What we shipped: The first half of 2024 in review

Over the past six months, Karbon has made significant strides, beginning with the launch of its most extensive feature to date: Billing and Payments. After months of beta testing and collaboration with customers, this feature is now fully operational, providing valuable insights into its performance and utility.

In addition to Billing and Payments, Karbon has introduced numerous practice management enhancements and updates. The key updates from January to June 2024 have been summarised to provide a comprehensive overview.

These features, along with upcoming developments, will be discussed in the forthcoming Product Roadmap webinar. Participants can join the session live or receive a recording by registering.

Major Updates

Billing & Payments

Launched in January, Billing & Payments offers streamlined access to flexible billing options, faster payments, and real-time reporting within a single platform.

Integrated Billing Workflow

Karbon Billing automates the billing process, eliminating the manual steps involved in reconciling time, work, and billing. This feature consolidates time-tracking, project management, and invoicing into a single platform.

Flexible Billing Options

Karbon Billing supports various billing methods, whether based on time and materials or fixed fees and recurring work. It also automates realization reporting for firms that track time for fixed-fee work.

Faster and Automatic Payments

Clients can securely pay online via debit or credit card and direct debit, with options to save payment details for future invoices and set up automated payments.

Real-Time Reporting

The centralised platform allows for easy data extraction and real-time insights, with built-in and custom reports to track key financial metrics.

Further enhancements to Billing & Payments are planned for 2024, including credit notes, client statements, and the option to apply credit card surcharges.

QuickBooks Online Accountant Integration (Beta)

Invoices sent from Karbon and payment data synced with QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) are automatically updated across both systems, ensuring accuracy and consistency. Early access to this integration is available through a beta program.

Karbon Practice Intelligence (KPI) Enhancements

Recent updates to Karbon Practice Intelligence (KPI) have improved data access and control.

In-App Access to KPI Dashboards

All KPI dashboards are now directly accessible within the app, providing a more user-friendly experience.

New and Improved Dashboards

A new Realisation dashboard and an updated Time dashboard have been introduced, offering enhanced visibility and insights into profitability, billable hours, and utilization.

Shared Triage for Email Collaboration

Shared Triage enables teams to manage shared inboxes collaboratively, improving visibility and efficiency in client communications. Features include email assignment, custom signatures, and AI-powered email composition and summarization.

Karbon AI for Client Timeline Summarisation (Open Beta)

Karbon AI now provides instant summaries of client timeline conversations, allowing for quicker access to key insights and more efficient client meetings.

Approvals (Beta)

The Approvals feature streamlines the document approval process within Karbon, marking the first step towards a full eSignature rollout. It integrates seamlessly into project workflows, reducing the need for multiple apps.

Deadline Feature

Now available to all Karbon customers, the Deadline feature allows the addition of critical external due dates to work items, improving the management of internal and external deadlines.

Other Enhancements

Improved Email Contact Search

Email contact search now includes more detailed information, such as contact type, client type, and client ID.

Configurable API Access

Karbon API access can now be configured to include hidden or private contacts and associated work, upon request.

Full Audit Trail Export

Users can export a full audit trail in PDF format for client requests, capturing all associated activities, conversations, and files.

These updates reflect Karbon's ongoing commitment to enhancing practice management tools and supporting its customers with innovative solutions.