Karbon is practice management software for accounting firms, with email triage, workflow templates, billing and payments and a client portal; Klientele is a general post-sales operating system with an accounting template that keeps client requests, engagement workflow, retainers, invoicing and a client portal in one workspace.
Pick Klientele if any of these describe your operational needs.
We built Klientele. We still tell you when Karbon is the right call.
Klientele cells name the plan a feature starts on. Karbon's cells link to the Karbon page each one was checked against (dates under Sources). Plans and prices change, so check before you decide.
| Feature | Klientele | Karbon |
|---|---|---|
| Task and workflow management | Yes — client requests and engagements (accounting template) | Yes — work templates, workflow statuses and task lists source |
| Email to work | Yes — forwarded email becomes a request, matched by sender domain (Team and Agency) | Yes — email triage source |
| Retainers | Yes — rollover cap and overage billing (Team and Agency) | Recurring billing; upfront payment collection on engagements source |
| Time tracking | Yes | Yes — time tracking and work budgets source |
| Capacity planning | Weekly capacity per person (Team and Agency) | Yes — capacity planning source |
| Invoicing | Yes — from logged time, retainers or fixed fees (Team and Agency) | Yes — flexible invoicing and recurring billing source |
| Online payments from clients | No — payments are recorded by the firm | Yes — payment processing and auto-payments source |
| Client portal | Yes — open requests, approvals, outstanding bills | Yes — Karbon for Clients: client requests, file uploads and comments source |
| Signature | Typed sign-off on invoices and retainer agreements | eSignatures and approvals source |
| Automatic reminders | Yes — deadline, overdue and payment reminders | Automatic client reminders (Business and Enterprise) source |
| Dashboards | Practice dashboard; executive dashboards on Team and Agency | Work dashboard and work insights (advanced on Business and Enterprise) source |
| Accounting ledger integrations (Xero, QuickBooks) | No — CSV export, public API and webhooks only | Yes — Xero and QuickBooks Online source |
| Mobile app | Installable web app (iOS/Android) | iOS and Android apps on all plans source |
| Pricing model | From ₹3,999/month (Solo, 1 seat, invoicing included). Retainers from ₹11,999/month (Team, 5 seats). Tax included. | Per user, per month; from USD 59 paid annually (Team) source |
| Free trial | 14 days, every feature, 1 seat | Demo on request (see karbonhq.com/pricing) source |
Move gradually: new work starts in Klientele, work already under way finishes where it started.
Export the contacts and open work you want to keep from Karbon.
Create a Klientele workspace and choose the accounting template. It sets up client requests, engagements, filing cycles, roles and urgency levels.
Add your active clients in the app. On the Team and Agency plans, import open requests from CSV (up to 100 rows per file, into one engagement).
New client requests go to Klientele. Work already under way finishes in Karbon. After one full billing cycle in Klientele, decide how to close out the rest.
Once your active work is in Klientele, export what you need to keep from Karbon and cancel.
Klientele is a post-sales operating system that keeps client requests, workflow, time, retainers, invoicing and a client portal in one system, with templates for eight industries. Karbon is built for a narrower or different job. If your bottleneck is the gap between doing the work, keeping the client informed and billing for it, Klientele is worth a trial; if you need Karbon's specialist depth, Karbon may fit better.
It depends on team size. Klientele charges a flat monthly price per workspace with a seat limit, not a per-user price: Solo ₹3,999 (1 seat, invoicing but no retainers), Team ₹11,999 (5 seats) and Agency ₹29,999 (20 seats), tax included. Compare that with Karbon's current price for your number of users, plus any separate tools you would still need.
Yes, gradually. On the Team and Agency plans you can import open requests and ideas from a CSV file (up to 100 rows per file, into one project); clients are added in the app. Most teams start new work in Klientele from day one and let work already under way finish in Karbon.
14-day free trial. Every feature unlocked.