Client scheduling

Water Cooler
#1

What software or systems do you guys use for scheduling client obligations?

EG - Ohai Capital is my biggest client. I need to have three meetings a year to discuss various financial planning topics (not on any particular timeline). Plus, I have a monthly sales tax report that I do for him. Plus, I have to do his quarterly payroll tax reports. Plus, I have to do his bookkeeping on a monthly basis, but it doesn’t have a deadline like the tax filings do. Plus, I have to do his business return by March 15 and his personal return by April 15.

Magician Testing Services also has a March 15 and April 15 deadline. But because he’s extremely demanding, he wants a “schedule of services”. In December, we do a tax estimate. In January, we go over last year’s cash flow to determine how over/under he was on expenses. In May, he wants an employee benefits review. In June, he wants me to review his property/casualty coverages.

Now Multiply this by 20, and you have a whole host of problems to keep up with. How do you schedule it all? How do you keep track of it? Is Outlook the answer?

#2

Lots of good CRM tools out there touting their services. We use SalesForce which is admittedly heavy on data entry. It’s great for organization and to keep track of things long term. Like most CRM tools, you get out of it what you put in. Mostly for meetings and follow up reminders I find nothing beats outlook. It’s a bit old school, but tried tested and true.