Practice Management Implementation: A Phased Plan That Works

This article is part of a 2-part series. View all of the articles in this series here: Practice Management Implementation

If you’ve ever lived through a rushed practice management rollout, you already know what doesn’t work. In the first article, we explored why those implementations fail. Not because the software is bad, but because decisions are rushed, sequencing is skipped, and success is never clearly defined.

In this article, we’re exploring a phased plan, which is the antidote to failed practice management implementations

The phased plan implementation

Phase 0: readiness and source of truth decision (week 0)

Before you move a single client record, slow down and take inventory. What systems are currently in play across your practice? Your Practice Management platform, GL, payroll, e-sign tools, CRM, billing, proposals, all of them matter.

Next, pick your single source of truth. Decide where the client directory will be housed, and define which fields will sync and where they will sync to. From there, you’ll want to create a few foundational tools as discussed in “Scale Without the Scramble: Practice Management Implementation Guide”.

A Governance Model (your RACI cheat sheet)
A Decision Log to track choices
An Edge-Case Catalog to avoid surprises
Backup Sheets as backups
Confirm the pilot roster is accurate and complete
Check for duplicates
Verify client owners

Purchase all staff licenses upfront to set up roles, permissions, and assignments before training. This reduces redundant training, streamlines onboarding, and ensures everyone is ready at the same time.

This is the scaffolding that supports everything that follows.

Phase 1: clean up the client info (week 1)

Start by scrubbing your client roster and applying consistent naming conventions. Then migrate a pilot cohort of clients, around 10 to 15 percent, ideally a mix that reflects the range of complexity in your practice.

Before moving on:

Exit only when it’s 100 percent clean.

Phase 2: enrich with context (week 2)

Start layering in compliance calendars, task frequencies, and role assignments. This is where you start to see the practice take shape inside the platform.

While you’re at it, build out five to eight core SOP templates. Think Month-End Close, Payroll, Accounts Payable, Sales Tax, Year-End, or Client Task Organizer templates. These templates will drive consistency.

Exit this phase when you’ve mapped 90 percent of deadlines for your pilot and your SOP templates have passed a basic Quality Assurance check.

Phase 3: manage real work (week 3)

Now it’s time to go live on a small scale. Assign the SOP templates to your pilot clients. Enable light automations like due-date rules or internal handoffs. Keep it lean, not fancy.

Run through two real cycles with this setup. Use an Implementation Journal to log issues as they come up. This becomes your goldmine of insights for the next rollout.

Don’t move on until 80 percent of the work in your pilot hits its due dates and less than 10 percent of tasks are throwing off random errors with no clear pattern.

Phase 4: add billing and insights (week 4)

Configure your fee models, whether that’s fixed fee, value-based pricing, or time and materials. Set up internal approvals and map your Work In Progress.

Run a test invoice cycle and reconcile it against your backups. The goal is zero variance. Once the invoice matches your expectations and gets a sign-off from the owner, you’re ready to move forward.

Phase 5: scale with confidence (week 5 and beyond)

You’ve proven the system works in real life. Now, expand to additional client cohorts in batches. Refine your SOP templates based on what you’ve learned and slowly introduce more automation where it makes sense.

Start with setup completeness. What percentage of your clients have full, standardized profiles? How many of your engagements are templated and ready to run without extra setup?

Then shift to delivery. Are tasks being completed on time? What’s the average cycle time for each of your core SOPs?

Next, check for quality. Track your first-pass accuracy and how often tasks require rework. The fewer do-overs, the stronger your processes.

Don’t skip the financial lens either. How many days does it take to invoice once the work is done? Are you hitting your realization targets, or writing down more than you expected?

Finally, look at engagement. Are team members logging in regularly? Are tasks being created and closed at a healthy ratio? Is automation firing as expected, or are manual overrides still running the show?

As part of your implementation plan, schedule check-ins not just internally but externally. Consider watching sessions from a community event such as WorkflowCon. There you’ll see real firms presenting their live workflows, hear how they handled edge cases, and pick up strategies you can apply to your own firm. There you’ll see real firms presenting their live workflows, hear how they handled edge cases, and pick up strategies you can apply to your own firm.

Your first 5 moves (today)

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. Just make the next five moves with intention:

Name your Source of Truth: Decide where your client data will live and stick to it.
Appoint a Product Owner and Data Steward: You need clear roles to avoid chaos later.
Draft your Phase 1 exit criteria: Know exactly what “done” looks like before you begin.
List your top 10 edge cases: If you know where things tend to break, you can plan smarter.
Create your backup spreadsheet set and schedule your first pilot cohort for migration.

That’s it. Five small decisions that guide your practice management implementation and have your team going from “we should really start this” to “we’re already doing it.”

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