Collaborate on the Web: Internet tools let teams write, edit and calculate together online.

Here's the problem: Your three-partner CPA firm based in Boston is on a tight deadline to prepare an audit report for a client. One partner is at the client's Philadelphia headquarters; another is traveling in Houston; and you're in Boston. The three of you must collaborate on the report; however, you're not enthusiastic about editing, reviewing and trading comments on this complex subject via e-mail. But since your firm is hardly high-tech, you don't see any options.

Actually, there are. Thanks to several new Web-based office suites, the three of you have access to the technical tools you need to collaborate on the same document or spreadsheet, at the same time and from different locations. As if that's …