to that work: you open the administration straight on the bank book, the documents or the reconciliations. The firm administrator sets the thresholds behind the colours.

The worklist with six sample clients: the client with an overdue VAT return at the top, the client with nothing open at the bottom. On the right are the initials of the point of contact. Screenshot with demo data.

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How do you do the same task for all your clients in a row?

With a work run. You start it at the top right of the work queue and choose the work you want to do: the VAT return, the reconciliation, the bank, the documents or the questions, or everything that is open. Each option shows how many administrations it yields. The run follows whatever is in your work queue at that moment, including a search term or a filter; if you want your own selection, tick the administrations and start the work run over that selection.

A bar at the top of the screen shows the work you are on and your place in the line, for example client 7 of 27. If a colleague clears the bank of a client further down your line in the meantime, Next skips that client and tells you so. If you open another client by hand, the run stops.

A work run over the bank: you are in the administration of the first of four clients, and Next takes you to the bank of the next one. Screenshot with demo data.

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How do you plan the VAT deadlines of all your clients?

With the calendar. The work queue shows what is waiting now, the calendar shows when it is due. There are two views of the same data: the month for planning, with the number of deadlines per day, and the list for working through them, per week with the nearest on top. For each VAT deadline you see whether it is Late, Ready (no bank transactions, documents or red checks left open) or Work open. Above each week there is a button that starts a work run over exactly the administrations that are ready.

Besides the VAT deadlines, the calendar also shows the trials that are ending and the administrations that are closing. The VAT worksheet is ready with the boxes of the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst); you file the return yourself, in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk or through your own filing channel.

The calendar as a list, with six sample clients: the VAT deadlines per week, and per client whether work is still open. One client has nothing left open; from here you start a work run over such clients. Screenshot with demo data.

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How do you ask a client a question about a booking?

From the work queue: in the menu at the end of the row you choose Ask a question, which takes you to the questions page of that administration. With New conversation you pick a bank transaction that has not been matched yet and type your message, or you ask a general question without a transaction. The client sees on their dashboard and in the menu that a question is waiting for them. The conversation shows the date, amount and description of the transaction, and that is where they reply. Their screen is in the language they chose themselves: Dutch, English, Polish, Hungarian or Romanian. Your message itself is not translated by the software; you write it in a language your client reads.

In the work queue you then see whose turn it is. If the client has replied, that is work for the firm. A question that is still with the client is shown muted: it is not work for you, but whoever calls the client wants to know it is there. Once the transaction is booked, you resolve the conversation.

This is how your client sees your question: next to the bank transaction, on a screen in their own language, with a field to answer. You then see the answer in your worklist. Screenshot with demo data.

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Working with your bookkeeping firm

Who may open which client?

A firm has two roles. An Administrator may open all clients and manages the team, the clients and the settings. A Staff member works in the clients and administrations you assign to them, and does not see the rest. If a client has more than one administration, you choose per administration whether a staff member may open it. Changing permissions asks for your password first, even when you are already logged in.

For each client one colleague is the point of contact. That client's work counts towards them on the Team screen, where you see per staff member how much is open and what was booked and processed under their name in the past 30 days. A client without a point of contact counts towards no one; the screen tells you how many there are.

Access per staff member: you tick the clients and administrations someone may work in, and the star makes them the point of contact for that client. Screenshot with demo data.

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How do you keep track of all your clients?

Under Administrations you find your portfolio: every administration on one row, under the client's name. The work queue is about the work waiting now; this list is about who your clients are. Each row shows the legal form and the VAT period, the point of contact, who else has access, the status (for example on hold or still being set up) and the date of the last entry. That last column shows fastest where the bookkeeping has stalled. You search by name, filter by status (the firm administrator also by point of contact) and sort by, among other things, urgency or last entry.

With Client dossier in the menu at the end of the row you open everything about one client: their administrations with the same numbers as in the work queue, their bank accounts, their contacts with their role and the inbox address they email their invoices to. The firm administrator also sees the firm's notes there. If a contact has not yet confirmed their invitation, it says Not confirmed; you see that before they call. When a colleague leaves, the firm administrator ticks their clients and gives them a different point of contact in one go; that first asks for the administrator's password. Pausing and resuming work the same way. A staff member can only read the list.

How do you see how your firm is doing?

With Insights, the monthly screen for the firm administrator. Unless you choose otherwise, it shows the previous, closed month. At the top you see how your administrations were spread over in order, attention and red at the end of that month, with the change from the month before. Below that is the share of that month's VAT, ICP and supplementary-return deadlines that were filed on time, and how long a document or bank transaction stayed waiting before it was posted or matched (the median).

Work done breaks down the entries, processed documents, returns and questions answered by clients per staff member, with the number of clients each one is the point of contact for. Under Done by booxx you see how many bank transactions were matched automatically and how many documents were recognised automatically, converted into hours using the standard times your firm sets itself: by default 2 minutes per bank transaction and 4 per document. The screen itself calls that an estimate. Below that is what booxx costs your firm that month. With Export you get the same figures as an Excel or CSV file.

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How do you start, and what does the software not do?

You request a firm workspace by email: you send your firm's name, roughly how many clients you have and in which languages, and you get an administrator account. After that you set your firm defaults (chart of accounts, journals and VAT codes) and create your clients, empty or with the XAF audit file from their previous software. The rate starts at €9 per managed administration per month, excluding VAT, with no fixed firm fee and no price per staff member.

There are three things the software does not do. There is no payroll in it: you book the payroll journal from your payroll software here. You file the VAT return yourself. And the automatic bank connection is in development: for now you import bank statements as MT940 or CAMT files.