EdgeAdvisory™: Connected Microsoft Solutions for Accountancy & Advisory Firms

EdgeAdvisory™ is a set of interconnected Microsoft solutions that Advantage designs and adapts for each accountancy and advisory firm. It brings together Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, Microsoft 365 and Copilot, Power BI, and Power Platform, connected so they work as one system.

Rather than starting from a blank page, we begin with proven workflows for how accountancy firms operate. These cover client relationship management, billing and time recording, practice finance, document management, compliance tracking and client reporting. We then shape each part around your firm's processes, services and scale.

No. EdgeAdvisory™ is not a packaged product with fixed features. It is a set of connected Microsoft solutions that we adapt to each firm. Two firms using EdgeAdvisory™ won't have the same system, because their services, billing models, workflows and client reporting are different.

What they share is a starting point based on accountancy best practice and Advantage's sector experience. This keeps projects faster and more cost-effective than building from scratch, without compromising on fit.

Accounting software is designed for businesses that use accountancy services. It manages a company's own finances. Off-the-shelf practice management software gives you a fixed set of features and expects your firm to work its way.

EdgeAdvisory™ is designed for the accountancy firm itself and adapted to how you already work. It covers managing client relationships, tracking engagements, billing, running the practice's own finances and delivering reporting to clients.

It is also built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the wider Microsoft ecosystem, including Teams, Outlook, SharePoint and Copilot. That means it scales with your firm and benefits from Microsoft's continuing investment in AI and cloud technology.

EdgeAdvisory™ connects five Microsoft solutions, each adapted to your firm:

• Dynamics 365 Business Central: practice finance, billing, project management and operations in one cloud system.
• Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement: client relationship management, pipeline tracking, automated communications and referral management.
• Microsoft 365 and Copilot: team collaboration, AI-assisted drafting, document summarisation and meeting automation.
• Power BI: practice management dashboards and client-facing reporting.
• Power Platform & Azure: workflow automation, custom apps and integrations that connect everything together.

These are integrated and configured as one connected system, not installed as separate tools. Not every firm needs every solution from day one, and we help you decide where to start.

EdgeAdvisory™ gives your firm a single view of every client relationship through Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, connected to your finance system and Microsoft 365. Typical capabilities include:

• Centralised client and contact records with full interaction history
• Engagement and matter tracking across your team
• Automated follow-ups and client communication sequences
• AI-assisted drafting of proposals, emails and correspondence via Microsoft Copilot
• Cross-selling and referral tracking to find growth opportunities
• Client portal access for document sharing and self-service
• Outlook and Teams integration, so client interactions are captured automatically

Exactly how these work is designed around your client journey and services.

EdgeAdvisory™ connects the billing and time recording processes that are often split across spreadsheets and separate tools. Through Dynamics 365 Business Central, it provides integrated time recording, billing workflows, invoice management and WIP tracking. All of these are linked to client and engagement records.

Billing is set up around your fee models and approval processes, which cuts the manual chasing involved in getting invoices out. Power BI dashboards show billing performance, write-offs, realisation and debtors in real time, giving partners the visibility they need to manage the practice.

Yes, and this is one of its strongest benefits. Power BI and Power Platform let your firm deliver interactive financial dashboards, automated reporting packs and real-time insight directly to clients. That positions you as a proactive strategic partner rather than a reactive compliance provider. Reporting is designed around the services you offer and the clients you serve.

Microsoft Copilot also helps staff draft management commentary, summarise client documents and produce insight narratives quickly. Advisers can then spend more time on interpretation and relationships, and less on producing reports.

Yes. Because EdgeAdvisory™ is shaped around each firm, it works for growing independent practices through to mid-sized regional firms. Starting from proven accountancy workflows means smaller firms get enterprise-quality Microsoft technology at a cost and timescale that suit their size, without the expense of a fully bespoke project.

You can start with the solutions that matter most and add more as the practice grows, such as further automation, client reporting or more Microsoft 365 capability. We'll advise on the right starting point in our first conversations.

It depends on what your firm needs, the number of users, and the complexity of your existing systems and data. Because we start from proven accountancy workflows rather than designing everything from scratch, projects are typically quicker than a fully bespoke build.

We'll confirm a realistic timeline during Discovery, based on your situation. Firms that start with a focused scope, for example practice finance and CRM before client reporting, can usually go live sooner.

Yes. EdgeAdvisory™ is built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform, so it connects natively with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. For firms already using Microsoft 365, client emails, meetings and documents can be linked to client records automatically.

For third-party tools, such as tax software, Companies House feeds, HMRC APIs and other practice applications, the Power Platform provides a flexible integration layer. We review your existing systems during Discovery and design how everything will connect as part of your project.

Start with a conversation. We'll learn about your firm's current systems, challenges and growth goals, then show you what EdgeAdvisory™ could look like for your practice, with a clear view of scope, timeline and investment.

Get in touch via our contact page, call 020 3004 4600 or email hello@advantage.co.uk.