Accounting Technology articles from May 2007

Accounting Technology archives from May 2007

Reselling: CPAs Check Out.
May 1, 2007... Plante+Moran spent a very brief time in the ranks of Accounting Technology's VAR 100-One year to be exact. The firm was a bit rare in entering the reselling business a couple of years ago, but was more in line with other accounting firms...

Risky, But Good Business.
May 1, 2007... Accounting firms can't hire quickly enough to staff risk management and assessment practices. And with so much information residing in computers, technology plays an important role in the modern audit and controls process. "Risky Business"...

What has been the most important function of the Internet as a business tool?
May 1, 2007... Email is the most important business function provided by the Internet. While we take email for granted, recall that a mere 10 years ago, it was a rarity for folks to have email addresses on their business cards. The acceptance of PDF, .doc and...

Practice Development News.
May 1, 2007... MCGLADREY NAMES DIRECTOR RSM McGladrey has named Matt Schriner as a managing director in its technology risk management services group. Schriner, who has more than 17 years in assessing and managing risks at financial institutions, was...

Accounting News.
May 1, 2007... NADELLA SHIFTED Satya Nadella, who was slated to take over Microsoft's Dynamics operations this summer, was unexpectedly plucked from the software unit to head Microsoft's search engine and ad group. Nadella was supposed to replace...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
May 1, 2007... INTUIT/ECH DROP DEAL Faced with problems stemming from Internet gambling legislation, Intuit and Electronic Clearing House have ended their merger by mutual agreement. The two companies agreed to merge in December after months of...

Show Calendar.
May 1, 2007... MAY 9-10 Cabinet NG 2007 Collaborate User Conference. Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Nashville, Tenn. www.cabinetng.com MAY 14-17 Insights 2007 conference. Sage Software, Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center,...

Accounting Technology June's Coming Attractions.
May 1, 2007... Document Management Accountants and tax practitioners are talking about and looking at document management systems. Are they actually buying? Small Business Accounting Software Microsoft made small business software more...

Risky Business: Regulation, coupled with the critical role played by technology, is driving the growth of risk management practices.
May 1, 2007... Several years ago when Tony Munns decided against pursuing a career that would keep him on the corporate road-literally and figuratively-he joined Brown Smith Wallace, becoming a one-person operation. Today, there are 26 staff members in...

Auditing Online Systems.(analytical review for accounting software)
May 1, 2007... As Internet-based software use becomes more common, so does the need to make sure the systems work as they are supposed to work. That can mean that the suppliers get visits from their clients, something that happens a lot at Salesforce.com,...

Audit Products: Not Just for the Big Guys.
May 1, 2007... For many years, the services of ACL have been in demand primarily at large companies with complex systems. But that is changing, says Doug Burton, a sales executive with the Vancouver, B.C.-based company. "Over time, the smaller...

RSM McGladrey Risk Biz Mushrooms.(risk management business services)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... If body count is a sign of success, then the risk management business at RSM McGladrey has been wildly successful. The unit of the Bloomington, Minn.-based firm now employs 350 staff members and is growing. Four years ago, there were...

The Push to the Web: Both pros and consumers are finding tax preparation happiness online.
May 1, 2007... Glenn Adams has been offering online tax preparation via CCH's CompleteTax, a private-label offering, for the past six years and not only sees it as a way of the future for him, but as an enhancement to the professional market. "I don't...

The Web Makes Remote Close.
May 1, 2007... Web-based tax preparation applications aren't just changing the landscape of the consumer market, but are also impacting paid preparers as they discover the perks of remote capabilities. "I see Global fx as the way of the future for...

The IRS Works to Pump Up e-Filing Numbers through Free File.
May 1, 2007... The Web has a lot going for it with consumers having embraced the Internet to shop online, pay bills and even conduct banking transactions. Yet, when it comes to taxes, there remains a group of consumers who have yet to plug in. According...

The T&B Show: Show Us the Hours!: A minute here, a minute there, is a lot of lost revenue.
May 1, 2007... No matter the size professional firm, time and billing is an application crucial to achieving profitability. To earn money, you must collect fees, to collect fees you must bill, to bill you must capture time. Simply stated, lost hours...

Getting to Know Your Clients: CRM can help firms nurture relationships.
May 1, 2007... What happens when a client calls a firm and the partner isn't there to answer? At Kruggel, Lawton & Co., another employee handles the call and does so with much of the same knowledge that the partner can. That staffer can use Kruggel,...

Low-cost CRM: Myth or Reality?(customer relationship management software)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... One of the biggest barriers to CRM implementation has been the price. But it's becoming more affordable, especially as many traditional on-premise vendors started offering Web-based services for significantly lower startup costs and providing...

Anatomy of a CRM System.
May 1, 2007... CRM systems can offer accounting firms a better way of organizing and consolidating all their client information in a central repository easily accessible by all staff members. The most effective systems can replace all other methods of...

New Products.
May 1, 2007... TRANSCEPTA DISTRIBUTOR EDITION Transcepta Distributor Edition sends invoices and processes electronic payments over the Web, and also enables companies to receive payments by ACH or credit card. Outbound invoices and incoming payments can...

Serenic Rides the Dynamics Wagon.
May 1, 2007... Nonprofit organizations from Indian tribes to church ministries struggle with accounting issues that others outside the industry might never understand. They must manage grants, track donors and determine whether the amount allocated for...

Advertisers' Index 5/07.
May 1, 2007... Ad Appears Advertiser on page Acct1st Solutions 7 ADP Small Business Services 5 BQE Software 17 CCH ATX 21 CCH Tax Group ...

AccountMate's Dierke Thinks Small.
May 1, 2007... Three years ago, three managers acquired the now 23-year-old AccountMate operation from Sage Software, which inherited the business by purchasing Softline, which in turn had acquired the independent AccountMate late in 2000. The team, CEO...

Editor's Note: It's The Little Things That Count.
May 1, 2007... "To devise an information processing system capable of getting along on its own, it must handle its own problems of programming, bookkeeping, communication, and coordination with its users. It must appear to its users as a single, integrated...

Make Sure Your 'Best of Breed' is Not a Dog: Software products must fit together to increase productivity and efficiency.
May 1, 2007... For accounting firms that provide their clients with both financial oversight and IT consulting, it is the successful integration of these two services which yield the biggest margins and customer satisfaction. The same can be said for the...

Partnering with Customers for Success.(ProSystem fx partnered with CCH Inc.)
May 1, 2007... Successfully serving the needs of CPAs requires an in-depth understanding of the challenges professionals face today and how demands are changing over time, from critical staffing shortages to ever-increasing regulatory requirements. For CCH,...

Technology Continues to Fuel the Profession.
May 1, 2007... The needs of today's tax professional increasingly demand an online research platform that is sophisticated, customizable and easily integrated into their own workflow and data. The 109th Congress made more than 1,700 amendments to the Internal...

Beyond Integrated Solutions.(integrated tax and accounting software)
May 1, 2007... Integrated solutions served a useful function in the pre-Internet age. While integrated solutions eliminate the need for duplication of some data entry, still most electronically generated data needs to be entered manually-the reason being that...

Small Business-To Serve and Protect.
May 1, 2007... As an accountant, you know that your small business clients have two types of assets. The tangible assets-such as cash or property-are easy to track and quantify. But oftentimes the intangible assets-such as customer relationships-are even...

Choose the Right Partner.
May 1, 2007... Less than 15 years ago, outsourcing was a relatively unknown concept in the business community. Today, outsourcing is a common practice that enables companies to concentrate on core competencies and revenue-enhancing activities. A recent survey...

Mastering the Growth Equation with CRM: As the company grew exponentially though, such informal knowledge sharing became insufficient and potentially damaging.
May 1, 2007... There are many important metrics that CPA firms try to measure and master in order to be successful. One is client satisfaction or loyalty. Equally important and related to client satisfaction is firm growth. This is especially true in today's...

Online Payroll = Efficiency + Profitability.
May 1, 2007... In spite of the increase in on-demand solutions over the last five years, accountants are still mostly using a variety of software-based applications to serve clients. Payroll is the perfect example. By using an online payroll solution,...

Within and Across the Work You Do: Intuit helps with tight integration between products.
May 1, 2007... Integration is at the heart of Intuit's quest to increase productivity-and even profitability-of its accountant users. For accountants seeking integration, only Intuit produces the leading software products for accounting, payroll and tax...

Business Management Software Packages.
May 1, 2007... Your clients. They're your greatest assets, says Microsoft. As their most trusted business advisor it is your responsibility to empower them with tools and technology that fit, and there's no limit to where they can take their businesses....

Integration: Reality or Marketing Myth?
May 1, 2007... Integrated software or integrated marketing message? In software terms, integration means allowing information to flow from one application to another. In 2007, you will be bombarded with the concept of "integration" by software vendors that...

Flexible Finance Systems: Greater visibility also means better governance.
May 1, 2007... Globalization has led to the opening of new markets, customers and leaner outsourcing opportunities, according to CODA Financials. Having finance systems unable to handle multiple languages, currencies, companies or different reporting regimes...

Debuting Recent Efforts.
May 1, 2007... Cougar Mountain Software is always integrating new tools to help CPAs fulfill their client's needs efficiently and effectively. Two of our products, the PDF-eXPLODE e-Doc Generator and our SinglePoint dedicated server application, are just two...

Solutions for a Speedy Close.(Cartesis's new financial analysis software, "Cartesis Finance")
May 1, 2007... "Fast close," a corporation's ability to complete its accounting cycles and close its books quickly, is a priority for today's finance and accounting executives. Compliance regulations including the International Financial Reporting Standards...

Fast and Affordable.
May 1, 2007... Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 is the latest version of FRx Software Corporation's budgeting and planning application offering accounts a fast and affordable way to gain control over their client's budgeting and planning. Microsoft Forecaster...

Is This the Year You Move to a Virtual Office?
May 1, 2007... Changes in technology and the profession are coming at a rapid pace. This year, firms will face many financial and workflow issues as they take on the challenge of migrating to Vista and Microsoft Office 2007, as well as confront continued...

Going Portable.
May 1, 2007... Robust, flexible, easy to use. These three words should be in the forefront of every accounting professional's mind when researching software products. The ideal software takes a universal design approach to allow the transfer of data from one...

To Better Serve Your Clients.
May 1, 2007... To provide the best service to their clients, accounting professionals need smart, integrated solutions, says Paychex. Thousands of accounting professionals nationwide count on Paychex to provide these solutions as a cost-effective extension of...