Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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REVIEWS: VIRTUAL CFO PLATFORMS 2014 Review of Virtual CFO Platforms (aka, Cloud Write-Up) By Brian Tankersley, Technology Editor T he transition away f r o m t r a d i t i o n a l , after-the-fact client write-up systems to col laborative, real- t i m e f i n a n c i a l reporting systems has taken many years, but we are starting to see the outline of the systems of the future. Cloud- based sofware will be used to help p r a c t i t i o n e r s a n d c l i e n t s w o r k together on a business, and will yield results which are more timely and less compliance-oriented than traditional write up products. Tese systems will also use direct import of transactions from fnancial institutions, and will work with other applications to create a customized s o l u t i o n f o r eac h b u s i n e s s . Fo r example, some businesses may use document management solutions like SmartVault or GoFileRoom from Tomson Reuters, while others may require Avalara's Sales Tax solutions or Bi l l .com's accounts payable and accounts receivable workfow support. By using a flexible Virtual CFO platform, accounting frms can provide more meaningful, real time manage- ment information instead of late information from a platform which is designed to do litle other than meet compliance reporting requirements three weeks afer the end of a month. CPA Practice Advisor reviewed four cloud-based accounting systems that include sides for small businesses to use as well as multi-client management functionality for accounting frms to oversee and manage their clients' books. For our initial foray into this cate- gory, we decided to do an in-depth analysis of four clear leaders with dif- ferent approaches to cloud-based accountant-client col laboration. Products selected include: A c c o u n t i n g Po w e r ( A c c o u n - tantsWorld, Inc.) – Accounting Power is one of the more under- appreciated products on the market. Te solution is sold only to CPA frms, who then resell it to clients or other- wise include it in the cost of their ongoing services. Accounting Power is part of Accountants World's Power Practice Suite of applications, which also includes Payroll Relief, Practice Relief, Website Relief, Cloud Cabinet, and Afer-the-Fact Payroll. Tis inte- grated solution provides all of the tools needed to run their practices and serve small and medium sized clients with outsourced accounting functions. Te product does not have direct bank data integration like QuickBooks Online and Xero, but does have robust import and export features and tight integra- tion with the other Power Practice suite applications, w hich should reduce the required amount of data entry required with this product. Accounting CS (Tomson Reuters Tax & Accounting) – Accounting CS is the modern update to the recently discontinued venerable Write Up CS application from Tomson Reuters. The software is designed to permit clients and accountants to simultane- ously work on client fnancial records using a collaborative application which runs on modern Microsof platforms (.NET and SQL Server). Te applica- tion integrates with a wide range of o t h e r a p p l i c a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g Accounting CS Payroll, UltraTax , Engagement CS, and the other applica- tions in the Tomson Reuters CS Suite of applications for accounting and tax professionals. Te product has some integration with Intuit's QuickBooks but not with other non-Thomson products. Like Accounting Power, Accounting CS lacks direct integration with fnancial institutions, but it makes up for this lack of front end integration with robust back end integration into the entire Tomson Reuters CS Suite of applications. QuickBooks Online and Quick- Book s Online for Accountants (Intuit, Inc.) – Fresh from an overhaul to make it more consistent with the on-premises version of QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online (QBO) and its free accountant toolkit, QuickBooks Online for Accountants (QBOA), are now available. Te new competition in the cloud-based accounting applica- tion space from the US launch of Xero, Fre s h B o o k s , Wav e A c c o u n t i ng , Kashoo, and Sage One, combined with the global rollout of QBO to 100 countries, has increased the number of companies using QuickBooks Online by approximately 40 percent year over year between September 2012 and September 2013. While Intuit was an early prov ider of online financial applications, it has struggled to market these solutions to accounting profes- sionals, as many accounting profes- sionals preferred the feature set in the on-premises version of the application. Te changing view of online services by clients and accounting profes- sionals, as well as the significant improvements to QBO and QBOA has made it a product to watch in the online accounting space. Xero and Xero Partner Platform (Xero, Inc.) – Xero has breathed a signifcant amount of energy into the cloud-based accounting space with its US launch and signifcant investment in localizing and marketing its collab- orative accounting sofware product to US customers and accountants. Te company's use of direct integration and rule-based reconciliation of imported transactions from fnancial institutions has increased hope that the company will one day reach its goal of "zero data entr y " into account ing record s. Although the Xero's tools for accoun- tants may seem limited compared to its more entrenched competitors, stay tuned, as the company's payroll solu- tions and workpaper prep solutions are very popular in its home base of New REVIEW SECTIONS BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTION • Installation Ease • General Navigation & Ease of Use • Industry-Specifc Templates • Industry-Specifc Features • Platform Support CORE ACCOUNTING CAPABILITIES • GL/AP/AR Functionality • Sales Tax Functionality • Payroll Functionality • Audit Trail • Multi-Currency • Multiple Language Support • Multi-Location Support • Multiple Users DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS • Sales/Point of Sale/Shipping • Customer/Vendor Employee Management • Inventory/Purchasing • e-Features • Remote Access MANAGEMENT FEATURES • Dashboard Overviews • Reporting • Security Features • Integration/Import/Export • Data Transfer • External Integration • Online Accountant Transfer Tool HELP/SUPPORT • Built-in Support Features • System Updates • Support Website/Documentation • U.S.-Based Support Brian F. Tankersley, CPA, CITP, CGMA; Technology Editor Brian is the Technology Editor for CPA Practice Advisor, and is a fequent speaker at national continu- ing education courses on auditing and technology, as well as a consultant, coach and instructor for K2 Enterprises. He can be reached at brian@k2e.com . 6 January/February 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com cpa_6-9_VirtualCFO Review.indd 6 2/5/14 1:00 PM