Bookkeeping practice management software for small firms
Short answer: Alori is the all-in-one app for bookkeepers who want every client's recurring work, messages and billing in one place. As bookkeeping practice management software, it gives each client repeating tasks with checklists, keeps customers and invoices in sync with QuickBooks Online, and puts every client conversation in one shared inbox. You describe your practice, and you change the app by asking in plain words.
A week in a bookkeeping practice
Every client has a rhythm. Bank reconciliations every week, payroll every two weeks, sales tax every quarter, a year end once a year. Multiply that by 30 or 60 clients, and the calendar becomes the job. Many bookkeepers track it all in a spreadsheet with color codes, plus sticky notes for what a client still owes them.
The usual stack:
- QuickBooks for the books
- A spreadsheet or a generic task app for the recurring work
- Personal email for client questions
- A separate tool to invoice clients each month
The work is steady. What breaks is the handoff: a teammate is off sick, and nobody knows that Client B's reconciliation is waiting on a statement.
What Alori gives a bookkeeper
Repeating tasks per client. Make a task like "Reconcile bank, Dupont Bakery", add the steps as subtasks, and set it to repeat every week, month or year. When you mark it done, the next one appears with its new due date. It keeps the client, the assignee and the project, and the steps start unticked. For every 2 weeks or every 3 months, ask Ask Alori and it sets it up. See Tasks.
A board of all client work. The task board shows To do, Waiting, In progress and Done for every client. Filter by assignee to cover for a teammate, or by project to see one client.
QuickBooks Online sync. Connect QuickBooks Online once and turn on the sync in your app. Customers and companies come over both ways, matched by email, then by name. Your invoices go to QuickBooks too. Paid status always comes from QuickBooks.
A shared inbox. Emails, texts and website chats with each client land in one thread in Conversations. Everyone on the team sees the same history. Connect Gmail and Alori can draft replies in your voice, ready for you to send.
Your own invoices. Bill clients from Invoices, with a pay by card link in every emailed invoice. Turn on unpaid invoice reminders and Alori follows up by email or text until the invoice is paid.
Ask questions about your clients. Ask Alori answers from your own data: "Which tasks are late this week?" or "What did we last say to the Duponts?"
What is coming soon
- Document requests: ask a client for this month's statements and see what came in. Not built yet.
- Recurring billing for fixed monthly fees. Not built yet. Today you create each month's invoice, and unpaid reminders run on their own. See subscriptions.
How to start
- Describe your practice. For example: "bookkeeping practice, 2 people, 40 small business clients, weekly reconciliations and monthly sales tax".
- Import your clients. Connect QuickBooks Online and turn on the sync to bring customers and companies over, or paste a client list into Ask Alori. Tasks can come in from an Excel or CSV file.
- Invite your team. Each person gets an invitation email and their own login, and every plan has unlimited users. See pricing.
| Recurring work | How Alori handles it |
|---|---|
| Weekly reconciliation | Task that repeats every week |
| Quarterly sales tax | Task that repeats every 3 months, set by asking |
| Client questions | One thread per client in the shared inbox |
| Monthly fee | Invoice with card payment, synced with QuickBooks |
For larger firms, see accounting firms and the consulting and accounting industry page.
FAQ
Does Alori replace QuickBooks? No. QuickBooks keeps the books. Alori runs the practice around it and syncs customers, companies and invoices with QuickBooks Online every 10 minutes, and right away when something changes in QuickBooks.
Can a task repeat every two weeks? Yes. The task panel offers every week, month or year. For every 2 weeks or every 3 months, ask Ask Alori, for example "make the payroll check repeat every 2 weeks".
Can my clients pay by card? Yes. Each emailed invoice has a pay by card link through Stripe, and the invoice turns Paid by itself. Card payments are in Canadian dollars for now.
Can clients send me their statements in Alori? Not through a request list yet. Document requests are coming soon. Today, keep your current way of collecting statements and track what is missing as subtasks.