Accounting Technology articles from March 2002

Accounting Technology archives from March 2002

The state of CRM. (Editor's Note).
March 1, 2002... Few topics got more hype late in 2000 and early in 2001 than Customer Relationship Management. You remember CRM? It was to be the salvation of accounting software resellers looking for the next force to drive sales after Y2K passed. It was the...

Street talk: Reader views.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2002... What are your firm's or your clients' greatest technology needs for the coming year? My perspective is that the majority of businesses are trying to figure out how to better utilize their existing technology investment by doing a better...

Centerprise exec joins ideal. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Christopher Milan, national vice president of sales for Centerprise Information Solutions, has joined Ideal Consulting of Tampa, Fla., as vice president, sales and marketing. Milan, will report to Ideal's president and CEO Lance Rabb....

CG buys telesis. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Clifton Gunderson has acquired Telesis Consulting, a value-added reseller of Best and Open Systems accounting software based in Englewood, Colo. Telesis' staff of seven technology consultants will join the staff of Clifton Gunderson, a...

VARs set up Covasco. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Southern California VARs SRS Consulting and Ventana have set up a corporation to allow resellers across the state to join in purchasing Accpac and Softline products. Covasco provides joint marketing services and shared resources, notes SRS...

Blackbaud picks council. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Blackbaud, the Charleston, S.C.-based vendor of not-for-profit accounting software, has named three firms as charter members of a reseller advisory board. The company has chosen Capital Business Solutions, Clifton Gunderson, and Thomas...

Mcgladrey hires director. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... RSM McGladrey has hired Kevin Turner, a former GoldMine reseller and CRM consultant, as director of the customer relationship management practice with the firm's Systems Consulting Group. Turner is employed at RSM's Chicago office....

AccTrak free to CPAS. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... AccTrak21, an Australian Software company, is promoting its accounting software line in the United States by offering 50,000 copies of its multi-user system for free. The company claims analytical tools in its OLAP-based software enable...

Plus & Minus seeks resellers. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Plus & Minus Accounting is trying to build a channel to handle its real-time application software line. The Houston-based company has six resellers currently and would like to expand that to 30 to 50 active VARs, says president Nathan Ross....

Max Q makes buys. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Max Q Technologies, headed by former Solomon executive Michael Linn, has acquired CEP Systems, an independent software developer, and Beacon Productivity Group, a Solomon reseller. Linn, CEO and chairman, says his group got funding from...

HR vars unite. (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Ten resellers of Best Software's Abra Suite have formed the HRMS Group, a consortium designed to provide customers with service and support for Abra HR/payroll applications. The charter members are ACG, Dayton, Ohio; Cozart Consulting...

How has the recession affected small business? (Practice Development News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... HOW HAS THE RECESSION AFFECTED SMALL BUSINESS? Negatively 4,070 59% Positively 2,794 41% While a majority of respondents to a Netscape Netbusiness poll said early in January that their business has been negatively affected by...

Nelson takes on GP channel. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Veteran executive Don Nelson has been named as vice president of U.S. channels, as Great Plains recreated a position that Nelson has held before. Nelson must figure out how the Great Plains and Solomon lines fit together with each other...

ASD releases manufacturing. (Accounting News).(Advanced Software Development)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Advanced Software Development of Houma, La., has gone into the manufacturing software market with the release of its UA Production and Manufacturing System. The application tracks and controls detailed costs and quality control measures...

Traverse goes to SQL server. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Open Systems has replaced the Jet database engine previously used in its Windows-based Traverse line with the Microsoft Database Engine as the software package moves from Access to a SQL Server base. The change has been made by the...

Best unit gets CFO. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Best Software's mid-market division (formerly known as Sage Software) has named Timothy Leyden as vice president and chief financial officer. Leyden replaces James Eckstaedt, who was promoted a year ago to the new position of senior vice...

Epicor execs take pay cut. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Epicor executives of vice presidential rank and higher have voluntarily agreed to take a 5 percent pay cut as the company moves to hold down expenses. About 15 to 20 executives participated in the cut, the company's investor relations...

Intuit offers construction advice. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Intuit has launched two advisory programs to assist accountants and construction firms, which use its recently acquired Master Builder software. The programs include the Master Builder Live Advice Center, an Internet-based program to...

GP cuts SBM pricing. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Microsoft Great Plains has trimmed the price of its Small Business Manager by 33 percent, in what the company called introductory pricing. The single-user price was trimmed from $1,500 to $995, while the multi-user version dropped from...

Softline revamps. (Accounting News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Softline, which owns AccountMate and BusinessVision, has revised its system for recruiting accounting software resellers for both lines. The company has established a Business Partner Recruitment Division. The division augments the...

Aspen and unger go online. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Aspen Publishers and Unger Software are developing an online library for financial planning professionals called Financial Planning Online. The site will combine Aspen's reference information with analytical and presentation tools from New...

1ST Global adds retirement planning. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... 1st Global, the Dallas-based financial planning company, is offering the Internet-based retirement planning system Compass Gold, for its advisors and their clients. Compass Gold is an upgrade of the earlier Compass program. It will provide...

CSI uses XBRL. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Creative Solutions has deployed XBRL technology in the 2001 year-end releases of its Write-up Solution and Trial Balance Solution software. The Dexter, Mich.-based company says that by tagging financial documents generated via the two...

RIA imports Comtax. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... RIA has agreed to distribute Comtax, international tax planning software from Contax AB, a company based in Sweden. The parties said there are a number of Comtax users in the United States already and the alliance will expand distribution....

ITAccounts outsources tax. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ITAccounts, a New York City-based outsource provider, is offering firms a chance to outsource tax operations through its Tax Cosourcing Solutions. In Tax Cosourcing, firms scan clients' tax documents and work papers which are accessed...

Financeware gets funds. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Financeware, a Richmond, Va.-based company that provides financial planning applications, has received $9 million in second-round financing, including an investment from Thomson Financial Ventures. The investment also is linked to a...

CCH launches Pension news. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... CCH has launched Pension Tracker, a news service that is available on CCH'S Internet Research Net Work. Subscribers can receive updated daily news via email or via the Web on their My CCH pages. A subscriber's tracker can be set up to...

Variable products on Morningstar. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Morningstar has begun providing information about 20,000 variable annuity/life subaccounts to its advisors via the Morningstar Advisor Workstation. The company is also adding a multi-goal planner that will help advisors create asset...

Blackbaud releases financial edge. (Tax & Financial News).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Blackbaud, the Charleston, S.C.-based manufacturer of not-for-profit accounting software, has released Financial Edge, an accounting reporting system. The new line provides unlimited filters and formats for customized financial statements...

Virtual growth sells out. (e-Business News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Virtual Growth, which offered outsourced online bookkeeping services, sold its assets to Administaff, a professional employer organization, shortly after filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Virtual Growth raised $21.1...

CCH buys Execusite. (e-Business News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... CCH has acquired Execusite, a Web-site creation and hosting company with whom CCH had an alliance for more than a year. Execusite will become part of CCH Tax Compliance, based in Torrance, Calif. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed....

Intuit adds QB conversion. (e-Business News).(to QuickBooks for the Web)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Intuit has added the ability for users of QuickBooks for the Web to convert data from the desktop version of QuickBooks, a feature missing in the Web-based product since its launch just over one year ago. Users of the Web-based product will...

Block Invests in HR Company. (e-Business News).(MyBenefitSource)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... H&R Block has acquired a roughly 44 percent interest in MyBenefitSource, an Internet-based company that offers payroll, benefit, enrollment, and administrative services. MyBenefitSource will work with RSM McGladrey, Block's tax,...

CaseWare Forms Company. (e-Business News).(FocusROI)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... CaseWare, which makes audit and write-up software, has formed a company called FocusROI to develop templates and training for the company's software packages. The president of FocusROI, Stuart Hartley, is a former partner in BDO Dunwoody....

Fidesic recruits vars. (e-Business News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Fidesic, a Seattle-based company that sells electronic invoicing and payment applications, has begun enlisting mid-market, accounting software resellers. Fidesic launched its reseller program by signing four companies: Cole Systems,...

MYOB offers online billing. (e-Business News).(through partnership with ACH Direct)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... MYOB, a Rockaway, NJ.-based accounting software vendor, is providing Web-based billing and payment services to small businesses through a partnership with ACH Direct. Available at www.myob.com/US, the service lets businesses automatically...

RHI consulting lists hot jobs. (e-Business News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... An RHI Consulting survey of 1,400 CIOs found that networking was the fastest growing job specialty in their departments, cited by 18 percent of respondents. Internet/Intranet Development 14% Data/Database Management 12%...

Technology advisor outlook: Top advisors give their views on technology trends for the year. (Practice Development).
March 1, 2002... Maybe if we ask what's hot this year in technology, it's not quite the right question, although practitioners, indeed business people of every stripe, want to know which way the technology road will zig and zag in the near future. The...

Online financial planning: The best of everything? Planning toots are trying to be all-in-one solution providers. How are they doing? (Practice Development).
March 1, 2002... Remember the old State Farm jingle that urged: "Save ten dollars, twenty dollars, thirty or more on car insurance, for careful drivers"? Well, these days State Farm is boasting, "We do more than just insurance," and prudent CPAs are taking...

Payroll thrives on the internet: Dot-coms may have burst, online payroll processing is alive and well. (Software Review).
March 1, 2002... One of the most surprising aspects of the dot-com bubble burst is the survival of Web-based payroll processing. Ever increasing in popularity, there are an abundance of Internet-based service providers that market a range of payroll solutions...

When disaster strikes: Disaster recovery planning has changed dramaticlly over the last year, and CPAs can help their clients prepare for the unexpected. (Practice Development).(mainly as result of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks)
March 1, 2002... What would you do if all your computers, data, and office equipment were suddenly missing? After September 11, many businesses have realized that they need disaster recovery plans. They want to know what to do and how to react in case of...

HR Software: Still hard at work; Downsizing spotlights the value of Web-enabled, self-service HR applications. (Accounting).
March 1, 2002... The economy may still be cooling down, but automated human resource applications are hot. Or so that appears to be the case, judging by all the merger and partnering activity that has rocked the accounting industry over the last couple of...

Personal financial center. (New Products).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... PPC's Personal Financial Center offers professional engagement guidance, and software tools combined with online financial planning software applications. The service operates via a link from the advisor's Web site to a hosted Web site...

FASgov suite. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... The FASgov Suite assists governments, public schools, and nonprofit organizations in complying with asset reporting requirements of the Government Accounting Standards Board. FASgov, built on Best's FAS Asset Accounting and FAS Asset...

Federal tax handbook. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... RIA's 2002 Federal Tax Handbook, available in a print version and in electronic format, reflects the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The book features observations from RIA analysts that highlight the impact of...

BNA Fixed assets. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... With version 2001.2 of ND.desktop and ND.desktopPro, users can add multiple assets by using a wizard, a single window interface, or CSV file. In addition, professionals have the ability to review asset data by configuring, sorting, and...

Records management. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... The Records Management subsystem of Pro Vantage's time and billing/practice management software tracks the status of client files and records from check-in to final disposition. The software offers multiple search methods so users can...

AICPA practice aid. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... The AICPA's Practice Aid, Assets Acquired in a Business Combination to Be Used in Research and Development Activities: A Focus on Software, Electronic Devices, and Pharmaceutical Industries identifies best practices related to defining and...

Time matters. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... Time Matters integrates with QuickBooks Pro 2002 and QuickBooks Premier 2002 to allow single-entry-point billing and expenses. Time Matters unifies calendar and task management, client relations management, billing/expense control, document...

Working papers 2001. (New Products).
March 1, 2002... Users of Working Papers 2001 can check out documents from the client file, work on those out documents, and then return them. It also includes HTML with full support of the new XBRL standards, interim-reporting periods, and enhanced multi...

Pocket PC timeslips. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Time to Time Pro for Timeslips makes widely used time and billing application available for Pocket PC users. This version of Timeslips offers a simple method for time-and-expense tracking via a Pocket PC. Time-tracking professionals will...

Act for QuickBooks. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Act Link for QuickBooks enables information to be exchanged between Act and QuickBooks Pro 2002 and Premier. Users can view information for any selected record from within the QuickBooks view. Professionals can see invoices and sales...

Debt Collection Solution. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... The Debt Collection Solution for Navision Attain combines the three elements: notification, contact management, and management/reporting that users require to track, manage, and reduce AR balances. Users can define a default trigger point...

ePaceEngagement 2.0. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... ePaceEngagement uses the concept of a central file room to hold binders containing documents in Microsoft Word and Excel formats. With version 2.0, the Administrator module enhances security and eases administration of the central file...

Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring.(M&A book. (New Products).)
March 1, 2002... Combining a historical focus with a review of the current laws that govern the game, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Restructuring explains the tactics and mechanics of mergers and acquisitions and demonstrates how to manage the...

QuickBooks Premier. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Accountants can access and modify their clients' QuickBooks 2002 files from anywhere they have Internet access via the remote access provided through QuickBooks Premier 2000: Accountant Edition. Tools include optional password-protected...

BizBench 2002. (New Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... BizBench compares ratios from a subject company to a database of similar-sized companies in the same industry, and strengths and weaknesses are interpreted and presented in simple terms. New to this version is an expanded summary report...

Systems union: Revamping to win. (Channels).
March 1, 2002... Systems Union is looking to make it big in the Americas as the company ramps up a more than decade-long effort to develop its United States channel. With more than 200 channel partners in 76 countries, Systems Union has revamped its...

Lisa Kianoff: Building competencies. (Accounting Technologist).
March 1, 2002... After sixteen years in business, Lisa Kianoff knows the ups and downs of the accounting industry. And, in the last six months, Kianoff chose to review her company's infrastructure and address the current market. "People tend to get lazy...