The Best Apps to Integrate with Asana for Next-Level Efficiency in Your Firm
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As a HUGE fan of efficiency, I’m always looking for ways to make me and my team more productive. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is by integrating apps into our project management system: Asana.
We highly recommend Asana as a project management software for bookkeeping and accounting firm owners because it’s robust, intuitive, and functional. We’ll dive deeper into why Asana is amazing later, but this blog is mainly about the best Asana apps and integrations you can use to level-up your productivity!
Keep in mind, this list isn’t all the apps that offer Asana integration. It’s just our top three recommendations that we use on a daily basis! If you want to see the full list of apps that play nicely with Asana, you can check it out here. Or, if you’re a Zapier fan, you can see what kind of automations you can set up when you connect Zapier to your Asana account.
Spoiler alert: Automations are like a potato chip, it’s hard to have just one!
So if you’re ready to learn more about our favorite apps to integrate with Asana, read this blog to find out:
Why we use, love, and recommend Asana
Exactly which apps we integrate with Asana and use on the regular
How to integrate each of our favorite apps (and why they’re awesome)
Gmail + Asana
Slack + Asana
Clockify + Asana
The biggest timesaver for busy firm owners
Why Asana?
Building workflows and processes inside of Asana is the backbone of my success as a six-figure bookkeeping and tax firm owner. Before then, I was questioning if I was even cut out to be a business owner at all. The overwhelm was real!
I tried a few other project management systems, but I always came back to Asana. It was fun to use, and the organization of the software just made sense to me.
Plus, it’s the only project management system that shoots unicorns across my screen when I complete a task. So yeah, Asana aligns perfectly with me and my team!
I love using Asana so much, I built an entire course around how bookkeepers and accountants can use it to document and delegate their processes to save so much time and sanity.
The Best Apps to Integrate with Asana
Sometimes people are surprised to learn that productivity doesn’t stop with your project management system. Your tech stack probably includes more than just a single productivity app, right?
Like I said before, this list is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what’s available to integrate with Asana. The best thing to do for your firm may be to look into additional integrations to support your processes and make you more efficient!
We love using Gmail, Slack, and Clockify with Asana because they each serve a specific purpose and compliment the way we work as a team.
Gmail for Bookkeepers and Accountants
Email is still an essential and common method of communication for managing clients. We love using Gmail (and the whole Google Suite of amazing apps) because it’s super easy to use!
When you integrate Gmail with Asana, you’ll be able to create tasks directly from an email without leaving your inbox! Trust me, I’ve fallen into the pitfalls of distraction as I go through my inbox, too.
With this integration, you don’t have to take action on every email right away. You can quickly create a task and move on with the rest of your emails (helloooo Inbox Zero!).
How to Integrate Gmail + Asana
Pop over to the Asana for Gmail add-on and install it to your domain (choose ‘Admin Install’ if you want your whole team to have this feature)
Log in to your Asana account from the button in the righthand sidebar of your Gmail account
Use the add-on to create tasks in Asana directly from an email (the email link is automatically included in the task description)
Change the name of the task to match the action you will actually take
Assign a project, due date, and team member to your task
Done! Keep working through your inbox and move that email to it’s appropriate folder
Wanna see this integration in action? Watch this helpful video from Asana:
Slack for Bookkeepers and Accountants
If you’re using Slack for team communication, you KNOW what it’s like to get a message from a team member like, “Did this client get a new bank account?”.
Suddenly, you realize that you need to update the client information (or have a team member handle it for you) to reflect a change in the client’s profile. Instead of getting pulled from your current task, you can quickly assign a task straight from that Slack message - and keep yourself from task-switching!
How to Integrate Slack + Asana
Head over to the Slack app directory and click the ‘Add to Slack’ button
Allow Asana to access your Slack account
Allow Slack to access your Asana account
Now you can start creating tasks from your Slack messages or adding messages to existing tasks
Once you connect Asana with Slack, you’ll have new options in your messages menu:
Clockify for Bookkeepers and Accountants
We’re OBSESSED with tracking our time here and how this data can inform so many important decisions in your firm. As a solo firm owner, you can use your time tracking data to help you hire team members and quickly create job descriptions.
This integration is actually a Chrome extension you’ll apply to your Google browser. Using this handy extension, Clockify’s cute little timer will appear seamlessly inside your Asana. When you open up a task, you’ll have the option to start a timer! Clockify will automatically name your task with the name of the Asana task, so you don’t have to do any extra work.
Pro tip: Set up your Clockify with projects and tags so you can easily categorize your tasks and further organize the data! Read more about how to do that right here.
How to Integrate Clockify + Asana
Sign up for Clockify
Install the Clockify Chrome extension
Pin the Clockify Chrome extension to your Chrome browser
Sign into Clockify from your Chrome extension
Log out of Asana
Log back into Asana
Open a task in Asana and select 'Start Timer' (next to the Mark Complete button) to track time for the task
The Best Way to Be More Efficient as a Firm Owner
So now you’re familiar with our favorite integrations and apps to connect with Asana to create a more productive work day! But none of these apps can support your workflows and processes if you don’t have them set up in the first place.
Here’s the reality of building out effective processes: It takes time upfront to document and optimize your workflows. I’m the first to admit that you or a team member will have to spend several hours making sure your processes are solid before you start delegating them.
Even if you’re just building processes so YOU don’t miss a step (yeah, they’re great for that too), you’ll still want to make sure you take the time to optimize.
If you’re looking to save time by importing detailed workflow templates into your Asana or other project management system...
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