Silverfin

Deep Dive into Silverfin Reporting & Insights | Silverfin

The Silverfin webinar explores how its compliance-focused platform overcomes fragmented, outdated tech by integrating diverse bookkeeping data into standardized workflows and customizable, branded reports with AI-driven insights, enabling firms to efficiently analyze portfolio-wide data, identify risks, and enhance client relationships through tailored tech stacks rather than all-in-one solutions.

In this Deep Dive webinar, you'll learn how to run branded, value-driven reports—either out-of-the-box or fully customizable—and use Insights to query portfolio-wide data on everything from workflow status to profitability. This enables you to spot trends, identify risks, and quickly answer key client questions, all while saving time, uncovering new opportunities, and strengthening client relationships.

Introduction

Mark, a senior executive at Silverfin, introduces the session alongside Hannah from the customer success team. The webinar begins with an overview of Silverfin, its platform, and its focus on reporting and insights. The Q&A feature is available for attendees to submit questions, and a poll is provided at the end for follow-up discussions.

The Problem with Current Compliance Tech

Many firms use outdated compliance technology, which can limit their potential. Data is often scattered across multiple systems—cloud, on-premises, and manual—leading to inefficiencies and disconnected workflows. Even with cloud adoption, systems often remain fragmented.

How Silverfin Addresses These Challenges

Silverfin specializes in compliance, focusing on accounts and year-end management, work papers, accounts and tax work, and enhanced reporting and AI-driven insights. The platform does not offer bookkeeping or practice management tools but integrates with other best-in-breed software via an open API. This allows firms to build a tailored tech stack rather than relying on all-in-one solutions that may not excel in any area.

Platform Overview

  • Data Integration: Silverfin is bookkeeping-data agnostic, supporting cloud, on-premises, and manual records (e.g., CSV imports). Once data is imported, it is standardized into a Silverfin chart of accounts, enabling consistent workflows and benchmarking across clients.
  • Unified Workflows: Traditionally, tasks like work papers, accounts and tax, and management accounts are handled in separate tools. Silverfin unifies these workflows, reducing data duplication and manual transfers.
  • AI Capabilities: Silverfin has integrated AI for nearly a decade, using it for data validation, workflow suggestions, and error detection. AI is embedded throughout the platform to save time and improve accuracy.
  • Collaboration Tools: The platform includes robust review and collaboration features, ensuring proper sign-off, review, and tracking of work.
  • Open API and Integrations: Silverfin supports integrations with third-party systems, including recent partnerships (e.g., Carbon). The Pulse portal allows sharing of client data, reports, and documents, including e-signatures.

Benefits and Customer Outcomes

  • Time Savings: Firms like BTLs have halved the time needed for year-end jobs.
  • Revenue Growth: Hearst increased revenue by £200k over three years with Silverfin, representing a strong ROI.
  • Quality and Capacity: PKF Francis Clark improved review quality and capacity, ensuring higher standards and fewer mistakes.

Silverfin serves a wide range of firms, from large multinationals to small regional practices. The platform is used by over 1,000 accounting firms, including 37 of the UK's top 100, and supports over 400,000 client files across 17 countries.

Reporting & Insights Features

Hannah demonstrates the reporting and insights capabilities:

  • Insights: Allows users to query data across the entire client portfolio. Queries can be built using pre-built or custom filters, covering workflow progress, status, submission data, and more.
  • Triggers: Automate actions based on query results, such as adding notes or to-dos when certain criteria are met. Notifications are sent to relevant team members.
  • Custom Queries: Users can build queries on any data stored in client files, including financial and non-financial information (e.g., employee numbers, engagement letter renewal dates). Queries can be saved at the firm level and shared with specific user groups.

Example Workflow

  1. 1.Identify all clients receiving a VAT-only review service using a specific workflow.
  2. 2.For these clients, generate a management accounts pack to showcase the level of service and potentially upsell additional services.
  3. 3.Run pre-built or custom management accounts reports, branded and tailored to the firm's requirements.

Report Customization

  • Editing Reports: Users can copy and customize standard reports, adjusting rounding, periods, columns, and rows. Formulas and charts can be added, including sector-specific or department-level analysis.
  • Styles and Branding: Admin users can set up branded style packs at the firm level, including cover pages, headers, fonts, colors, and chart styles. Packs can include reports, external documents, text summaries, adjustments, and communications.
  • Departmental Reporting: For clients using tracking categories (e.g., from Xero), Silverfin supports reporting by department or dimension.

Advanced Features

  • Liquid Code: For technical users, reports and text documents can include Liquid code for dynamic data pulls.
  • Access Control: Queries and reports can be restricted to admin users or shared firm-wide.

Summary

Silverfin's reporting and insights tools enable firms to efficiently analyze, report, and act on client data at scale. The platform supports deep customization, automation, and integration, helping firms save time, improve quality, and deliver more value to clients.