How “Linking Clients” Makes Client Management 100x Easier

Imagine you’re doing work for Client A, but you need something from Client B’s folder. Maybe Client B is a business partner, spouse, dependent, or a separate entity fully or partially owned by Client A.

So you track down Client B’s files. Perhaps that involves opening a new window, doing a completely new search, having to click “Back” three, even four times, and then an equal number of clicks in to the new file. Maybe you’re downloading multiple documents for easy reference, cluttering up your hard drive. All the while, you’re making sketches on sticky notes to try and hold in your head how on earth these clients are related to each other.

You probably don’t have to imagine it. It happens every day. And it burns hours of personnel time with futile tail-chasing.

Understanding the Complexity of Your Client Base

One client, one file, right? One sheaf of documents. One fee structure. If you’re a CPA, one tax return. For any business, one set of needs and solutions. Right?

Of course, we know that’s not true. As any CPA knows, your clients are often interconnected. As they refer their dependents and business partners to you, they become even more interconnected. And chances are, something in someone else’s file is relevant, even necessary, to the task in front of you.

In the past, you would have to go back to the file room and dig out the file. Digital solutions made things easier … or did they? Maybe they became more compact and portable … but in most digital solutions it usually takes multiple clicks, even multiple windows, to get from one destination within the digital ecosystem, to the other.

Examples of Client Interconnectedness

There are as many examples of client interconnectedness as there are clients. A very incomplete list from the accounting world might include:

• A client with multiple businesses who files an individual return and several business returns.
• Businesses are often subsidiaries of other businesses, each filing separate returns and keeping separate books.
• Some of those businesses might have other partners, each with their own individual return.
• Some businesses may be owned by married couples filing jointly; others may belong to one spouse or the other.
• Dependents may earn income or participate in the family finances in one way or another – as employees, beneficiaries, etc.
• Clients who are family members may want to make gifts to other family members for tax purposes.

Introduction to the "Linked Clients" Feature

SmartVault brings order to this chaos with the "Linked Client" feature — a function that allows you to interlink your different client accounts in a way that reflects their real-world interconnectedness … and makes managing them a whole lot easier.

Key Functionalities

Connecting Related Client Accounts
Once an account is created, you can "Add Linked Account" to create a link to any other account in the database. This gives you one-click access to the "Vault" — documents, details, data, etc. — of secondary and tertiary client accounts within one window. No more back-clicking or scavenger hunts needed!

Visualizing Connections
Say goodbye to the sticky notes. You don’t even need one of those corkboards private investigators use to connect the dots of a sticky case. Linked Accounts allows you to view an ecosystem of interrelated clients at a glance, understanding visually how each client relates to the other.

Business Problems Solved by "Linking" Clients

Problem A: Time wasted on searching for related client files.
Hours get burned every day digging up supplementary files or clicking between accounts.

Solution: Quick switching between linked vaults.
Now you can access a linked vault from within the primary vault with just one click.

Problem B: Difficulty in maintaining an organized view.
Client interrelationships can be complex. Forgetting who relates to who and how can create serious liabilities and instantiate costly errors.

Solution: Visual ‘web of clients’ overview.
With this “at-a-glance” view, you will never be confused about how two linked accounts relate to each other.

Problem C: Management challenges in family-owned businesses.
Family-owned businesses often have a complex, sometimes even ad hoc ecosystem of ownership interests and stakeholders.

Solution: Linking personal and business accounts.
Linking personal and business accounts allows you to link every account to the relevant separate account — as many connections as needed.

Problem D: Overseeing parent companies and subsidiaries.
Sometimes a company isn’t owned directly by an individual, but by a parent company owned by the individual (or yet another layer of corporate parentage!)

Solution: Connecting parent and subsidiary accounts.
You don’t just have to link individual accounts — corporate accounts can be linked as well, nested like Russian Dolls according to their position within the pecking order.

Problem E: Risk of overlooking critical details.
Failing to see the big picture can cause critical mistakes that damage your relationship with the client — even damage the clients themselves.

Solution: Comprehensive view of connected accounts.
By maintaining a coherent view of your client interconnections, you can reduce the likelihood of human error as you pull the entire picture together.

Value That "Linking" Confers to the Client

Linking clients doesn’t just help you as the service provider — it helps the clients too in numerous ways, including:

• Efficient Navigation
  Linked accounts are linked in the client portal as well.
• Improved Organization
  All the client’s business, grouped together in one easy-to-navigate digital space.
• Time Savings
  Less switching between accounts to access important documents.
• Enhanced Productivity
  Providers can deliver more client services in less time.
• Better Oversight
  The service provider has a better bird’s-eye view of the account, so things don’t get missed.

Linked Accounts is the latest in a series of features that SmartVault has rolled out to help CPAs and other service providers securely manage their documents, accounts, and client relationships. By offering users the power of account interconnection, providers can save time they used to waste clicking between accounts. They can also gain the ability to visualize the interrelatedness of clients at a glance. It’s yet another leap forward into a future where digital solutions make it easy to prosper from being an expert.

Want to see Linked Accounts in action? Reach out to us today to see Linked Accounts in a personalized demo!