Where client files actually end up
Ask where a specific client's files live at most firms, and the honest answer involves more than one location: a SharePoint folder that's mostly current, a local copy someone kept as backup, an attachment still sitting in an email thread because it was easier than filing it properly at the time. Every one of those copies is a version that can drift from the others.
Why fragmentation is a bigger risk than it looks
The immediate cost is time lost hunting for the current version. The bigger cost shows up later: access control that only covers the files someone remembered to move into the governed structure, and a local copy that becomes the only copy once the person who kept it leaves the firm.
A single source of truth isn't a filing discipline you hope people maintain. It's a structural guarantee that there's only ever one place a file could be.
What single source of truth actually means in practice
Every document is filed automatically into a structured SharePoint hierarchy, organized by client and engagement, the moment it arrives, exactly as described in document intake automation. There's no manual filing step where a local copy or an email attachment can become the version of record instead.
Why this matters beyond convenience
When SharePoint is genuinely the only place client files live, permissions, retention, and audit trails all apply consistently, because there's nothing living outside the structure they're supposed to govern. That's not a nice-to-have for a firm handling client financial data, it's the baseline the rest of the stack assumes is already in place.
Related: Connecting QuickBooks Online and Xero to your Microsoft stack →