Fiduciary software for multiple client mandates puts every client company, document, task and deadline into one system, so your team no longer works from email threads, shared folders and separate spreadsheets. Each mandate follows the same path from onboarding to annual statements, and everyone sees what is done, open or overdue.
This article is for tax advisors and trustees at small and mid-sized fiduciary firms in Switzerland. After reading it, you will be able to structure a mandate, collect client receipts without chasing, separate staff access per client and judge which features a fiduciary system really needs.
Fiduciary software is a system that lets a trustee or tax advisor run bookkeeping, payroll, document collection and annual statements for many client companies from one place. It differs from ordinary accounting software because the unit of work is the mandate, not a single company’s books.
How do fiduciary firms keep track of many client mandates at once?
Firms keep track reliably by giving every mandate the same structure and one shared place where its status is visible. Without that, status lives in people’s heads, inboxes and personal spreadsheets.
The usual pattern looks familiar. Receipts arrive by email, WhatsApp and paper. Files sit in folders named by whoever created them. A spreadsheet lists clients, but it is out of date by the second week. Shortly before annual statements are due, someone has to ask every colleague which clients are finished.
The fix is not more discipline. It is one record per mandate that holds the client company, the documents, the assigned staff, the open tasks and the deadlines. In IDup, this is the job of Fiduciary Management, supported by the Tax Advisor Workspace and Multiple Companies, so each client company stays separate while you work across all of them from one login.
What should fiduciary software for multiple client mandates include?
It should cover the full mandate lifecycle: client companies, document intake, bookkeeping, payroll, annual statements, client access and staff permissions. If one of these is missing, the work moves back into email and spreadsheets.
Use this mandate checklist when you compare systems:
- Separate client companies: each mandate has its own books, documents and users, with no mixing of data.
- Receipt and document intake: clients can send documents in a structured way, and the system reads the key data.
- Accounting and payroll: bookkeeping and salary processing for the client sit in the same record.
- Annual statements: year-end work follows from the bookkeeping already done, not from a fresh export.
- Client access: clients see their own documents and reports, nothing else.
- Staff permissions: each team member sees only the mandates assigned to them.
- Status overview: you can tell what is done, open or overdue without asking around.
- Secure storage: documents are kept in one archive, with retention handled according to the rules that apply to you.
In IDup, the matching modules are Multiple Companies, Receipt Capture with AI scan, Accounting, Payroll & Salary, Annual Statements, Client Portal, User Access and Document Vault. Data is entered once and shared across modules, which removes the retyping between tools.
How can a trustee collect client receipts without chasing them by email?
Give clients one simple, fixed way to submit documents and let the system read them, instead of accepting every channel and sorting afterward. The chasing usually comes from having no clear route and no visible gap.
With Receipt Capture with AI scan, a client photographs a receipt or uploads an invoice, and the AI reads the main fields such as supplier, date and amount. Your team reviews the result before it is booked, so the accountant remains in control. Nobody has to retype a paper slip or search a WhatsApp thread for a photo.
Clients who prefer to stay in familiar tools can still be guided toward one route. Agree on it at onboarding, put it in the engagement letter or welcome message, and treat anything sent elsewhere as an exception. Over a few weeks, the habit shifts.
Workflow: from mandate onboarding to annual statements
A repeatable workflow means every mandate passes through the same six steps, whatever its size. You can set this up today with a single pilot client.
- Create the client company. In Multiple Companies, add the client as its own company with legal form, fiscal year and basic details, so its books stay separate from every other mandate.
- Open the mandate. In Fiduciary Management, record the scope of services, such as bookkeeping, payroll or annual statements, and assign a responsible person and a deputy.
- Set staff permissions. In User Access, give each team member access only to the mandates they work on.
- Invite the client. Through the Client Portal, give the client access to upload documents and view their own reports. Agree on the one route for receipts.
- Capture and book. Receipts arrive through Receipt Capture with AI scan, your team checks the extracted data, and Accounting and Payroll & Salary hold the booked results.
- Prepare the annual statements. In Annual Statements, build the year-end work from the bookkeeping already in the system, and file finished documents in the Document Vault.
Rules on bookkeeping, retention and filing depend on the client’s legal form and canton, so confirm the details that apply to each mandate.
What is the difference between fiduciary software and standard accounting software?
Standard accounting software manages the books of one company, while fiduciary software manages the work of a firm across many companies. The difference shows in staff roles, client access and status tracking.
A generic accounting tool usually assumes the user owns the business. It rarely answers questions such as which client has not delivered documents, which colleague may open which books, or how far each mandate is from its annual statements. Firms then bridge the gap with spreadsheets and folders, which is where the chasing starts again.
| Criterion | Spreadsheets and folders | Generic accounting tool | Fiduciary module in IDup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview of all mandates | Manual list, often outdated | One company at a time | Mandates managed in Fiduciary Management |
| Receipt collection | Email, WhatsApp, paper | Upload by the account owner | Client uploads, Receipt Capture with AI scan reads them |
| Staff access per client | Folder rights, hard to maintain | Often all or nothing | Permissions set in User Access |
| Client access to reports | Sent by email | Limited or extra licence | Client Portal with own documents only |
| Annual statements | Rebuilt from exports | Depends on the tool | Annual Statements built on existing bookkeeping |
How should a small fiduciary firm organise staff and client access?
Organise access by mandate and by role: each person sees only the clients they work on, and each client sees only their own material. This protects confidentiality and keeps screens uncluttered.
For staff, assign a responsible person and a deputy per mandate, then set permissions in User Access. A bookkeeper might work on booking and payroll, while a partner reviews annual statements. When someone leaves or covers for a colleague, you change a permission instead of moving folders.
For clients, the Client Portal answers the question of how to give access without sharing everything. The client opens their own documents and reports, and nothing about other mandates is visible. Professional secrecy and data protection duties apply to your firm, so check them with your own compliance contacts when you set roles.
Example: a three-person firm with 60 mandates
Take a small fiduciary firm in Zurich with three staff and 60 mandates, mostly small GmbHs and sole proprietors. The numbers here are an illustration, not research. Before the change, receipts arrive in four ways, and each January the team spends several days building a list of who has delivered what.
The firm moves each client into its own company under Multiple Companies and opens each mandate in Fiduciary Management. Clients photograph receipts in the Mobile App for iOS or Android, and the AI scan prefills the entries. Staff see only their assigned mandates through User Access. At year end, the team opens Annual Statements for each client and sees which ones already rest on complete bookkeeping and which still need documents.
Key takeaways
- Fiduciary software organizes work around the mandate, not around a single company’s books.
- One fixed route for client documents removes most email and WhatsApp chasing.
- Staff permissions should follow assigned mandates, so people see only what they need.
- A client portal gives clients their own documents and reports without exposing anything else.
- Annual statements go faster when bookkeeping, payroll and documents already live in one system.
Frequently asked questions
How do fiduciary firms keep track of many client mandates at once?
Firms track mandates best by keeping one record per client that holds documents, assigned staff, tasks and deadlines. A shared status view replaces spreadsheets and email questions. In IDup, Fiduciary Management and Multiple Companies provide this structure, so each client stays separate while the team works from one login.
What should fiduciary software include to manage accounting, payroll and annual statements?
It should include separate client companies, accounting, payroll, annual statement preparation, document storage, client access and staff permissions. If any of these sits outside the system, work returns to email and spreadsheets. IDup covers them through Accounting, Payroll & Salary, Annual Statements, Document Vault, Client Portal and User Access.
How can a trustee collect client receipts without chasing them by email?
Agree on one submission route at onboarding and let the system read the documents. Clients photograph or upload receipts, and Receipt Capture with AI scan extracts the main data for your team to review. This replaces scattered emails, WhatsApp photos and paper with a single, visible intake.
What is the difference between fiduciary software and standard accounting software?
Standard accounting software manages the books of one business. Fiduciary software manages many client businesses at once, with staff roles, client access and a status overview across mandates. That firm-level view is what spreadsheets usually try to provide and what generic tools tend to lack.
How do you give clients access to their documents and reports without sharing everything?
Use a client portal where each client can open only their own company’s documents and reports. Access is tied to the client’s company, not to your whole archive. In IDup, the Client Portal serves this purpose, with Document Vault holding the files behind it.
How should a small fiduciary firm organise staff access across different client mandates?
Assign each mandate a responsible person and a deputy, then grant permissions only for the mandates and tasks each person handles. Review the list when staff change roles or leave. In IDup, User Access manages these permissions, so you adjust a setting instead of reorganizing folders.
If you want to try this with one pilot client, IDup offers a 30-day free trial on paid plans, and you can cancel anytime. Which of your current mandates causes the most chasing each year, and what would change if its documents arrived in one place?
