Prescott Business Solutions: FYI Forms make client collaboration easier
Prescott Business Solutions is a boutique accounting firm founded by Shannon Patterson and his wife after recognising an opportunity to build a practice better suited to modern small business needs.
FYI was the very first app he purchased for the new business. “I think FYI had only been out for about six months,” he recalls.
The Challenge: Collecting the right information from Clients
One of the firm’s ongoing challenges has been simplifying how they collect information from clients. “It’s the same story everywhere,” he says. “Chasing clients for the right information, managing multiple systems—it just gets messy.”
“We’ve got long-standing relationships with our clients, and we’re always trying to make things easier for them,” Shannon says. “We prefer to stay within the FYI ecosystem—using the Client Portal. We don’t want to bolt on lots of apps—it might work for some practices, but consistency is better for our clients.”
Over time, the firm experimented with various data collection tools, but none quite fit the bill. “Email is quick to send but difficult to manage at the back end, and clients often miss something. We don’t want paper, it’s slow and inefficient. We’ve used an external form builder, but clients couldn’t attach documents. We just need a way to make it simple for clients to provide what we need, and easy for us to sanity check the information when it comes in.”
Joining the FYI Forms Beta
When Shannon heard about FYI’s new Forms feature, he was quick to volunteer for the Beta program. “I’ve always liked the innovation side of FYI. They move fast, and they listen. So, when the opportunity came up to test Forms, I was keen to be involved.”
The ability to keep everything centralised was a key motivation. Shannon explains. “With Forms built into FYI, you’re not bouncing between platforms. It’s all connected—emails, tasks, client data—everything stays in FYI.”
The Experience: Control, Confidence and Convenience
Shannon’s experience using FYI Forms quickly validated his expectations. “It’s about control and convenience—but also confidence,” he says. “When you know exactly what’s going out and what the client sees, you can trust the process. It saves time, reduces errors, and just feels seamless.”
The team found that clients responded better too. “It’s more professional and structured from their side. They know what’s needed and can provide it easily. It takes a lot of back-and-forth out of the equation.”
By bringing client data collection into the same environment as document management and workflow, Shannon says adding Forms to FYI just helps keep things concise “No unruly Word docs, no scattered forms—everything’s right where it should be.”
Advice for Other Firms
For other firms considering FYI—or looking to get more from it—Shannon’s advice is simple: “Lean into the innovation. FYI’s pathway has always been about making things smarter and more connected. Forms is another big step in that direction. It keeps things centralised, gives us control, and builds confidence.”
He also recommends getting involved early.