Overseeing projects, clients, and workflows can quickly become unmanageable for service-based businesses. Each year, an astounding $37 billion is wasted due to bad meetings, bad collaboration, and poor workflow management. Today, businesses have begun exploring automation tools that can streamline businesses and improve efficiency.
Accelo is one of them; it provides comprehensive business automation for project management, client communication, and workflow tracking. In this blog, we'll explore its core features, pricing, and the best alternatives so that you can evaluate whether it fits your business.
What is Accelo?
Accelo is an online work management platform developed for professional services companies such as accounting, consulting, and IT services. Accelo allows you to automate work, keep track of work-in-progress through features like consultant time-tracking, manage client communication, and optimize your processes—all from a single dashboard.
Features of Accelo
Accelo offers a comprehensive suite of features that streamline operations for service businesses:
- Project Management: Track projects, deadlines, and team productivity in real time
- Client & Sales Management: Automate client onboarding and track communications
- Billing & Invoicing: Generate accurate invoices and track payments seamlessly
- Time Tracking: Log billable hours and improve project profitability
- Automated Workflows: Reduce manual tasks with AI-powered automation
- Collaboration Tools: Centralized communication for improved team productivity
- Reporting & Analytics: Get insights into business performance and project ROI
Also Read: Explore the best billing and invoicing software that simplifies payments and financial tracking.
Who is Accelo For?
Accelo serves a wide range of clients. However, based on user feedback, it is ideal for:
- Accounting and bookkeeping firms looking to streamline client management
- IT service providers needing a robust project and ticketing system
- Marketing agencies wanting to automate proposals, tracking, and billing
- Consulting firms aiming to improve workflow transparency and efficiency
Accelo Pricing and Plans
Accelo offers three pricing plans tailored to different business needs.
1. Professional
Quote-to-cash for profitable professional service firms that offers features like:
- Client Project Management
- Client Sales Management
- Client Quote Management
- Time Logs, Timers and Timesheets
- Client Invoices and Payments
- Financial Insight Dashboards
Pricing: Available upon request
2. Business
Manage all types of client work with power and collaboration in this plan. It offers everything in Professional, plus:
- Client Retainer Management
- Client Ticket Management
- Shared Request Inbox
- Expenses & Materials
- Time Approvals for Billing
- Unlimited Client Portal Users
Pricing: Available upon request
3. Advanced
The Advanced plan is positioned as a powerful automation solution to scale large business profitably. It offers everything in Business, plus:
- Advanced Custom Workflows
- Advanced Triggers and Automation
- Smart Scheduling and Utilization
- Adaptive Project Scheduling
- Client Asset Management
- Advanced Reporting Users
Pricing: Available upon request
Also Read: Check out the best time-tracking and invoicing software for small businesses.
3 Best Alternatives to Accelo
While Accelo is a powerful work management solution, some users complain about its lack of a robust programming base, adaptability, and cumbersome machine learning. If you are looking for Accelo alternatives that are simpler to use or provide these functionalities, here are three top alternatives:
1. Cone
Cone is an all-in-one work management software designed to streamline marketing projects, from proposals and time tracking to billing and invoicing, helping agencies improve efficiency and client satisfaction.
Top features:
- Workflow Automation: Assign, track, and manage tasks with due dates
- Proposals: Save time with ready-to-use proposal templates that you can customize.
- Automated Billing System: Easily manage invoices and payments
- Proposal Templates: Effortlessly create and send custom proposals
- Invoice Automation: Reduce errors and save time with your billing workflows
- Client portal: Connects with clients for client requests
- E-mail Integration: Integrates with e-mails.
- Payments Integration: Get paid by clients directly through invoices
- Integration: QBO, Xero, Stripe, GoCardless
Pricing:
- Starter: $5/user/month: billed annually or $8/user/month: billed monthly
- Essentials: $11/user/month: billed annually or $16/user/month: billed monthly
- Growth: $17/user/month: billed annually or $24/user/month: billed monthly
Also Read: If you’re using QuickBooks, consider a project management software integrated with QuickBooks to simplify financial tracking.
2. Scoro
Scoro is a complete work management solution offering project tracking, automation, and financial tools for businesses.
Top Features:
- Real-time dashboards for campaign tracking
- Time tracking to monitor productivity
- Automated billing for marketing projects
- Resource planning to optimize team workflows
- Collaboration tools for seamless file sharing
Pricing:
- Essential: $28/user/month (Monthly) | $26/user/month (Annual)
- Standard: $42/user/month (Monthly) | $37/user/month (Annual)
- Pro: $71/user/month (Monthly) | $63/user/month (Annual)
- Ultimate: Custom pricing
3. Teamwork
Teamwork is a project management software helping teams collaborate, track tasks, and streamline workflows efficiently.
Top Features:
- Timeline and Gantt charts for tracking marketing campaigns
- Integrated time tracking for monitoring productivity
- Task dependencies to streamline campaign workflows
- Resource allocation tools for balancing team efforts
- Collaboration features for real-time updates and file sharing
Pricing:
- Deliver: $13.99/user/month (Monthly) | $10.99/user/month (Yearly)
- Grow: $25.99/user/month (Monthly) | $19.99/user/month (Yearly)
- Scale: $69.99/user/month (Monthly) | $54.99/user/month (Yearly)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Choose Success for Your Business
Accelo is a solid work management platform, despite its pitfalls. If you are looking for an alternative that is designed for accountants, bookkeepers, marketers, and service-based companies, Cone could be the answer to your success.
Cone offers end-to-end work management, automates invoicing and billing, and provides an incredibly user-friendly experience for businesses that want comprehensive workflow management software at an affordable cost.
Start your Cone’s free trial today!