One recent development to come out of the accounting space has been the emergence of mobile apps for tax professionals to collaborate with clients. This trend culminated in response to smartphones becoming the preferred digital device for everyday use.
A 2022 report from data.ai found that people spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on their mobile devices. Smartphones even generated 58.3% of global website traffic in the first quarter of 2023, according to Statista.
The market for mobile-friendly taxpayer hubs is evident. But with mobile web browser usage surging, just how valuable is it to provide your clients with a dedicated native app? Let’s examine the distinct advantages that mobile apps offer vs. desktop apps and web apps.
Offering the right mobile tax app for user-friendly collaboration can provide a smoother, more functional client experience—and even improve responsiveness for document gathering, e-signing, and messaging.
Enhanced performance
Since native mobile apps store code locally on their device, they tend to run faster than their web-based counterparts. Browser sites instead must download content (e.g., text, graphics) from the web, generally resulting in longer load times.
And when it comes to mobile browsing, speed is everything. Google Data revealed that 53% of mobile users will abandon sites that take over 3 seconds to load. Although the difference might be subtle, faster load times and smoother animations can help your tax clients stay engaged.
Access to smartphone hardware
Unlike mobile web browsers, native apps can access the hardware features of their device like its camera and microphone. This has proven to be a critical element for tax document gathering since it allows clients to scan and send documents within a single app.
Traditionally, converting paper documents to PDF requires taxpayers to have access to a desktop scanner. But select mobile tax apps like TaxCaddy allow clients to snap and deliver photos as standard PDFs in just a few taps.
Enhanced security
Mobile tax apps can provide an extra layer of protection to ensure that client data stays secure. Websites are capable of guarding client accounts with password protection and multi-factor authentication. However, native apps can take security a step further by incorporating biometrics such as face or fingerprint recognition. Biometric verification represents the fastest and safest modern method of authentication.
Optional push notifications
No matter how efficient your internal workflow is, your firm still relies on clients to send documents and signatures in a timely manner. Browser-based portals can only alert clients about upcoming and overdue tasks through their homepage or their inbox. This setup encourages many of the same procrastination habits that firms experience with paper-based document gathering.
Mobile tax apps can solve this dilemma by offering optional push notifications that immediately alert clients. Instead of going days or weeks without logging into their portal, your clients can address items as soon as they pop up.
Granted, not all taxpayers can be expected to keep notifications on. But having the option provides yet another way for your firm to potentially streamline collaboration.
Offline access
Accessing web-based apps naturally requires a connection to the web. And although 5G coverage is widespread these days, plenty of dead zones still exist. Unlike web browsers, some mobile apps provide limited accessibility while the user is offline. Even though your clients won’t be able to send or receive items during outages, they can read documents and messages that were previously imported.
Meeting today’s client expectations
According to the 2023 Chase Digital Banking Attitudes Study, 87% of consumers use their bank’s mobile app at least once a month. Two-thirds of respondents said that they can’t live without it. Digital banking has completely transformed how people manage their finances—and many expect a similar service from their accounting firm.
Providing ways for clients to upload documents in the same way they upload checks is congruent with how the next generation wants to work.
How to deliver a modern app experience to clients
So how can you go about providing a client-facing app that represents your tax practice? Unless you’re a Top 100 firm, developing your own app probably isn’t practical. Solutions like TaxCaddy serve as a mobile app for tax professionals to deliver a client experience unique to their firm.
TaxCaddy allows you to redesign its interface with your name, logo, and color scheme. It also gives clients ownership of their accounts, allowing them to access and download prior-year information at any time. TaxCaddy clients even get their own support channel, so firms don’t have to train and troubleshoot.