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VIRTUAL CFO PLATFORMS Reviews Client-Firm Collaboration is the Key to the New Age of Write-Up By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Managing Editor I s write-up dead? No, but with the continuing move by small b u s i n e s s e s t o o n l i n e accounting sofware, the way in which accountants provide t h i s s e r v i c e i s d e f i n i t e l y changing. T h e v a r i o u s p r o c e s s e s included in write-up engagements, such as bank reconciliations, journal management, correcting transactions, pay roll compliance and financial statement generation, are all still necessary. In fact, these functions will be vital as long as businesses process their ow n transactions and staf f touches the soft ware in any way. Errors happen and so does employee theft, therefore finding and fixing human mistakes is a necessity, just as much as producing accurate fnancial reporting based on the correct data. Cloud-based client accounting systems alleviate and simplify many of these functions, particularly those that include integrated accountant manage- ment functionality that lets the frm get in and work with live client data in a real-time service mode. The processes are changing dra- matically. Tis allows the business and accounting frm to work collabora- tively in running the business in a m o re p roac t i v e a n d p ro d u c t i v e manner. We consider this style of accounting sofware as "Virtual CFO" s y s t e m s , u s i n g c l o u d - b a s e d accounting programs that both the client and accounting frm work in, albeit in different areas of the pro- gram, and with diferent access rights. With these collaborative Virtual CFO systems, accounting frms can provide more responsive and mean- ingful real-time management informa- tion to clients, instead of late informa- tion from a system that uses data from the last closed period, which was likely several weeks prior. Old-school w r i t e - u p m a y s u f f i c e f o r b a s i c reporting requirement needs, but simply cannot prov ide real-time actionable data, or the collaborative benefits of providing Virtual CFO services. CPA Practice Advisor reviewed four cloud-based accounting systems that include options for small businesses to use as well as multi-client manage- ment functionality for accounting firms to oversee and manage their clients' books. Follow the links below to see how they compared. • ACCOU NTA NTS WOR LD - ACCOU NTING POW ER • THOMSON R EUTER S - ACCOU NTING CS • INTU IT QU ICK BOOK S ON LIN E & QBO FOR ACCOU NTA NTS • X ERO & X ERO PA RTN ER PL ATFOR M 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 THIS REVIEW SECTION FOCUSED ON ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS THAT MEET BOTH SIDES OF THE CLIENT-FIRM SCENARIO, WITH EACH ACCESSING THE SAME DATA IN REAL-TIME, AND THE ACCOUNTING FIRM HAVING THE ABILITY TO MANAGE MULTIPLE CLIENTS THROUGH A SINGULAR MANAGEMENT INTERFACE TO PROVIDE WRITE-UP STYLE SERVICES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR DATA TRANSFER OR CONVERSION. 8 February 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO SELL CFO SERVICES ON PAGE 31.