5 workpaper integration challenges and how to overcome them

Workpapers sit at the heart of your accounting process as a firm. They’re the vital hub where you collate your documentation and carry out the necessary supporting work when providing accounts and audits. But in today’s multi-platform digital accounting environment, getting your workpapers to talk with a variety of client ledgers can be tricky.

We’ve isolated five of the top workpaper integration challenges you’ll face as a busy, growing firm, with tips on how a platform-agnostic workpaper solution can overcome these hurdles.

1. Problematic integration with your chosen workpapers solution

When your clients are using a variety of different accounting platforms, integrating their ledgers with your own choice of workpaper solution can be a challenge.

According to the latest CPA Australia Business Technology Report 2025, 71% of respondents believe that investing in technology helps them improve their operational efficiency. But those efficiency savings gained from going digital can be lost when you’re struggling to connect to multiple ledgers with a one-platform workpaper solution.

THE SOLUTION:

Having a platform-agnostic workpapers solution removes one of the key issues: the complexity of integrating with multiple client ledgers.

Instead of opting for a single accounting and workpapers platform, it’s good practice to choose a workpapers solution like Active that connects with all your clients’ ledgers, whether they’re based on Xero, MYOB or QBO.

2. A lack of consistency across your workpaper processes

Keeping workpaper procedures consistent becomes harder as the firm grows and your internal processes become spread across a wider group of teams and locations.

According to recent stats, 67% of the AFR Top 100 use offshoring to ease the current talent shortage in Australia and streamline low-level accounting processes. But with onshore and offshore teams working in multiple locations, a variety of workflows can evolve. This creates problems when you’re aiming for consistency and tight compliance with accounting standards.

THE SOLUTION:

A cloud-based workpapers solution with broad integration capabilities helps you resolve the inconsistencies in your workpaper processes.

A combined workpapers, ledger and reporting solution, like Active, gives you ‘one source of truth’ for all teams. Whether the team is based in Australia or in an offshore environment, everyone can work from the same ledgers, the same documents and the same workpapers.

3. Vendors wanting to drive you down a one-platform route

The days of the ‘single vendor practice’ are numbered. But many software vendors still want to drive your firm down the one-platform route when it comes to general ledgers and workpapers.

Sticking to one platform and one app ecosystem might sound sensible initially. But when you work with a broad range of clients, from new startups to large corporations, it pays to embrace a multi-platform approach. Recent stats from Agile Marketing Intelligence show the median accounting professional now uses five different technology platforms, with high-adopting participants even using seven or more platforms.

THE SOLUTION:

The answer is to embrace a multi-platform approach to your accounting services, where the firm can work with a variety of clients across a range of accounting software vendors.

And when it comes to accessing client ledgers and connecting with your workpapers, a platform-agnostic workpapers solution is the real key. Integrate with all ledgers and data sources to create a workflow that’s fast, well-connected and seamless.

4. Software companies that believe Excel is dead

Accounting vendors have been predicting the death of Microsoft Excel for many years. But even at 40 years old, Excel is still alive and being used as a key tool for many accountants.

If Excel is still central to your workflows, that’s not surprising. It’s a simple but highly powerful aid when you know the functionality inside out. And it’s often the quickest and easiest way to work through an accounting issue. But when your next-generation accounting platform won’t talk to Excel, this creates an unnecessary disconnect and workflow hurdle.

THE SOLUTION:

Switch to a workpapers solution that not only integrates with Excel but also makes it central to your workflows. Canny Group wanted to bring their Excel-based data sources into the mix and Active has proved to be the ideal tool. Adam Ramage, Senior Manager at Canny explains:

"One of the beauties of Active by Business Fitness is the flexibility. Since using Active Workpapers and Active Ledger & Reporting, the firm has made huge improvements in the trustworthiness, congruity and availability of data.”

5. Workpaper solutions that don’t scale as the firm grows

As the firm scales, it may be necessary to upgrade your systems to cope with the increased volume of client work. However, moving the entire firm across to a new platform isn’t just complicated and time-consuming. It could also limit your growth potential as a firm.

Growth is still cautious in the Australian accounting sector. But as you make plans for 2026 and beyond, it’s imperative to have software tools that scale with you and allow you to attract a broad range of new clients – regardless of their current general ledger platform.

THE SOLUTION:

With a solution like Active, you can standardise and automate the most important compliance workflows, while remaining fully integrated with a diverse portfolio of clients and their chosen accounting software vendors. That’s an incredible benefit as you expand the firm.

Active: keeping your workflows flexible and well-integrated with the whole accounting ecosystem

Creating a workpapers process that’s modern, well-connected and totally compliant isn’t impossible. At Active, we know the challenges you face as a busy firm and have evolved our workpapers solution so it meets all of your compliance, efficiency and productivity goals.  

With Active sitting at the heart of your workpapers and financial reporting, you have the integration capabilities and platform flexibility that’s truly needed. Work with any client, connect with multiple platforms and have consistent processes across the whole firm.

Let’s talk about the key benefits of a platform-agnostic workpapers solution.

Book an Active demo today.