How Lincoln Accounting Reclaimed 30+ Hours a Month by Switching to Digits

Jason Kassab and his business partner, Scott Wiegand, have spent more than 20 years working together in accounting and tax. After selling the last of the income tax franchises they operated, they launched Lincoln Accounting, a lean, hands-on firm serving more than 30 accounting clients.

As the firm grew, the software underneath it was creating more work than it eliminated.

Before Digits, every Lincoln Accounting client was on QuickBooks Online. Today, the team has migrated roughly half its clients off QuickBooks and is working toward moving the rest to Digits.

For the clients and workflows already on Digits, the impact is measurable:

• 30+ hours reclaimed per month

• Average monthly close: ~3 hours → ~1 hour per client

• Manual bookkeeping: 12-15 hours → ~2 hours per month

• ~90% of transactions auto-categorized

The Challenge: Automation in QuickBooks Required More Work

As QuickBooks introduced new AI-powered categorization, Jason found that transactions the team had previously categorized reliably began requiring more review. Transactions that had been categorized correctly month after month were suddenly receiving inaccurate suggestions, leaving the team correcting work that had previously been on autopilot.

Bank connections created another recurring bottleneck. When a connection broke, the team often needed the client to log in and reconnect it, leading to emails, texts, phone calls, and waiting.

Across the client base, the team was spending 12 to 15 hours each month on manual bookkeeping, while a typical month-end close took around three hours per client. For a two-person firm trying to grow, that time could be spent serving existing clients or bringing on new ones instead.

Why Lincoln Accounting Moved to Digits

Jason and Scott were familiar with Digits before the Digits Ledger launched, having previously used Digits' legacy reporting product alongside QuickBooks.

The launch of the Digits Ledger changed the equation. Now, the team could move the accounting work itself out of QuickBooks while giving clients a more interactive way to understand their financials.

Live reporting quickly became one of the features that convinced Jason.

"We just fell in love with Digits when we were able to use live reporting. Number one, we have to use this. But this is what I feel like is going to help our clients."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

Instead of receiving a static financial statement, clients can explore their reports, drill into the numbers, and use Ask Digits for additional context.

For Jason and Scott, moving to Digits wasn't only about replacing QuickBooks. It was an opportunity to improve both how their team managed the books and how clients experienced their financials.

The Migration: Days, Not Months

Switching accounting platforms can sound like a major implementation project. That wasn't the team's experience.

Lincoln Accounting was up and running on Digits within two days, and Jason estimates that setting up a brand new client with no accounting history took him as little as 10 minutes.

For clients moving from QuickBooks, the team was able to migrate the account structures and balances without rebuilding years of work.

"It's almost like you're just upgrading everything. It's not really like you're starting over — it's really just a total upgrade. We haven't had any issues where something didn't come over exactly the way it was from where it's coming from. It's all been an exact mirror image of what it should be."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

Within about a day of onboarding a client, Jason felt comfortable with everyday categorization and chart of accounts changes. Within a month, he felt fully confident running the month-end close in Digits.

A Seamless Experience for Clients

Jason and Scott also needed their clients to feel comfortable with the switch, including longtime business owners who weren't necessarily eager to learn another piece of software. So far, that concern hasn't materialized.

Clients are notified when the team publishes a report, can interact directly with their financials, and can upload documents and receipts to Digits.

Previously, the client experience was spread across QuickBooks, Canopy, and email. With Digits, more of that interaction happens alongside the client's accounting itself giving the team fewer disconnected workflows to manage and clients a simpler way to stay connected to their financials.

The Results: 30+ Hours Back Every Month

Lincoln Accounting started their move to Digits nine months ago. Today, approximately 90% of transactions across migrated clients are being auto-categorized.

Jason says the difference is noticeable:

"The suggested categorization from QuickBooks being wrong, to where with Digits it is correct right from the get-go, at a much, much higher percentage. I know Digits' goal is mid-to-high 90%, and I feel that's true. That's where it is."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

The efficiency gains extend across the workflow:

Monthly close per client: ~3 hours → ~1 hour
Manual bookkeeping: 12–15 hours/month → ~2 hours/month
Total time reclaimed: 30+ hours/month
Auto-categorization: ~90%

For a two-person firm, 30 hours is nearly an additional workweek of capacity every month.

Beyond Efficiency: More Time to Advise

That extra capacity changes what Jason can spend his time doing.

With live financials and Ask Digits, he can identify changes in a client's business that might otherwise be buried in a traditional financial statement from an unusual spike in expenses to a record quarter or meaningful increase in revenue.

Jason incorporates those insights into the strengths, areas for attention, and narrative summary he provides clients each month.

"They see the value in what we're doing for the work, not just creating a report. We're invested in their business."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

The result isn't just less time spent on bookkeeping. It's more time helping clients understand what their numbers mean.

Digits Is Now the Main Ledger

As the team continues moving its remaining clients off QuickBooks, the goal is to eliminate the need to manage accounting across multiple systems.

When it comes to which platform Jason wants the firm running on, his answer is simple:

"There's only one. It's only Digits."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

And his advice to another accounting firm considering the switch?

"They won't be missing anything. They'll only save time. Once you use the software and are comfortable with it, you'll realize you're saving a ton of time, and you're going to deliver a better product for your client. I would tell them to go for it. There really shouldn't be a hesitation."

— Jason Kassab, Partner, Lincoln Accounting

For Lincoln Accounting, the result is a simple equation: less time maintaining the books, more time helping clients understand them, and more room to grow without growing the workload at the same rate.

See what your firm could do with 30+ hours back each month.

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