Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/432767
8 December 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com By Doug Sleeter SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS CONSULTING 2015 Awesome Applications T he selec t ion process i ncluded voting from the community between July and September 2014 and our expert panel worked during that time to dili- gently analyze each of the nominees. Community votes accounted for 40 percent of the fnal selections and the expert panel accounted for 60 percent of the overall score. Tis year's panel members i nclude Cha rl ie R ussel l, Joanie Mann, Randy Johnston, Stacey Byrne, and Scot Scharf. I thank them for their hard work in reviewing the nominees and helping us to recognize some truly awesome products. Te 2015 Awesome Applications are: ACCTivate! by Alterity ACCTivate! Inventor y & Distribution Management Soft ware seamlessly inte- g rates w it h Qu ick Book s enabling companies to gain control of their business and manage inventory, credit, customer service and more – all delivered in an interactive interface complete with robust reporting and a d a s h b o a rd f or t u r n i n g d a t a i nt o information. ACCTivate! prov ides adva nced i nventor y ma nagement, warehousing, purchasing, barcoding & mobile, CR M, sales order manage- ment, picking and shipping, eCom- merce integration, light manufacturing, comprehensive multi-currency capa- bilities, service management, decision support tools, a customizable dash- board, over 100 standard reports and doc u ments a nd c ustom repor t i ng powered by Crystal Reports. BillQuick by BQE Software BQE BillQuick is an integrated solution for time and expense tracking, billing, project management and accounting. It is designed to help your frm increase performance, streamline processes and make decisions f a s t e r . W i t h diferent editions to choose from, it's scalable to meet the needs of any frm size - from a single person to a global frm. Intacct Intacct is an on l i ne f i na nc ia l ma nagement a nd accounting system that helps small and mid-sized enterprises improve fnancial, managerial, and operational processes to increase business va lue. I ntacct provides the foundation to help orga- nizations beter plan, budget, report a nd deep d ive into a na ly t ics. T h is solution also streamlines data entry, accelerates the fnancial close process through automation, increases the accuracy of financial reporting, and reduces the burden of compliance. LivePlan by Palo Alto Software LivePlan is a cloud-based app that a l l o w s s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s t o easily: create business plans, create and t rack budgets a nd foreca sts, cra f t f und ing pitches, monitor industr y benchmarks and track fnancial trends and KPIs. Because of the integration with accounting systems, LivePlan is a great collaboration tool for accountants to use with their small business clients, and position themselves as tr usted advisors. QuickBooks Online The newly designed and revamped QuickBooks Online provides small businesses and accountants with an intuitive, easy- to -u se de sig n that gives users access to a robust, open platform that works any time, any- where. Te simple, yet powerful plat- for m of fers accounting a nd sma l l businesses a superior business manage- ment solution in more than 10 lan- guages and 100 countries. ScanWriter by Personable ScanWriter automates data entry from PDF or Excel files directly into the accounting sofware in minutes. And, it documents the imported data with an automated paperless work f low. S u p p or t i n g over 15,0 0 0 vendor invoices and 10,000 national/ local fnancial institutions, ScanWriter's user friendly interface and powerful scanning features improve accuracy, efciency, and minimizes the risk of human error. ScanWriter enters hun- d red s of t ra n sac t ion s i n m i nutes directly from your vendor invoices, receipts, credit card/bank/brokerage statements, payroll reports and more! Also, ScanWriter simplifes the bank reconciliation process by automatically checking for duplicates, errors, and matching the QuickBooks transactions to your bank/credit card statements. TSheets Time Tracking Instant love. Ideally, that's what we're all aiming for in a technology match up. Te perfect vibe. It should be an easy, intuitive experi- ence that strikes a chord and sparks something real. So when time tracking meets accounting sofware, TSheets makes magic happen. Plugged into the way QuickBooks, Sage, ADP, Paychex and other solutions run, TSheets syncs up real timesheet data. Tis detail-packed data goes to work— no mater what program you're working in. Payroll, billing and invoicing get faster and more exacting. Instantly. For employees, TSheets is fun and easy to use online and off line virtually any- where, including on a smartphone, tablet or app—even by clock ing in w ith a phone call, text or tweet. For ProAdvi- sors, accountants and managers, it changes the way you' ll think about time—and how to keep track of it all. Xero Xero ofers the scalability a nd feat u res t y pica l ly found in a f u l l accr ua l accounting system. Tese include accounts receivable, accounts payable, bank reconciliations and more. Xero helps accountants and book- keepers with control over the general ledger and journal entry capabilities, along with fast management report T he Sleeter Group's Awesome Application Awards Program is designed to recognize quality sofware solutions available in the SMB accounting sofware marketplace. Each year, we research solutions to identify and recognize the companies and products who deliver "awesome" value. Te 2015 award recipients include a mixture of mature solutions with deep functions as well as several new products that show great value today and we believe will delight customers for many years to come. 8 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 • w w w . C P A P r a c t Mr. Sleeter is the founder of Te Sleeter Group, a national group of accounting sofware consultants who serve small and medium-sized busi- nesses. He is the host of the Account- ing Solutions Conference and the author of several books including the QuickBooks Consultant's Reference Guide, and the leading market college textbooks "QuickBooks Fundamen- tals and QuickBooks Complete." For more information, call 888-484-5484 or visit www.sleeter.com . Doug can also be reached at Doug.Sleeter@ CPAPracticeAdvisor.com . CONTINUED ON PAGE 14