What System Will You Use to Keep Track of Appointments?

The last thing you want is for two clients to show up at your office at the same time to have their taxes prepared because you didn't keep track of your appointments. Assuming you have an administrative assistant, you will need a system of coordinating appointments. The simplest system is the old pink telephone message pads which I used for years.
Ideally, you want an appointment tracking system that is networked so you and your assistant can both make appointments. These systems aren't cheap and usually come with considerable baggage. Microsoft Outlook can be networked but you will need to add additional expensive software, Exchange Server, to make this happen. Contact Microsoft directly to find out exactly what you need to run Outlook on a network.

Softalk is a neat program that lets you share Outlook folders such as calendars, notes and tasks without Exchange Server. It sells for $175 for 5 or fewer users and it offers a 30 free trial.

QuickBooks sells a Client Manager package that integrates with Lacerte and QuickBooks. I have tried this and found it to be somewhat cumbersome but workable. Act is another client management system that will work on a peer to peer network and all you need is two versions of their software running on two computers. If you're just starting out, stick to the old pink telephone slips and purchase an appointment book for your administrative assistant's desk. You can track your appointments on Outlook just fine.

 


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