Engagement inefficiencies persist as 62% of clients report frequent miscommunication, and nearly 80% would consider switching firms over poor technology

Suralink, the leading client collaboration platform for accountants, today released its Inside the Client Experience report, an industry study examining how clients across audit, tax, and advisory services engage with their accounting firms.

To conduct the research that backs the report, Suralink partnered with a leading third-party market research firm to survey a broad-based mix of accounting firm clients. The report draws on responses from finance and accounting professionals at all levels—CFOs, controllers, and front-line finance team members—and from various organizational types, including nonprofits, private, and public organizations, throughout North America. To ensure the findings reflect the entire industry, the research did not specifically target Suralink users.

Inside the Client Experience offers a rare look at engagement quality, efficiency, and effectiveness from the client perspective, and builds on Suralink’s previously released The State of Audit Efficiency study. The report continues to underscore how the Client Readiness Gap, a persistent misalignment in expectations, processes, and communication between firms and clients, is the root cause of mounting engagement inefficiencies and dissatisfaction. While the impact shows up as missed deadlines and rework that erode realization rates, the underlying issues are deeper. The report highlights three critical ways firms can close this gap.

Understanding How Clients Work

Clients are managing engagements on top of full-time responsibilities, with 75% citing this as a top challenge. Many want their firms to better understand how they operate internally, with 60% saying they wish their firm had a clearer view of their workflows and processes, and 59% wanting their firms to have greater awareness of their team’s capacity and resource constraints.

Fixing the Communication Breakdown

Communication is the leading source of client frustration. Eighty-two percent of clients say firm requests are unclear or time-consuming, and 62% report experiencing five or more miscommunications per engagement. These breakdowns drive measurable inefficiency, increasing the time required to complete an engagement by 14.4% and reducing clients’ availability for their core responsibilities by 12.3%.

Delivering a Better Technology Experience

Client portals are the primary hub for collaboration, with 70% of clients spending most of their engagement time in these systems. Nearly 80% of clients say they would consider switching firms over a subpar technology experience. Clients want intuitive tools with consistent workflows and easy access to prior-year submissions.

“Client experience is becoming one of the most powerful drivers of differentiation in accounting, and the Client Readiness Gap is the clearest signal that change is overdue,” said Meghan Mitton, Head of Marketing at Suralink. “Clients today have many unmet expectations, and the firms that can fill them and reimagine client collaboration will have an early opportunity to reinvent themselves and lay the foundation for stronger margins and deeper strategic partnerships.”

In the research, the respondents who were clients of firms that used Suralink overwhelmingly reported the best results. Suralink client users reported 83% higher rates of satisfaction with their firm’s request and collaboration platform compared to clients who used other tools.

To read or download the full report, click here. For more information about how Suralink is helping firms reduce friction and streamline engagements, visit suralink.com.

About Suralink

Suralink is the leading client collaboration platform for today’s accountants and is dedicated to addressing the Client Readiness Gap. Suralink’s secure platform centralizes request and document management, enables workpaper preparation and review, improves visibility and accountability, and ensures teams and clients stay aligned and collaborative throughout engagement progress.

With enterprise-grade security and an easy-to-use interface, Suralink's award-winning client collaboration platform helps firms drive growth, increase profitability, improve customer satisfaction, and mitigate risk.

Suralink's open platform is leveraged by more than 800,000 users worldwide.

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“Client experience is becoming one of the most powerful drivers of differentiation in accounting, and the Client Readiness Gap is the clearest signal that change is overdue."