Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/36891
FROM THE TRENCHES A Randy Johnston Improve Your Practice With SaaS Ample articles try to convince you of the value of Mr. Johnston is executive vice president and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc. He is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 30 years’ experience. He can be contacted at randy. johnston@CPAPracticeAdvisor.com. Cloud Computing, and there are three primary application approaches for the cloud: 1) Backup, which we have reviewed in prior columns covering products like NetRescue, Gillware and eFolder, 2) Hosting, including companies like CPAASP InsynQ, Awensa, Cloud 9 and Real Time Data Services, T omson Reuters, or CCH, and 3) Soſt ware as a Service (SaaS) applications that are multi-tenanted and run through a browser. T e focus of this column is on specifi c SaaS applications that can help you and your clients. Areas of interest include Accounting, Budgeting, Forecasting & Business Intelligence, Sales & Use Tax products, and Confi rmations that minimize fraud on both cash as well as on AR and AP. SaaS tools oſt en eliminate implementation complexity and reduce deployment time. Today, technology can solve business problems in multiple ways. Historically, we used service bureaus, but most applications for the last 20 to 25 years have been run on-premise with local area networks. SaaS applications “in the cloud” have appeared over the last 10 years or so, and the variety and quality of applications are improving all the time. Combining on-premise with cloud applications or “hybrid” is the approach that should be the most eff ective for the foreseeable future. You may want the securi ty of keeping everything on-premise, or you may want the conve- nience, minimal technical issues and possible economic benefit of placing everything in the cloud. If you are looking to solve your business needs or to solve your clients’ needs in the best way possible, we expect a hybrid blend of on-premise or SaaS for some time to come. Confi rmations One of our favorite SaaS applications is available from Confi rmation.com, who has developed tools for audit confi rmations that not only include cash confi rmations, but have added a feature for AP response. T ere is no charge for small businesses to register as a responder, and we strongly urge you to encourage your clients to register. Confi rmation will verify the business credentials, and then the client can respond to inquiries electronically and in a secure fashion. If your client has an employee that provides false information in response to an auditor’s confi rmation request, that individual can put that company at risk of being associated with financial fraud. The traditional paper-based process auditors use to confi rm their client’s payable and/or receivable balances doesn’t control where confi rmation let ers are sent or prevent a rogue employee from sending a false response. An electronic confirmation saves time, centralizes responses, archives responses electronically, increases accuracy and increases response rates. Sales Tax In many U.S. jurisdictions, it is diffi cult to calculate Sales Tax accurately, particularly as the number of jurisdictions approaches 20,000. With SaaS off erings, the tax rates can refl ect the current law and accurately calculate for a given location. Products like Avalara AvaTax, SpeedTax, Sabrix, and TaxWare provide tax calculations that comply with the multiple levels of tax, including state, local, school district, transportation and other special taxes. Free sales tax calculators are available on the Avalara site. Avalara also has a CPA fi rm program to support processing sales tax for clients. Beyond the calculations, the company can also complete Sales Tax returns, Use Tax returns, efi le as allowed and make the sales tax payments electronically. T e installation process for most of these competitive products is straightforward. T e sales tax calculation fi eld simply calls the SaaS product as if it was looking up tax from a manually created table. The items, amounts, delivery points and other information needed for accurate IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO SOLVE YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS OR TO SOLVE YOUR CLIENTS’ NEEDS IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE, WE EXPECT A HYBRID BLEND OF ON-PREMISE OR SAAS FOR SOME TIME TO COME. 8 August 2011 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com SAAS TOOLS OFTEN ELIMINATE IMPLEMENTATION COMPLEXITY AND REDUCE DEPLOYMENT TIME. calculation are passed to the cloud data center, and calcu- lations are completed and returned, usually in just a frac- tion of a second. With governmental units quite cognizant of their need for revenue, sales and use tax enforcement is at an all-time high. T e Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, Inc. certifi cation organization certifi es products for compliance. If a product used is SSTP compliant, the cli- ents are exempt from audits. T e time savings of audit avoidance may be worth the money by itself. See page 42 or visit www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10290542 for a review of sales & use tax products. Budgeting, Forecasting & Other Business Intelligence A painful process for many organizations is the creation and maintenance of budgets. T is is oſt en done in Excel, because it is a simple, available tool, but rarely is using Excel the best approach. Vendors like Adaptive Planning and Alight have tools that are completely SaaS based and integrate into accounting products to provide comparative information. More soſt ware providers are looking at the SaaS model as a way to provide complex information with minimal eff ort of implementation. Practice management applica- tions from CCH, T omson, Staff Trak, Biznet Soſt ware and Biz Tools are examples of powerful reporting tools that can be deployed using SaaS methodologies. Last, But Not Least It has been a clear initiative of the AICPA’s CPA2Biz unit for the last 10 years to locate and endorse SaaS products that help accountants. XCM, Copanion, Confi rmation, Paychex, Bill.com, Intacct, and Apptix are in this mix today. AICPA members can get discounts on these products. Accounting soſt ware companies continue to expand their offerings. Available today are Sage BillingBoss, FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online, SAP Business by Design, Force.com, and NetSuite … to name a few. AccountantsWorld has been the market leader in fi rm interactive accounting for over a decade. A new entry to the U.S. market that is worthy of your review is an entry- level accounting product called Xero that is designed to be completely SaaS and interactive with banks, accountants and the end user. It seems that SaaS and the cloud is gaining momentum and get ing stronger every day.