QBO Monday Minute: Statement Chasing Solutions: Managing Access

Chasing your clients for statements is comparable to doing laundry: It is never-ending, time-consuming, yet essential. We have a mixture of clients who provide us with direct access to retrieve statements from their bank, as well as those who we must ask directly to upload their documents into our secure document storage solution.

To assist our team, we have implemented some workflows and automations dependent on the various types of statement retrieval and wanted to share them with anybody else who may be searching for a solution.

This is the first in a three-part series because I know you only have a “Monday Minute” to read it.

Managing passwords

When clients provide you with access to their bank accounts, you are responsible for protecting that information. With many different bank account credentials and a team of employees, managing security can be as challenging as folding fitted sheets.

In order to manage passwords effectively, a secure, accessible storage location is required for collaboration.

There are several types of password solutions available on the market. Password management methods include Single Sign On (SSO) environments like OKTA, password vaults like LastPass, Practice Protect or convenient, yet less secure options like Google.

Below, I have highlighted LastPass as a possible solution and their approach to managing passwords.

LastPass

LastPass is a password manager that stores your passwords in an encrypted vault. Keeping your passwords all in one place makes it easy to share access with your team. In addition, you can share access without sharing the actual login credentials.

One way you can choose to set up your client’s bank information in LastPass is by creating folders for each client. This will help to keep them separated.

Creating shared client folders in LastPass

Once you have created the folders, you can then begin to add login credentials for each bank.

Choose what type of information you want to secure

Adding password information

After setting up access, your team can launch it directly from inside of LastPass and retrieve the bank statements without having to type in several different URLs or juggle passwords.

When it comes to managing bank access for statement retrieval, you have a few different options. You will always have to do your laundry (unfortunately), but there are some things in life you can streamline, like statement chasing.

Stay tuned for article two, where we discuss some document fetching apps for gathering statements.

Liz Scott is a multi-business entrepreneur working to bring together technology and accountants through her business, Liz Scott Consulting. A member of Intuit Trainer/Writer Network, she authored and taught Master level courses, including Advisory Guides and Consulting Tools for Accountants. In addition to Liz Scott Consulting, she also owns Accounting Lifeline, a firm to serve small businesses with their financial needs. Liz is a co-host of the “Appy Hour,” which helps other accountants learn about the different tools and apps for small business needs. Holding a high passion for real estate investment, she owns properties throughout Oklahoma.