Accounting Technology articles from September 2004

Accounting Technology archives from September 2004

Tipping Points and Anniversaries.(hosted applications)
September 1, 2004... Just over 20 years ago, IBM held a press conference to announce that it had killed a much-ridiculed product called PCJr. that was supposed to be the consumer equivalent of its hit, the original IBM PC. Only middle-aged trivia buffs need be...

CPAs and VARs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... You don't need to invest thousands of dollars in a study to find out what most in the accounting community know: CPAs produce more leads for accounting software resellers than any other single source. So what is the best way for accounting...

In memory of Richard McCausland.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
September 1, 2004... Richard McCausland, senior editor of Accounting Technology, died on July 10 while attending the Microsoft Worldwide Reseller Conference in Toronto. He joined the magazine in October 1998, developing a solid knowledge of the tax and...

Show Calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... September 29-October 19 Florida Accounting Expo Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. www1.ficpa.org/ficpa/SpecialProgramsEvents/ShowsExpos/HoursLocation October 21-23 Summit 2004 Timberline...

Can CPAs become better business advisors through the use of analytical software tools such as Accpac's CFO and CCH's ProfitDriver? Or will they keep a historical, not a forward-looking, focus?
September 1, 2004... A fancy power hammer will not make me a great carpenter. Accpac CFO is simply a tool that enables forward-thinking accountants to provide high-value analysis without reinventing the wheel and creating endless spreadsheets. While these tools may...

Practice Development News.
September 1, 2004... CENTERPRISE BECOMES UHY Centerprise Advisors has changed its name to UHY Advisors, as the company adopts the name to show its affiliation with Urbach Hacker Young International. Earlier this year, Centerprise had changed its focus with...

Accounting News.
September 1, 2004... MBS RESULTS IMPROVE Microsoft Business Solutions narrowed its loss for the fourth quarter ended June 30 as revenue rose 8.7 percent, with the company attributing growth to Navision sales in the United States. The company had an...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
September 1, 2004... VC FIRM BUYS TAXWISE A venture capital firm has acquired Universal Tax Systems, the company that markets the TaxWise line of tax preparation software, for $65 million. The Rome, Ga.-based software company was purchased by Primus...

Tax Software Acquisition Box Score.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Acquired Purchaser Price Year TaxWise/Universal Primus Ventures Partners $65 million 2004 ExacTax Creative Solutions NA 2004 TaxRelief ...

The CPA-VAR Connection: CPA firms can connect with VARs to provide technology services with their clients.(Certified Public Accountants)(Value Added Resellers)
September 1, 2004... The Fitzgerald Group was founded in 1994. Before that, Fitzgerald, who is not a CPA, ran reselling operations as part of a CPA firm for seven years. He has been working with accounting firms all that time. "We got a start by helping CPA firms...

A CPA Builds a CPA Program.
September 1, 2004... Many of the most active reselling firms that offer CPA programs are themselves CPAs who were once in public practice. So it's not surprising that when SAP launched its CPA program in May, it turned to a CPA reseller for the program's design....

MYOB Links Consultants and CPAs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... As a smaller player in a retail accounting marketing dominated by Intuit's QuickBooks and Best's Peachtree, MYOB needs to make all the noise it can with CPAs. The Rockaway, N.J.-based accounting software manufacturer has been providing...

Navigating the Research Stream: As content explodes, the need for integration increases.
September 1, 2004... Maybe it's time to stop talking about tax research or accounting research products and talk about research platforms. True, tax practitioners still turn to mainstays, such as RIA and CCH, in large numbers for tax research tools. But vendors are...

Tax Research Vendors.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CCH Riverwoods, Ill. (800) TELL CCH www.cch.com Kleinrock Rockville, Md. (800) 890-1503 www.kleinrock.com Lexis Nexis Dayton, Ohio (800) 227-4908 www.lexisnexis.com Practitioners Publishing Company ...

Microsoft Does Research.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Since Microsoft Office applications are the standard on the business desktop, the Research Task Pane, new to Office 2003, is likely to draw interest from tax and accounting professionals, especially as vendors like CCH start to utilize the...

Write-up Winners: These products go for the gold in the CPA's office.
September 1, 2004... After viewing the countless hours of triumph and trauma at the recent summer Olympics, I pondered how interesting life would be if we applied those same Olympian competitive standards to evaluate the fit and function of the multitude of...

CCH Outlines Write-up Features.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CCH is entering the write-up market with its ProSystem fx Write-up this month. The product, built on the MSDE and .Net Microsoft specifications, was not available in time for reviewing the actual software. However, CCH outlined some of the...

Marketing Masters: Heard Above the Crowd: Technology resellers and CPAs need to provide steady, consistent, quality marketing.
September 1, 2004... Technology resellers and accounting professionals often confuse marketing with sales. Sales gets someone to buy a product or service. Marketing develops the leads needed to get to the sale. Confusing the two-or forgetting to market...

Grow Your Business Using the Marketing Mix: A successful marketing formula doesn't have to be complex, says Susan Sheridan, Accpac's general manager.
September 1, 2004... "With a well-constructed marketing program, the total impact is truly greater than the sum of the parts," she notes. "The keys are simple: Choose the elements that reach affordably to your existing clients and prospects, then use them...

Tracking Your Campaigns.
September 1, 2004... CRM is helping Vitale, Caturano & Co. focus its marketing by tracking which lead sources are producing the best results for the Boston-based CPA firm. "Our strategy is not just marketing, but building a history with our clients, and CRM is...

New Products.
September 1, 2004... NAVIPLAN ONLINE NaviPlan Standard and NaviPlan Extended let advisors choose levels of analysis ranging from basic goal planning to in-depth estate planning and insurance analysis, with each level presenting a gradual increase in...

Cougar Ramps up Again.(Company Profile)
September 1, 2004... Cougar Maintain Software would like to grow its channel, but not to anything like the more than 2,000 accounting software resellers it had six years ago. Cougar is looking for a few good VARs. "In the past, partners called when clients were...

Advertisers' Index - Sept. 2004.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... For FREE product information, go to www.AccountingTechnology.com/freeproductinfo Ad Appears Advertiser on page ADP Small Business Service 29,31 Accountants World C3 Best...

Rudd & Company: Winning Against Spam: Rudd & Company has reduced the amount of unwanted mail by approximately 75 percent.(Company Profile)
September 1, 2004... Richard Western realized employees at Rudd & Company were outraged over the amount of email congesting their inboxes. And, his mission was to clean the mess in the inboxes. In fact, more than 40 percent of the email was spam, which was a drain...

Editor's Note: The Paperless Chase.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... In case you missed it, there is a wonderful article in the July 2003 issue of Accounting Technology by associate editor Carly Lombardo-Bohach that talks about the selling of imaging systems and the fact that "Trees sigh in relief as pros...

"60 Minutes" Speaks to SurePrep.
September 1, 2004... What if you could prepare a thousand more tax returns without adding even one more staff member? And what if you could prepare those returns for up to 50 percent less than what it costs you right now? SurePrep says that you can dramatically...

Virtual Online Filing Cabinets.
September 1, 2004... GoFileRoom from Immediatech Corporation maintains paper and electronic files in a secure, off-site location. Rather than searching for documents in physical files, accountants can access them instantly from virtual, on-line filing cabinets....

Integration and Efficiency.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2004... CCH's ProSystem fx Engagement lets the accounting firm move toward true paperless engagements and offers powerful workflow tools that allows it to store tax, assurance, and consulting engagement binders in an intuitive Windows Explorer-style...

Book More Appointments.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Customer Appointment Manager from Atlas Business Solutions, is a fast, user-friendly software for scheduling and managing appointments. It will show the user who's available and when, and let the user book appointments in seconds. No more...

You Cannot Live By Links Alone.(RIA)
September 1, 2004... Integration has always been the key to the paperless office. In fact, one could say that it is a basic need. It is one thing to have everything you need in an electronic format; it is another to have all those critical pieces in one,...

Working with Governments.
September 1, 2004... PayCycle is considered a leader in working with the Federal government to adapt new technologies that allow the small business to bypass paper filing. The company works with the IRS to develop an XML specification for all payroll tax filings...

Online HR Services.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... TriNet Group delivers paperless, real-time human resource services that protect, leverage, and maximize the value of a company's human capital. Its offerings include human asset administration, employer risk management, online employee benefits...

No More Metal File Cabinets.
September 1, 2004... EFile Cabinet (www.efilecabinet.com) is a paperless document storage solution that saves time, money, and hassle. The company says that it gives the CPA the power to find any client information it wants in seconds from its own computer. An...

Value Added Productivity Features.(e practice tools)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... WPPC's e-Practice Aidstm (powered by Microsoft(r) Word & Excel), is considered the fastest and most convenient way to use PPC's industry-leading practice aids PPC e-Practice Aidstm are Microsoft(r) Word and Excel versions of all of the...

Solving Nomadic Workgroup Inefficiencies.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Colligo Workgroup Editions is Colligo Networks' software that helps solve nomadic workgroup inefficiencies by allowing team members to connect any Windows-based laptops, Tablet PCs and handheld devices via ad-hoc (server-free) peer-to-peer...

CPA Paper Factory Problem Solved.(Company Profile)
September 1, 2004... Since 1968, AMI has earned a solid reputation by being there for its clients, by providing cutting-edge solutions, and by committing its resources to help its clients succeed. Through the years, the company has earned the trust of its...

The "Less Paper" Office.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... According to AccountantsWorld, the paperless office should be the ultimate goal of every accounting office, but a full implementation is still beyond the resources of all firms. For many accounting practices, a phased implementation is a more...

Extending Paperless to Payroll.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... PayMaxx believes that while a major part of the paperless office involves document imaging, file sharing, and the like, the benefits of a paperless office also extend to the payroll department. They say that paperless payroll is a growing trend...

Paperless Product for Over 10,000 Accounting Firms.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Creative Solutions' FileCabinet Solution is a digital document management system that enables the paperless office. It was released in 1999 and is the paperless product for more than 10,000 accounting firms. Charles Tzinberg, managing...

Total Document Solutions.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Docutrend Imaging Solutions, a sister company of NetWork, specializes in accounting and business management solutions, and partners with the likes of Microsoft, Accpac, Best, and Citrix. The company's WorkflowXtender for Accounts Payable is a...

New Document Imaging Capability.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... North 40 Systems (formerly Giardina & Associates) has added a new document imaging capability to Office Tools Pro 2004. The system allows accountants, CPAs, and financial service professionals to create new records and images from inside the...

Enterprise Capture.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Document imaging software creator DocuLex has released Enterprise Capture, the company's new production paper-to-electronic document program developed for high-volume production document conversion and management. Enterprise Capture is...

Growing Firms Extend the "Paperless" Office.
September 1, 2004... As smaller accounting firms grow and attempt to improve client service, they are beginning to take the "paperless" office to new heights through wireless data and remote connectivity. Even the smallest firms can utilize wireless technology to...

Scanning Solution.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Fujitsu ScanSnap scanning solution is a compact, upright, one-touch color scanner, allowing users to quickly convert paper documents into searchable Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files that are easily shared, organized, and...

CPA Wealth Provider: 2nd Annual Financial Planning Awards Call for Nominations.
September 1, 2004... Nominations are now open for CPA Wealth Provider's Second Annual Financial Planning Awards in the following three categories: CPA/Financial Planning Firms Broker/Dealers Financial Planning Software Vendors Winners are those...