By Wayne Hedlund

Picture yourself standing in the middle of your living room, broom in hand, staring down at a carpet that hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. You’ve got crumbs in one corner, pet hair in another, and a creeping sense of regret everywhere else. Sure, sweeping the carpet with a broom could be a solution, in theory, but with every agonizing sweep it gets harder to not question the choices that led to this moment. Why aren’t you just using a vacuum? The right tools don’t just make a job easier; they make it possible to get it done efficiently without losing our sanity.

CPAs get this. It’s why you incorporate specialized software to track expenses and keep financial details in order. But those tools can’t do everything. They’re great for the numbers, but how will you keep track of those recurring weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks? What about special projects and cross-functional work that touches so many others in your organization?

That’s where project management software comes in.

Setting the Stage for Success

Project management tools like Asana and others help you connect the dots between what needs to be done and actually getting it done, keeping you and your team organized and your work running smoothly. These tools are incredibly versatile, but their flexibility can also make them overwhelming on first view. By following a few basic rules of thumb, however, you can integrate project management tools into your practice with confidence and set yourself up for success.

The true strength of Asana and tools like it rests in their adaptability. These platforms can facilitate far more kinds of work than you might realize. Whether you’re managing recurring tasks, tracking compliance schedules, coordinating a month-end close, or even organizing cross-functional projects, they can be customized to fit your needs. Tools like Asana excel at handling everything from strategic planning, to meetings, to client onboarding, making them invaluable in ways you may not have considered.

Plan Ahead – Setting things up well from the start will make a huge difference. A poorly structured project management space quickly becomes confusing and unwieldy, turning a helpful tool into a frustrating one. Clear folder structures, logical workflows, and consistent naming conventions ensure tasks don’t fall through the cracks and keep your workspace organized. Invest time upfront to build a clean, intuitive structure that avoids later headaches.

Rules and Quality Training – For any project management tool to succeed, your team needs to know how to use it effectively. Without clear guidelines, even the best software can bring confusion instead of clarity. Invest in helping your team understand not just how the tool works, but also how your organization plans to use it. Offer professional training and create standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure everyone knows the “rules of the road,” from assigning tasks to tracking progress.

Leverage Efficiency Features – One of the greatest advantages of tools like Asana is their ability to take work off your plate. Automations, custom fields, and forms are designed to handle repetitive tasks so you don’t have to. Rules and automations can assign tasks, update statuses, or send reminders automatically, while custom fields let you track key details like deadlines and priorities. Forms make it easy to collect information and route it to the right place, eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails.

Use Cases for Finance Teams

Below are a few specific ways CPAs and accountants can use project management tools such as Asana to tackle common challenges.

Month-End Closing – Closing the books is one of the most critical and time-sensitive tasks for finance teams. With Asana, you can create recurring tasks for essential steps, build templates to standardize the process, and use portfolios to track client progress at a glance. Dashboards and reports allow you to monitor team performance, identify bottlenecks, and ensure deadlines are met. This approach streamlines the entire month-end close process so your team can focus on execution rather than administrative overhead.

Expense Inbox – Expense submissions and approvals can be streamlined by combining Asana’s forms, rules, and custom fields to create an agile workflow. Employees can submit expense reports using a simple form that automatically populates a designated project for review. Custom fields, such as “Expense Category” or “Amount,” allow reviewers to quickly sort and filter submissions. Rules can then automate the next steps, such as assigning tasks for approvals or notifying team members when additional information is needed. A system like this not only reduces manual tracking but also ensures every expense is accounted for without back-and-forth emails or missed deadlines.

Fixed Asset Tracker – Using Asana’s custom fields and calculated fields you can more easily track fixed assets. For example, you can create a custom field to record purchase dates and automate depreciation calculations directly in the task details. Organize assets by category, such as Office Equipment, Vehicles, or Technology, and use filters to display only what’s relevant for reporting or audits. Switch between views (List, Calendar, or Timeline for example) to analyze your data from different perspectives and identify trends over time. This setup ensures that your team has a comprehensive, real-time overview of fixed assets without needing additional spreadsheets or tools.

Tax Compliance – Simplify tax compliance by visualizing deadlines and tasks using a board view. Set up columns for key stages such as Upcoming Deadlines, In Progress, Awaiting Documentation, and Completed Filings. Each task can include custom fields to track filing types, jurisdictions, or client names, providing immediate context for your team. Use due dates and tags to highlight urgent tasks, ensuring no deadline is overlooked. The Kanban scheduling-board style is particularly effective for managing multiple filings simultaneously, allowing you to drag and drop tasks between columns as they progress. This approach reduces the complexity of tax season and keeps your team focused on what needs to be done next.

The Right Tool for the Job

These examples are just a beginning. Asana’s versatility allows for countless possibilities. It can be used to coordinate audit preparation, track budgets, monitor accounts payable and receivable workflows, build financial reporting calendars, oversee vendor contracts, organize internal control assessments, and much more. When it comes to project management tools, adaptability and robust features are key. Asana may be the right tool to help your team work smarter and achieve more.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I’d love to help your team unlock Asana’s full potential.

Wayne Hedlund is a certified Asana Service Provider with Project Management Pros. He can be reached at wayne@projectmanagementpros.com or projectmanagementpros.com.

Sign up for PICPA's weekly professional and technical updates by completing this form.

^{Statements of fact and opinion are the authors’ responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.}