The Progressive Accountant Reviews

REVIEW: Online Payroll Software

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:09:24 +0100

A dozen years after the first SaaS versions of payroll software were introduced, it is no longer a question of why you would use them, but rather why any accounting practice would not. Hey: Fast, scalable and designed to meet the needs of accounting professionals and their clients in a mobile world, online payroll has four primary advantages over desktop versions of the same software system:

REVIEW: Workflow Software

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:09:40 +0100

Workflow is one of those terms that means something different to each person depending on his/her background and experience. One of the companies I reviewed defined it as what accountants and CPAs do all day, every day. I would agree.

REVIEW: Scanners and Rules for Picking Them

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:59:55 +0100

At the dawn of office automation some 20 years ago, scanners arose as an essential office business tool to help transition paper files into digital formats. Large, expensive and taking up an inordinate amount of desk space, the scanner was an investment for the office that sometimes exceeded what was spent on a computer and printer. Not so today.

REVIEW: The new iPad is...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:18:30 +0100

What is in a name? Apple decided to cut costs by eliminating one or two characters the branding of their new device. This is unfortunate for all the folks who had lotteries for '3', 'HD', '2S'. Calling the new iPad just the "iPad." is bound to cause confusion, but it will generate saying the name a lot, that is marketing. I am not certain of where the following dialogue originated, it is an interesting discussion about the recent purchase of a new iPad

REVIEW: Website Builder Software 2012

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:00:00 +0100

In this review, we are going to look at the top web building software for CPAs and accountants. If you either do not have a website or are looking to change your website you came to the right place. The products are all very good. All but one product is part of full application suite. If you would like to offer e-commerce through your website, you can do it with each of these products. You do need to make sure your specific merchant services works with the product you choose.

REVIEW: Engagement and Trial Balance Software 2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:13:03 +0100

Back in the days of green eye shades and manual accounting, the process known as Engagement and Trial Balance were essential to the practice of both audits and accounting. Trial balance showed a quick snapshot of the validity of the company's transactions during audits and other legations, while Engagement handled to processes of opening, tracking and successfully completing the client work.

REVIEW: Sales and Use Tax Software

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:47:14 +0100

Sales and use taxes could hardly be a more simple matter. Calculate your total sales for the month, multiply by the tax rate for the jurisdiction (usually city, county and state) and remit to amount due. If you somehow forget to do it, or miscalculate the amount, that jurisdiction will happily double-check your work and correct your math.

REVIEW: Budget Software 2012

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:14:55 +0100

Budgeting has long been treated as at best a pointless exercise and at worst a waste of time and resources. Once management has decreed what it deems an acceptable increase for inflation, department managers simply plug that increase into the previous year's budget, add in any capital or expansion funding desired, and send the budget forth.

REVIEW: Invoicing Software

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:12:57 +0100

As Intuit continues to try to move more comprehensively into the cloud with QuickBooks, sites automating a subset of financial management - online invoicing -- continue to launch and, in some cases, flourish. There are dozens of them. Who are they aiming at? Any company that already uses an accounting software desktop product or website already has full accounts receivable functionality. Sole proprietors, microbusinesses and/or companies that don't need to balance debits and credits but who need to bill customers seem the likeliest target audience. And there are millions of them.

REVIEW; NitroPDF Pro 7 PDF Editor

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:43:46 +0100

Since it entered the PDF reading and editing market five years ago, Nitro has consistently won praise among reviewers and users for its enhanced features and streamlined structure. That tradition continued with the release this month of NitroPDF Pro 7, a PDF editor authoring and editing tool that enables users to create, edit, secure, sign, and share PDF files.

REVIEW: Financial Planning Software 2011

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:53:02 +0100

Financial planning has always been a growth industry, and is no less so today in spite of the economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), based on its most recent data, there are 155,300 financial advisors in the United States, with the greatest number residing in New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and California. This represents a drop in the number of financial planners since 2008, but the survivors of the economic shakeout are doing better financially, with a mean income of $91,200 per year.

Tax Planning Software 2011

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:15:36 +0100

By all rights, this should be a banner year for accounting firms that engage in serious tax planning. After all, with the economy still in the doldrums, clients should be looking for any way they can to increase their personal and business cash. Using an effective tax strategy is one of the key ways to do that, particularly for those who have exhausted most of their other options.

REVIEW; A Trio of Mid-Market Accounting Apps

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:13:44 +0100

Mid-market solutions are right-sized for many businesses. These tools are the middle child of the accounting software space. Not simple enough to be used by many of the smallest businesses and not complex (or expensive) enough to even be considered by many of the Fortune 500, they are designed for that broad chunk of businesses sitting squarely in the middle of the market.

REVIEW: Fixed Assets Software

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:17:44 +0100

Why would a small to medium-sized accounting firm be interested in using a fixed asset program? It is easy to get stuck on the fact that most fixed asset programs cost a lot of money. After all, in a smaller firm that money comes directly out of your pocket.

REVIEW: QuickBooks Premier 2012 - Quiet Changes, Improved Workflow

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:00:05 +0100

As QuickBooks upgrades go, 2012 isn't a barn-burner. It does promise better and faster workflow, enhanced insight into your clients' financial information and the further centralization and accessibility of data. It does so through innovations in reporting tools, calendaring and the addition of new Centers.

REVIEW: Portable Scanners 2011

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:40:40 +0100

Document scanners were an early novelty in the computing market, a technology that melded the old document imaging used by fax machine with the newer, faster ability to transmit data digitally. In fact, the scanner helped to make the fax machine obsolete by taking over its ability to digitize paper documents.

REVIEW: NFP Accounting Software 2011

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:22:46 +0100

The not-for-profit sector is a bellwether of the economy. When consumer confidence is improving and the economy expanding, as it was through the second quarter of this year, donations increase and NFPs fare better. And that seemed to be the case, as Blackbaud and others showed donations tracking 10 percent or more above levels at the same time last year.

REVIEW: A Look at Write-up Software

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:01:01 +0100

If you are like me, you are receiving at least two to three emails a day with information on you how to build or grow your practice. Typically, these emails come from leaders in our industry who are experts on what it takes to have a successful accounting practice. There is a very consistent message in these emails. That message is simple: keep your client satisfaction high by providing outstanding customer service. One of the best ways you can do this is provide your client with write-up services.

REVIEW: Time and Billing Software

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:57:06 +0100

Like sand through the hour glass...... so are the billable hours in an accountant's work day. Just like Susan Lucci during her twenty five years on daytime television, the timesheet has managed to keep a lead role in many accounting firms. In spite of the heroic efforts of Ron Baker and the team at Verasage to the contrary, hours are still inextricably linked to most firm's revenues. So for now, time and billing software remains an essential practice management tool.

REVIEW: Peachtree 2012

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:56:11 +0100

I've stopped looking for blockbuster new features in Sage Peachtree products. The Sage Peachtree line, especially its upper tiers, provides enough accounting tools - in terms of what your clients can do with their financial data -- to please the lion's share of small businesses. It's just about exhausted what it can do with customizability, too, and no one could ever use all of the reports it offers.

REVIEW: Document Management Software

Wed, 18 May 2011 01:32:27 +0100

The quiet little marketplace for document management solutions is about to kick into high gear, driven not by the demands of accounting firms and their clients, but by external forces that will bring new requirements for records retention, a slew of new competitors, and a lot of confusion for companies still striving to build efficient document management into their administrative processes.

REVIEW: Online Payroll Systems

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:17:07 +0100

It is a great time of year! Tax season is over. The weather is getting warm and sunny. Another wonderful thing about tax season being over is that is a great time to take a few moments to really analyze your practice. What processes worked and what processed need change? What services worked and what services need to be eliminated or added? I just downloaded a copy of the E-Myth Accountant to my Ipad. If I may, I would suggest that if you are serious about improving your practice that you read this book.

Review: Now is the Time for Workflow Tools

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:35:31 +0100

Now is the time to consider automated workflow tools. It probably seems odd to be talking about workflow tools right after tax season -hasn't that horse already left the barn? The only flow most of us are thinking about at this time of year has nothing to do with work. It involves an ocean view and a beverage flowing into a chilled glass.

REVIEW: Document Management Scanners

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:13:59 +0100

A few years ago, a good scanner was considered an indispensable piece of hardware for an accounting firm, due to the number of paper documents that needed to be added to electronic file cabinets and document management systems. Today, they are rapidly going the way of the typewriter - a specialized tool that may not be worth the investment given how infrequently it is used.

REVIEW: Website Builder Software

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 01:20:12 +0100

As technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, it causes challenges for those of us who own our own firms. Every day there are more tools available to make us more productive and increase the ability for our clients to reach us whenever it is convenient for them. The reality is the amount of information and tools available is not only overwhelming but ultimately can decrease our productivity if we are not diligently focusing on what is important to our firm.

REVIEW: Engagement and Trial Balance Software 2011

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:25:54 +0100

Trial Balance and Engagement software solutions represent the first two building blocks in a successful client engagement.The trial balance is at the core of double-entry bookkeeping, providing an assessment of whether the general ledger is in balance by making a tally of the debits and credits. Engagement workpaper and process software has come more recently, combining workflow processing, document management, reporting, collaboration and other underpinnings of the engagement process into a more streamlined package. The two are often used in tandem, and are sometimes even provided in the same software.

REVIEW: Sales and Use Tax Products

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:19:10 +0100

Superheroes are all the rage in Hollywood. We've had Batman, Ironman, and soon the Green Hornet featured in action-packed adventures on the big screen. I like to think of sales tax vendors in a similar vein. Without these vendors, we would be at the mercy of rogue tax authorities, with their unwieldy rate changes, jurisdictional gerrymandering and dastardly dizzying product classifications. We would lead dark and dreary lives filled with daily tax rate lookups, rule validation, and infinite audit adjustments. Thank goodness we can reach for the red phone when we get overly taxed.

REVIEW: Budgeting Software 2011

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:47:28 +0100

Budgeting software, once a distinct category of software in its own right, is quickly being subsumed by a Business Process Management orientation that takes a more holistic approach to management of budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and planning. Having moved away from simple spreadsheets over the past decade, budgeting has taken root online as a web-based application, operating either as an independent module or as an integrated package.

REVIEW: Financial Planning Software

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:22:35 +0100

With stirring signs of a fiscal recovery in the offing for 2011, it may be time for forward-looking accountants to become more aggressive in their pursuit of a financial planning practice.The practice is generally split into three differing parts:

*Financial planning, which identified the client's needs and goals and indicates priorities for wealth accumulation;
*Asset Allocation, which identifies the types of assets best used to maximize returns into order to meet those needs and goals;
*And rebalancing/re-selection tools, which keep the plan current over the number of years necessary.

Review: Invoicing Software

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 16:08:36 +0100

Of all the new invoicing software packages out there, which one is right for your clients? As accounting professionals, we know, we will get these questions from our clients. This review will help you serve as an advocate for your clients. Any accountant or CPA can answer a client's question, but how many offer advice before they are asked? I have earned many of my clients by providing this type of advice to clients. Be seen as a partner with your client instead of just a number cruncher.

REVIEW: Time and Billing Software

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:42:36 +0100

The area of practice management for accounting is undergoing a fundamental evolution as managers in firms of every size attempt to gain better insights into processes, practices, and their clients. It's not simply a move to eke better efficiency and better profitability out of these processes, but a push for greater understanding of how the processes relate and interact.

REVIEW: Fixed Asset Software Roundup

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:46:41 +0100

While it's probably true death and taxes are the only two sure things, you could argue for a third. Depreciation. Every asset your company purchases starts to decline in value from the moment that it's placed in service. And with the tax laws seeming to change as often as the seasons - it makes good sense to invest in some serious computational horsepower.

REVIEW: New QuickBooks - Good, Not Must Have

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:50:15 +0100

Intuit usually pulls out all the stops sometimes when it upgrades QuickBooks. 2011 isn’t one of those times, but the changes it did make will improve your clients’ ability to communicate with their customers, more easily access the financial minutia in their files, and help them speed up their receivables. New users can shave some steps off of setup, and everyone will be able to keep closer tabs on customers.

REVIEW; Microsoft Office 2010

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:16:02 +0100

Microsoft Office 2010 has been out for a few months now. If you haven't upgraded yet, should you? You likely know that it can cost many hundreds of dollars if you have even a few employees. Make that thousands if you need the full-blown edition, Office Professional, that includes Access and Publisher.

Review: Write-up Does More Than Ever

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:46:43 +0100

Until recently, write-up software was primarily a tool CPAs and Accountants to record the history of our clients. With the changes in the technology, it has also changed what services we can offer and makes choosing accounting software a bigger decision than it had been in the past.

Review: Not-For-Profit Accounting Software

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:29:22 +0100

2010 is not proving a good year for non-profits. From trade associations to research firms and local charities, budgets have been cut to the bone and fundraising committees are looking hard for options.

All of which makes the selection of a good accounting system even more critical. Certainly, you can run a non-profit off of virtually any accounting system. But doing it well requires a slight step up, to software actually designed to meet the needs of a not-for-profit organization. And in that category, there are eight major software vendors.

Review: Accounting in the Clouds

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:33:20 +0100

Accounting software was first widely adopted by mid-market companies in the mid 1980s. The arrival of cheap personal computers made personalized accounting affordable for the first time. At first the newly affordable computer technology attracted users moving from manually prepared financial records.

Review: Document Management - Bringing Order to Chaos

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:36:40 +0100

When it comes to documents, many accountants used to be prime candidates for a spot on the television show “Hoarders.” Their offices were filled with stacks of folders and nothing was ever thrown away. Cluttered desks became something of a trademark. Thanks to new technology and paperless offices, what used to be physical mounds of paper have become virtual mounds of electronic records. Sometimes the information stored in those electronic mounds can as hard to find as holiday decorations in a California garage.

Review: Is Payroll Processing for You?

Fri, 21 May 2010 20:15:52 +0100

Is now the right time to add payroll as a service for your firm? One of the complaints Accountants have had about providing payroll services is that they are tied to their desks. As technology has changed, depending on which software you choose that may not be an issue anymore.

Cracking the WIP - How Workflow Tools Can Aid Productivity

Mon, 03 May 2010 21:14:06 +0100

For accountants, workflow tools are about gaining control of information. Rather than spending hours running from office to office seeking to learn the status of that lost tax return or incomplete compilation, with a good workflow solution you are promised access to any client file at any stage of completion anywhere in your (real or virtual) office. Ideally these tools also let you check the status of client work, monitor due dates, manage staff time, and review actual versus budgeted time. As more firms have moved from paper to paperless, these electronic command and control systems have become increasingly important for those seeking to realize the full potential of their paperless systems.

Review: Scanning the Market for Scanners?

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:34:07 +0100

Like printers, cameras and cell phones, most of the critical information is hard to root out in advance, leaving accountants to fend for themselves in terms of ease of use, quality of output and documents scanned per minute.

Review: Tools to Build Your Web Site

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:39:37 +0100

As an owner of a small accounting practice, I am constantly looking for new clients. One area of focus that seems to have a lot of growth potential is the new entrepreneurs. The new entrepreneurs are people who have either been laid off from large corporations or who are looking for second or third careers or young adults entering the workforce for the first time. The entrepreneurial spirit is still very much alive and well. People are taking advantage of technology and starting all kinds of interesting online ventures. I just read about some recent college graduates that have founded an online customized chocolate bars business, Chocomize, with bacon and chocolate being the most requested.

Review: Workpaper Software Standard Tools in Unusual Times

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:33:20 +0100

It's amazing how quickly technology can change the way that we work. Old manual methods of working are replaced by new automated processes. And just as my 10-year-old children don't know what a 33-1/3 record is - or what they would do with one - the day is fast approaching when an accountant entering a new job will not recognize a stack of old fashioned working papers bound together by a rickety metal clip.

Review: Sales Tax--No Place for DIY

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:33:43 +0100

Economic pressures have caused many individuals to stay closer to home. These homebound individuals have fueled a huge increase in DIY (Do-It-Yourself) activities. We’ve seen at home pedicures replace SPA visits, tossable dryer sheets edging out trips to the dry cleaner, even off-the-shelf mouth guards substituting for trips to the dentist. How this DIY trend has impacted small business revenue is a topic for another day, but when it comes to their internal operations, sales tax compliance in no place for businesses to consider DIY.

Review: Budget Software Important in a Recovering Economy

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:16:15 +0100

Given its importance to the operation of any organization, it is amazing that software to help define and build a budget gets such short shrift in the marketplace. Yet it remains a fact that only a handful of software developers focus on this market.

Helping Small Biz Get the Bills Out

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:50:41 +0100

Not everyone uses QuickBooks. But small businesses still need to send invoices. If some of your clients aren’t ready to automate their entire financial operations but want an alternative to Word and Excel for invoices, there are myriad options.

These applications are Web-based, easy to use and in some cases, free. The advantages of using them are obvious. Your clients can not only create customized invoices but easily e-mail them and track their progress. They can stay in touch with receivables anywhere there’s a Web connection, including an iPhone in some cases. And when they’re ready to move up to a full-fledged accounting solution, they have reliable A/R records.

Making Mission Impossible Doable For Nonprofits

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:47:18 +0100

Nonprofit organizations have an almost impossible mission. They are expected to serve the needs of as many constituents as possible while making a minimum investment in administrative costs. Their reporting needs are extensive and their teams are expected to deliver miracles. They have to answer to just about anyone who makes a donation along with a myriad of government organizations. Every dollar they spend must be tracked from plan to action to results.

Handling Documents the Smart Way

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:04:27 +0100

To go paperless or not, is that really the question? I think not. I am from a generation that used typewriters for term papers. I like to see and feel paper. I enjoy a good cup of coffee with a newspaper, that is if you can find a newspaper anymore. But that really doesn’t apply to a document management system. You can still hold and look at paper with a good document management system. However, document management is more about our most valuable asset… Time.

Scan and Organize for Good Effect

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:53:53 +0100

The most significant reason to use a scan-and-organize application is to make operations become more effective. “Effective” relates to the total benefits received exceeding the cost of the system and its support. Anything that creates less revenue and more cost should not be considered. The good news is that many CPA firms have already discovered significant benefits by using systems that convert paper to digital data.

Information is forever expanding and there are more documents, more regulatory schedules, perhaps multiple W-2s, income from a number of employers and so on. This rising tide of paper is pushing up against the availability of people to do the work of collecting, sorting and filing. CPAs, both partners and staff, have a growing desire to maintain a quality of life. Performing clerical activities like manually making copies or storing documents wastes high salaried individuals’ time. It increases rather decreases firm operating costs.

Engagement Software Grows Up

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:59:39 +0100

When we first started looking at trial balance software ten years ago there was a laundry list of companies that we'd wade through for reviews. In reality, no company yet offered a complete collection of software - trial balance, audit tools, paperless tracking - that we could label as engagement software.