CPA Technology Blog

Intacct Wins 2009 SIIA “Codie”for Best Financial Software

Dan Druker, CEO of Intacct, reported today that Intacct, a provider of on-demand financial software for businesses, won the 2009 “Codie” award for Best Financial Software.  Codie awards represent “the nation’s best software, digital content, and education products”  according to the sponsoring organization, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Other notable 2009 winners include:

• Best Business Intelligence or Knowledge Management Solution - Adaptive Planning 5.0, Adaptive Planning.
• Best Business Software Solution - Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com.
• Best Communication Solution - Adobe Acrobat.com, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Document Management Solution – Adobe LiveCycle ES, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Multi-Media Solution – Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Open Source Solution – Sugar Professional On Demand V5.1, Sugar CRM, Inc.
• Best Relationship Management Solution – Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com.
• Best Software as a Service (SaaS) Solution – Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com
• Best Web Services Solution – Force.com, Salesforce.com

A complete list of 2009 Codie award winners is available on the SIIA website, siia.net.

This comes on the heels of news that Intacct was selected as the preferred provider of on-demand financial applications by the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA). 

Doc.It® Announces the “Doc.It Stimulus Package” for Accountants

Public practices can take advantage of this offer between now and September 15^th, 2009.

April 22, 2009 – LAS VEGAS – Doc.It® (www.doc-it.net), a leading provider of a complete document and workflow technology, today announced the Doc.It® Stimulus Package (www.doc-it.net/stimuluspackage) for accountants. Public practices with up to 500 users can contact Doc.It® immediately to take advantage of this unprecedented 50 percent cost savings package.

“We understand that public accounting practices will need to become more efficient in order to survive, but many may not be in the position to make the investment into our technology at this time,” said Roger Mongeon, Vice President of Doc.It®. Accountants are taking write down requests, audits are being kept to a minimum work effort, and firms that may have handled real estate work in the past don’t have that workload today. The Doc.It® Stimulus Package for accountants provides public practices the opportunity to gain the entire Doc.It® Suite of technology and world-class Doc.It® Customer Support Services without incurring any Doc.It® subscription fees for six months. “Our Stimulus Package will help public practices to realize significant operational cost savings and tremendous productivity gains,” continued Mongeon.

The Doc.It® Stimulus Package includes:

1. Doc.It® Suite - Free Subscription for Six Months! This offer represents a 50 percent cost savings on the first year of Doc.It® subscription fees.

2. Doc.It’s Presidential Guarantee. Howard Brown, President of Doc.It®, guarantees that after six months, firms can move forward and continue with Doc.It®, or cancel their subscription at any time in the future without any penalty. Doc.It® allows firms to stay in complete control of their expenses and data, without ever requiring any long-term contracts.

3. Free Membership in Doc.It’s Virtual User Group. Firms will be given immediate access to join the Doc.It leadership team and their paperless practice peers in bi-monthly Doc.It® “Training Tuesday” webinars.

1. Guaranteed Pricing. Doc.It® guarantees their all-inclusive pricing, which has remained unchanged since 2001, will not change. The guaranteed all-inclusive pricing includes:
   • Doc.It® 2-way Web Portal
   • Doc.It® Workflow Manager
   • Doc.It® Scan and Form Recognition
   • Doc.It® Tax and Accounting Software Integration
   • Doc.It® PDF Editor
   • Doc.It® PDF Composer
   • Doc.It® Work-in-Process Binder
   • Doc.It® Publisher
   • Doc.It® Archive

Mongeon recommends managing partners, along with their director of IT and firm administrator, immediately register for a free Doc.It® 60-minute (1 CPE Credit) webinar at www.doc-it.net/stimuluspackage. Participants will be introduced to Doc.It® paperless and workflow scheduling technology and learn what it is like to work in a paperless practice. “We are anticipating a huge response to our Stimulus Package offer and recommend firms act now to accelerate the operational cost relief they need and the productivity gains our technology provides,” said Mongeon.

(Note: I don’t normally print press releases in their entirety, but thought readers might want to see that some software vendors have special deals they are offering to accountants)

Microsoft Office Accounting (UK) Webinar 4/22, Noon ET (5P GST)

John Thuneby of Microsoft mentioned in his blog that Microsoft is going to be talking about Office Accounting 2009 in the UK next Wednesday.  It should be a good session – I’ve known John for a while, and he does good work.

Free Webinar - Microsoft Office Accounting – why is this free software making such a splash?

Join Gary Simon (the author of Office Accounting to the MAX), fellow Microsoft Senior Program Manager Glen Altringer and I, as we discuss Office Accounting 2009 in the UK market and the impact on small and medium size businesses.

The 30 minute webinar is on Wednesday April 22nd at 5PM GST (9AM PST) and you can register using the link below:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/733483201

Sage Announces SageSpark, Releases Billing Boss

New Stuff Alert – April 8, 2009

There have been a lot of press releases lately with new and improved products and services vying for the attention of CPA’s after we all get past April 15th and get caught up on our much-needed sleep.  Some of the items I’ve run into include:

1. CCH has released IntelliConnect, the next generation platform for their research products.  It’s currently available on the products which were on Tax Research Network (and CCH is going to be migrating existing users starting in about three weeks), but it is a very simple to use platform.  One of the limiting things about the superceded TRN platform is that you need to select where you want to look for search results.  With IntelliConnect, by default, you search in all available databases – which means that you can find stuff in products you didn’t even know you had access to in your plan.  The user interface has been reconfigured to look more like the familiar three-pane split screen interface we all use in Microsoft Outlook or other e-mail programs.  I could go on about this for a while (and believe me, as NOT exciting as tax research can be, that’s saying something) – but you should check it out.  Think: Google for tax research, with authoritative literature.  (Now, if I could just get something like this for these shoeboxes I’m working my way through….  Search: BM&E, mileage logs +1099… (and then I woke up))

2.  Intacct and AICPA announced a deal to bring Intacct’s web-based accounting systems to AICPA members, and the two will develop a joint product that brings AICPA’s content together with Intacct’s systems for a new version of the product aimed at CPA’s.  I’ve done some work lately with Intacct, and have been very impressed with how easy it is to use, as well as the interesting ways you can use it to accumulate data the way you want to see it presented.  In the long run, I think there is a place for cloud computing – especially where people need to collaborate who are not in the same physical location.  The on-premises software model has so many capitalized costs as well as hidden maintenance costs, SaaS makes it possible for people to add capacity (and drop capacity) seamlessly as it is needed.  The financial flexibility associated with SaaS alone is a reason to consider it – before you consider the redundant data centers, real time backup, access from anywhere, etc.  While there are still some user issues to be worked out with any SaaS deployment (security validation, your backup, exit strategy if you want to change products, vendor due diligence, etc.), I’m glad to see the AICPA move toward the future with a SaaS offering as strong as Intacct.

3. CODA announced a new version of CODA 2go based on the Force.com platform.  While this press release just came out yesterday, Dennis Howlett from across the pond has some good interview video with a CODA representative talking about the solution.

4. ThomsonReuters announced updates to their PlannerCS product related to the new tax legislation.  They’ve got a scan & organize solution this year with both UltraTax and GoSystem Tax, and I’m looking forward to hearing from firms how well things are going.  I’m not hearing anything from firms right now – which must mean that things are going reasonably well, and they are pretty busy.  (Normal for this time of year in the tax world.)

5. Fujitsu is coming out with the updated ScanSnap S1500(the desktop model), and has some cool things going on with touch-screen, network based scanners(the fi-6010N).  I’m anxiously awaiting my 30 days with a demo unit, as I have about 10 Banker’s Boxes of files which need to be put into my DMS, and I’m looking forward to having a device which doesn’t tie up a PC and can scan 50 pages a minute.  Very, very cool.

6. HP has some production scanners coming out soon with a new, jam-resistant sheet feeder on them.  I saw one work at the AIIM show, and it looked pretty good.  I’m optimistic here, but would like to play with a demo unit for 30 days or so before I pass judgement here.  A shoot-off between their unit and a Fujitsu would be very interesting here – kind of a reality show for paper farmers like me…  Hmmmm… that gives me an idea.

As a side note, I ran into a contact from ThomsonReuters at the AIIM Info360 show in Philadelphia.  It’s always nice when you see professional contacts from the CPA industry attending shows like AIIM which are targeted at general use of technology – it reminds me that we’re all competing for the best ideas and technique to increase our productivity and output.  I don’t know about you, but I’m doing my best to not participate in the recession.  The economic doldrums will have to drag me to the party kicking and screaming.  While I’m not delusional here, I have discoverered that worrying is a largely non-productive emotion.

I’m getting into podcasting with some different groups.  I have two podcasts in development, and the first episode of each is now posted to the web (although I don’t think either are on iTunes as of yet.  The podcasts are:

• Focus on Gadgets & Gizmos is a monthly podcast where Greg LaFollette and I talk about leading (and sometimes bleeding) edge gadgets & gizmos you can use to enhance your digital lifestyle (work and play).  We’re still working on the list of material we will cover in future episodes, but the first episode is on the Amazon Kindle2 device. 
• The Bit Brothers is a periodic podcast that I do with Dr. Bob Spencer and Randy Johnston on general technology topics.  We’re still working on our material for future episodes, etc., but you can learn more about what we’re doing and listen to our very rough episode #1 at www.bitbros.com.

We’re working on increasing the production quality of each podcast – both were recorded using Skype and/or telephone call recording devices, and I’m learning more than I ever imagined I would about reverb, signal to noise ratio, licensing rights for music, audio mixing (I may be reaching out to my namesake, the record producer for some help here).  If you have comments, ideas, recommendations, etc., please send them to bftcpa [att] gmail/dot/com

Two Articles, Two Podcasts, and a Trade Show

I’ve written a couple of articles for state CPA society magazines lately:

• Data Security: Are You Meeting Your Responsibilities
  Society of Louisiana CPAs Newsletter
  March 2009
• What to Watch for in Tax Software in 2009
  Kentucky Society of CPAs Newsletter
  January / February 2009

I’m also working with a couple of groups on podcasts.  One is going to be on gadgets over at TheProgressiveAccountant.com, and the other is very rough, but is going to be a round table with my friends Dr. Bob Spencer & Randy Johnston – first episode is at bitbros.com.

I’m heading to Philadelphia on Monday to attend the AIIM show again this year.  I will probably be doing some live blogging and lots of twittering from the trade show floor.  The AIIM Expo in Boston last year was really interesting, and although they don’t have The Barking Crab, I seem to recall a really snazzy Capital Grille there.

Got Tick Marks?

One of the more common things I am asked from people who are implementing a document management system is how they can include their “tick marks” in their documents.  My usual responses are to look at PDFlyer or Tick, Tie & Calculate in Acrobat (or alternatively, create your own stamps), and to either use graphics or a symbol font like wingdings in Word, Excel, and everything else. 

My wife and I recently started using SendOutCards to send some of her follow up correspondence as part of her work as a mortgage loan officer.  One of the things you get with SendOutCards is the ability to create a custom font based on your handwriting.  I have sent mine off, and am somewhat anxious about what it’s going to look like when it is complete (my handwriting really, really stinks).  This effort, however, has opened my eyes to how easy it is to create your own, personalized font to do things like tick marks and other symbols.  While you can purchase applications for $50 to do this, the geniuses over at LifeHacker had a great post in February which mentioned YourFonts, a web service which does this for you for free.  You fill out a form, scan it, and it encodes the stuff you wrote as images in a Windows-compatible TrueType font.

If you needed to create a font for tick marks, you could simply create your own font using this tool, and instead of making the letters correctly, you could assign a tick mark to each character on your keyboard.  And it’s free.  You will need to share your tick mark files with anyone who would print out your documents, and will probably want to render the final versions to PDF (and embed the tick mark font in the PDF files), but if you do this, it’s a fairly elegant solution to one of the more vexing problems associated with annotating documents.

Free Quickbooks Pro at Staples on Monday 12/22/2008

Intuit sent the following message out to ProAdvisors on Friday:

To help small business owners grow and run their companies, Intuit will offer the Windows version of QuickBooks Pro 2009 for free* at all Staples stores on Monday, Dec. 22, for one day only.
Why? This effort originally started out as a small test, but Intuit decided to expand the offer. Intuit wants to help small businesses through tough economic times, and of course we are always working to bring more business owners on board as QuickBooks users – increasing the number of potential clients for QuickBooks ProAdvisors.
 
Fine Print: The Meaning of "Free"
We’re using free* in quotation marks or with an asterisk because there are some conditions attached to this offer. It works like this:

• The regular price at Staples is $199.99.
• The customer will receive $40 in instant savings.
• The customer at the store will receive a $159.99 mail-in rebate form.
• When the customer mails in the rebate form they will receive, some weeks later, a rebate for $159.99.
• Once the customer

obtains the rebate, their base costs are zero: $199.99 - $40.00 - $159.99 = $0

The buyer may still be responsible for sales tax at the time of purchase; sales tax is not free.

So.... if you're looking for an upgrade to your old version of QuickBooks, the price is right on Monday.  My friend and co-worker at K2, Mac McClelland, informed me last week that Intuit has also discounted the 2009 version of QB Premier Accountant Edition to $299 with free shipping (not sure how long this pricing is in effect). 

While this "free after rebate" strategy has been employed by Peachtree and Microsoft in the past, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Intuit give away QuickBooks Pro. 
 

 

Awards Update

There's been a lot of stuff going on with awards from and for the K2 Team.  In the last week, Randy Johnston was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today, I was recognized as a member of the CPA Technology Advisor's "40 Under 40" for my work with the profession, and K2 gave out their annual quality awards to software publishers serving the accounting profession.

Since it is better to give than to receive, I'll start with our annual K2 Quality Awards:

2008 K2 Annual Quality Awards

Hammond, LA – October 8, 2008 -- K2 Enterprises today announced the recipients of their annual quality awards as follow

•        Reseller Program– Open Systems, Inc.

•        CPA Program –Pro Advisor – Intuit, Inc.

•        Installation Channel/Methodology – Rapid QuickBooks Replacements – Microsoft Dynamics GP

•        Reseller Channel – SYSPRO

•        New Product – Workstation 6.5 VMware

•        New Module – Tic, Tie, Calculate – Acct1st

•        New Technology – GruntWorx - Copanion

•        Management Strategy – SAP

•        Technical Support – Sage Software

•        Customer Satisfaction – Thomson Reuters

•        Ease of Use – QuickBooks – Intuit, Inc.

•        Marketing Communications – Doc-It, Inc.

•        Overall Quality – Avalara

•        Tax & Audit – Pro Systems fx Engagement - CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

•        Accounting Industry Press Coverage – The CPA Technology Advisor

As part of their service and consulting to the CPA industry, K2 annually votes on both hardware and software products for software publishers and hardware manufacturers.  These products are used by CPAs in both public practice and industry. “Great value, vision, and consistency are recognized by our CPA attendees.  When companies are innovating, we can see the quality of their products and/or services improving before the market,as a whole, recognizes the changes,” said K2 Executive Vice-President, Randy Johnston

K2 Enterprises is the premier provider of technology continuing professional education (CPE) in both the United States and Canada.  With seminars in over 47 states in 2008, 1,000+ presentations, special events such as their turn-key Annual Technology Conferences, CPE & Ski, K2 Enterprises - Canada, they are the largest provider of technology CPE in North America.

K2 Enterprises Annual Quality Awards are determined by a poll of the K2 Enterprises instructor team.  The voting members of this team are Randy Johnston, Will Fleenor, Val Steed, Bob Spencer, Alan Salmon, Lawrence(Mac) McClelland, Tommy Stephens, Brian Tankersley, Ward Blatch.  Their votes are influenced by, end user feedback, and experience from consulting and extensive teaching.  Detailed biographies on each of the voting members can be found at: http://www.k2e.com/team

 The other two awards are described at the links listed below:

• Randy Johnston was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today
• Brian Tankersley recognized as member of the CPA Technology Advisor's "40 Under 40"

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Tags: 40Under 40, Randy, K2, K2 Quality Awards

Tech News and Notes - Week of 7/17/2008

I'm behind on reporting on the gadgetry in my office, so here are some updates on things :

• I've been working with my  Scansnap S300 for the last few weeks, and I'm really impressed with it.  Although I would like to have TWAIN or ISIS compatibility, it's an amazing little device, and well worth the $260 it costs on Amazon for this piece of hardware.  It has only jammed twice after running hundreds of pages through it, including a couple of hundred thermal receipts for an expense report.  (and in one of the two jams, I had forgotten to take the staples out of the original - Doh!
• I seem to be on a LOT of conference calls lately, and have been using a Plantronics Calisto Pro Phone ( Cordless, DECT 6.0, Bluetooth, speaker phone, and it comes with a really good headset).  If you're a Skyper, this thing even has a USB connection to your PC so you can use it for your VOIP application.  I also really like the range on this thing- in the spring (before my A/C was running all of the time), I could use this item connected to my Jawbone headset (which has noise cancelling) to talk to people while taking in the great outdoors in my yard.  [Don't tell anyone that working for yourself has perks like that....]
• I mentioned that I had converted my home internet connection to TDS' fiber optic (PON) service, and I've also got their digital TV offering.  Verdict: The fiber optic internet rocks, and the digital TV is also very good - but seems to be in early implementation.  Once they start offering On Demand and DVR's in September, the TV will be up to speed with the rest.  The TV service reminds me a lot of dish service, in that there is a slight delay between when you select a channel and when it is displayed on your PC.  It doesn't take long, but it's just long enough to be a little annoying.

A few other things came to my attention earlier this week:

• The Association of QuickBooks Technologists is having a conference this fall for CEO's, CFO's, IT Directors and Management Consultants looking to streamline business processes and who want to learn more about Business Solutions designed for QuickBooks users. The conference is in Deerfield Beach, Florida on October 16, 2008, and appears to be reasonably priced.  (There are worse places to be than South Florida in October).  For more information contact AQBT founding member Dawn Scranton.
  
• The cobranding I discussed a couple of weeks ago has been very interesting, and offers some neat potential marketing tools for mid-sized and larger CPA and bookkeeping firms.  I've actually considered creating a CD for clients with the trial/free versions of Peachtree, OA Express, and QuickBooks SimpleStart along with an HTML page which has links to my site..... really interesting stuff.  This is something I would look into if I was at a firm looking to grow their accounting software consulting business.

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Tags: Gadgetreviews and news items of note FYE 2008-07-17, Office Accounting, AQBT, Peachtree, QuickBooks, TDS, Fiber Optic Internet Access, PON, Plantronics Calisto Phone, Scansnap S300