Digitalising your SME: a practical guide

Why accountants are betting on digital businesses

As an accountant, you’re expected to also give software advice to your SME clients, helping them digitalise their invoicing and automate their processes. After all, business owners want to move fast and rely on efficient, digital solutions that save them time and money. The classic approach — a quarterly folder stuffed with paper invoices — creates needless peak pressure and frustration. By choosing modern tools, you as an accountant can serve your clients better and future-proof your own operations.

Deskflow is one such tool: a smart, cost-saving ERP solution built specifically for SMEs and their accountants. The platform digitalises your business, from customer management and stock management to sales and invoicing, in a smart and affordable way. Deskflow’s founder started the platform out of frustration with heavy ERP systems (SAP, Navision, Odoo) that were too expensive and complex for SMEs. Deskflow, by contrast, offers software that works for SMEs: easy to use, affordably priced, and designed to grow with the business.

Deskflow’s clear dashboard gives both the business owner and the accountant real-time insight into orders, invoices and statistics. Thanks to the integration with accounting software, digital collaboration between accountant and client runs smoothly and error-free.

Benefits of Deskflow for accountants

• Efficient data flow, no double work: Deskflow connects seamlessly with existing accounting software such as Exact Online, Octopus, Yuki and other systems. Sales invoices and orders created in Deskflow sync with the accounting package in real time, with no manual import or double entry. That means fewer errors and a complete digital trail. Every action is logged automatically and easy to find. As an accountant, you always have up-to-date data in the books, without administrative digging.
  
  
• Real-time financial insights: Because all sales and purchase documents are processed digitally right away, you get instant insight into your client’s numbers. Revenue, costs and margins are available up to date, so you don’t have to wait until the end of the quarter for reports. Your client knows at any moment how much VAT they owe and can adjust course with you in good time. This up-to-date data makes it possible to give proactive advice instead of correcting things after the fact.
  
  
• Full audit trail & compliance: A digital platform like Deskflow automatically maintains a detailed log of every transaction (audit trail) and stores documents securely in the cloud. No more printed invoices going missing — all data is stored centrally. For you as an accountant, this means you can always show who did what, and you meet audit and legal requirements more easily.
  
  
• Less peak load, more focus on advice: Digital collaboration with the client means documents arrive on time and spread out, instead of a shoebox full of paperwork at the very last moment. This significantly reduces the notorious stress of VAT deadline week. You can spread the workload better and deploy staff more efficiently, without overtime at the end of every quarter. Digitalising the business with automated routine tasks leaves you more time for higher-value work such as advisory services and attracting new clients.
  
  
• Serve more clients and grow your practice: Time is money, and the time you save with a digital platform like Deskflow translates directly into financial gain. The investment in modern software pays for itself quickly through the hours you save on manual admin. What’s more, you can process more files in the same amount of time, expanding your client portfolio without extra staff. With Deskflow you work more efficiently, so your practice can grow, or your existing clients get even better service.
  

Benefits of Deskflow for business owners

• Less admin and paperwork: For business owners, Deskflow means a huge relief in day-to-day hassle. Quotes, orders, delivery notes and invoices are managed in one convenient workflow, without having to retype data over and over. Signatures can be collected digitally, and paper work orders are a thing of the past. You’ll never again deal with illegible or lost receipts. Digitalising the business doesn’t just save time, it also reduces the chance of errors.
  
  
• Cost savings through automation: Thanks to SME automation with Deskflow, you save both time and money as a business owner. Administrative tasks that used to take hours now happen automatically in the background. Think of generating invoices after a delivery, or keeping track of stock — Deskflow does it for you. That means you need less external administrative staff or overtime. On top of that, Deskflow is an affordable platform with no costly implementation: it brings the power of an ERP system to SMEs without expensive, lengthy rollouts. Many SMEs buckle under large ERP packages that are “too expensive, too complex, too much for their needs”. Deskflow avoids that pitfall and offers smart automation at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. The time you save is felt in your wallet too: digitalising your business pays for itself quickly.
  
  
• Always in control of your numbers: With Deskflow, you get real-time insight into your business results through clear dashboards and reports. Incoming and outgoing invoices go straight into the system, so you always know where you stand on revenue, costs and cash flow. This helps you make faster business decisions. Want to invest or apply for financing, for example? You always have the most recent figures at hand, no more backlog in your books. Up-to-date numbers also make budgeting easier and prevent surprises down the line. In short, you run your business on facts instead of outdated data.
  
  
• Better collaboration with your accountant: Deskflow strengthens digital collaboration between accountant and client. As a business owner, you no longer need to fill a folder with paper invoices to bring to your accountant. You share all the necessary documents digitally, nicely on time and directly with your accountant’s platform. Because Deskflow is integrated with the accountant’s software, VAT returns and closings run more smoothly and without last-minute stress for either party. Much of the communication that used to happen by email or phone becomes unnecessary because you’re working in the same system. That smooth flow of information leads to fewer misunderstandings and faster service. Ultimately, as a business owner you benefit from a proactive accountant who can think and look ahead with you, instead of someone who has to correct your numbers after the fact.
  
  
• All-in-one and future-ready: Deskflow is a complete platform that brings together various business functions. You manage CRM, quotes, planning, stock, orders and invoicing centrally in one system. That means you no longer need separate standalone tools that don’t talk to each other — everything is integrated. This centralised approach boosts efficiency and gives you a professional system that can grow alongside your business. On top of that, Deskflow is future-ready: for example, it supports e-invoicing via Peppol, which will soon become the norm. That means you’re already compliant with upcoming regulations and won’t need to scramble for new solutions later. Digitalising with Deskflow makes your business agile and ready for the next step.
  

Seamless integration with accounting packages

One important advantage of Deskflow is its integration with well-known accounting packages. Accountants can keep working with the software they and their practice prefer: for example Exact Online, Octopus, Yuki or ClearFacts, while the client handles their operational processes in Deskflow in the meantime. Deskflow is built as a best-of-breed platform with an extensive API, so integrations with external software run quickly and securely. All data syncs in real time, with no manual imports or file exchanges.

In practice, this means that when an SME creates a sales invoice in Deskflow, the accountant sees that invoice appear in their own accounting package almost instantly, complete with all details and postings. That means accountants no longer have to retype sales invoices themselves or import UBL files. This makes the accountant’s work not only more efficient, but also less error-prone. Thanks to this digital bridge between practice and client, accountant and business owner can collaborate optimally while keeping each other’s trusted tools.

For accountants, this increases flexibility: you can choose the accounting package that best fits each client (Exact, Yuki, Octopus, and so on), while all of the client’s business processes keep running smoothly through Deskflow. So you’re not locked into one closed ecosystem. These open integrations make Deskflow a future-ready choice for practices that want to keep pace with digital evolution without giving up their own way of working.

Conclusion: growing together with Deskflow

Deskflow positions itself as a smart digital solution for efficient business operations at SMEs, while also offering powerful support for accountants. Digitalising the business and automating processes mean Deskflow builds a bridge between business owner and accountant. Both sides win: the accountant can work more efficiently and deliver higher-quality advice, while the business owner saves time and costs and always has visibility into their numbers. Deskflow is designed to bring efficiency, simplicity and automation in a way that’s fast, affordable and future-ready: exactly what modern SMEs and their financial partners need.

Ready to take the step?

Accountants: set your practice apart by recommending Deskflow to your clients, and become their trusted digital guide.

Business owners: discover for yourself how Deskflow can save you time and money! Book a conversation today and experience the power of digitalised bookkeeping in your SME!