Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing platform supporting video calls, screen sharing, recording and transcription, breakout rooms, and webinars.

How accounting firms use it

Screen sharing is the core of it. Most client meetings involve walking someone through a document — a set of accounts, a tax return, a forecast — and doing that on a shared screen is considerably more effective than describing figures over the phone.

Firms also use it for internal meetings and occasionally for client-facing webinars on topics such as tax changes or year-end planning, which serve as a business development channel as well as a service to existing clients.

Key features

Video meetings support screen sharing, annotation, and remote control, with recording and automatic transcription available for meetings that need a record.

Waiting rooms, passcodes, and host-restricted sharing provide the security controls firms need for confidential discussions, though these require configuring at account level rather than relying on defaults.

Webinar functionality handles larger audiences with registration and Q&A, and integrations with calendar and scheduling tools generate meeting links automatically at booking.

Who it’s best for

Firms wanting video conferencing as a standalone service, particularly those whose clients are less technically confident and benefit from joining without an account or installation.

Firms already licensed for Microsoft 365 have Teams included and should weigh whether a separate subscription adds enough to justify the cost. Loom covers the asynchronous case where a recorded explanation would serve better than a live meeting.