CPA Practice Advisor

FEB 2012

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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through desktop search tools. As previously mentioned, the engage- ment templates, or binders, are displayed in a folder tree structure. Documents may be added to these binders through a variety of ways. Documents may be imported from most Microsoſt Offi ce products, scanned directly into the soſt ware, manually added through right click menu options or simply by drag-and-drop functions. Regardless of which method is used to import the docu- ments, users will have the ability to assign a workpaper reference number, document name and appropriate fi le folder location to each document. Additionally, ProSystem fx Engagement includes 65 preconfigured blank document template fi les that may be used to create new documents from within the soſt ware. T e main advantage of creating documents through this mechanism is that all fi elds are already mapped, so the client name, engagement date and certain numerical data will automatically be gener- ated. ProSystem fx Engagement defaults all documents to always roll forward, as it is typically easier to delete a document than to regenerate the document year aſt er year. Each document, however, may have specifi c rollover instructions which allows a docu- ment to be rolled over with or without data or as a placeholder for a K-1 or year-end brokerage statement summary, for instance. Prior to a full engagement roll forward, users also have the option to control which docu- ments roll forward and how. All of these functions and implementations are fully dependent upon assigned user access rights. ProSystem fx Engagement also includes a set of tickmarks that come in three colors – red, green and blue. T ese may be used by various staff and management review levels to aid in which specifi c user actually per- 800-PFX-9998 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 the respective Microsoſt Offi ce products as if they were performed within Engagement CS. Other fi le types, such as emails, text fi les and recent versions of QuickBooks may be imported as well. Engagement CS also imports data from Capital Confi rmation and TValue. HELP/SUPPORT Over the past few years, T omson Reuters has steadily been increasing the built-in help 800-968-8900 and support module for Engagement CS. Users may access traditional Help options through the drop down menu navigation at the top of the screen. Within the traditional help module are links to several PDF fi les and videos. T e included videos are generally brief and cover general topics for users to get started with the product. Licenses of any product in the CS Professional Suite lineup also provide access to a variety of online help solutions. An online knowledgebase and dedicated private social network is available for users to interact directly with their peers on specifi c knowledge and engagement based issues. All above mentioned help options are fully included with each license. Email and phone based support is available, but generally at a per-instance or hourly rate. Annual support contracts are available to alleviate any antici- pated support expenses. SUMMARY & PRICING Engagement CS is a comprehensive workfl ow and management system off ering a variety of cs.thomsonreuters.com/engagement February 2012 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 15 formed the task. Users also have the option to create their own tickmarks to use in conjunction with the preinstalled tickmarks. WORKFLOW & COLLABORATION Perhaps the most critical workfl ow compo- nent contained within ProSystem fx Engagement is Knowledge Coach. Knowledge Coach provides guidance for users as they progress through audit engagements, reviews, compilations and nontraditional engage- ments. Workpapers may be automatically generated and additional guidance may be provided based on the client type and size that is currently in process. T e Knowledge Coach may also prompt users on potential problem areas and when certain areas need no further at ention. As with the trial balance, the engagement binder also has a snapshot view. T is view shows all workpapers assigned or any other notes or items demanding at ention by the user currently logged on. From this snapshot view, users are provided links to perform specifi c tasks and to sign off on all documents as completed. Users may sign off on individual documents or through batches of documents. Reviewers may also sign off on documents in a similar manner, but have the ability to lock down documents to prevent further altera- tions. If a document is changed subsequent to reviewer sign-off , a warning is displayed to the person making the change and a visual warning icon is displayed next to the docu- ment on the home screen view. When an engagement is complete and ready for final processing, ProSystem fx Engagement has a wizard that walks the users through the process. During finalization, ProSystem fx Engagement will look for any errors, such as unsigned documents and any warnings or notes that have not been addressed among other items. After the process is completed, the engagement fi le is converted to read-only and no further revi- sions may be made. T e engagement fi le may also be published for peer review or sent to a client. When this process is done, any links specific to ProSystem fx Engagement are removed and the data is converted to the appropriate value as displayed and the docu- ment may be forwarded via email or to a portal as appropriate. INTEGRATION/IMPORT/EXPORT As part of the ProSystem fx product lineup, ProSystem fx Engagement closely integrates with its fellow products. Data may be dynamically linked and shared among all ProSystem fx products. One feature worth mentioning is the integration with ProSystem fx Tax. As adjustments are made within ProSystem fx Engagement, all data is dynamically changed in ProSystem fx Tax. This reduces the need to re-import tax numbers when only small adjustments are necessary to fi nalize the fi nancials and/or tax return. T e system integrates with ProSystem fx Portals for client collaboration, and Pro- system fx Document for fi nal deliverables, searching and retrieval. T e backbone of ProSystem fx Engage- ment relies heavily on Microsoſt Windows and Offi ce functionality. Microsoſt Word, Excel and Outlook each receive dedicated add-in menu capabilities that tie directly into ProSystem fx Engagement. This reliance provides for seamless data import and docu- ment management capabilities. Integration is also provided for Capital Confi rmation and directly imports any outstanding confi rmation data for audit clients. In addition to ProSystem fx Tax, tax data import fi les may be shared with Lacerte and GoSystem Tax RS, though the fi les must be manually imported with each change. Data may also be imported from Excel or ASCII fi le types and from a host of third- party trial balance and engagement soſt ware including CSA, CaseWare, ATB and GoS- ystem Audit. HELP/SUPPORT Several help options are built directly into ProSystem fx Engagement. Traditional pro- gram help can be found through the help drop down menu. Links are also provided to an extensive Internet knowledge base and fre- quently asked questions site. Users may also perform live Internet chat sessions with support staff or contact support via phone. All support is included with each annual renewal and is performed by CCH staff trained specifi cally for ProSystem fx Engage- ment. Other training options include formal onsite or webinar style courses and are available for additional costs. SUMMARY & PRICING ProSystem fx Engagement is an effective engagement solution for accounting practices of all sizes, especially for those currently in a paperless work environment. ProSystem fx Engagement relies heavily on the Microsoſt Windows and Offi ce functions, which drasti- cally reduces the learning curve for users. Though typically thought of as an audit workpaper product, ProSystem fx Engagement may easily be adapted for other engagement types, including tax engagements. Pricing is accomplished through named users within the soſt ware and not the traditional concurrent user model. A single user license, which includes all noted features, starts at $1,700. A firm requiring ten named users is priced around $8,000, though discounts are typically available. Annual renewal costs for each named user license are typically deeply discounted from original license purchase cost. www.cchgroup.com tools for nearly any tax or accounting related engagement. With tight integration with PPC Practice Aids and the ability to maintain engagement functionality without a constant network connection, Engagement CS is strong competitor for firms of all sizes. Engagement CS is fully scalable to adapt to specifi c accounting fi rm needs and a 4 user license starts at $1,800 and includes all noted engagement and trial balance features.

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