Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/76159
Reviews For Your Firm WEBSITE BUILDERS Thomson Reuters' Web Builder CS, Powered by Emochila Since 2003, Emochila has CS.ThomsonReuters.com/web-builder structure and menus. BEST FIT Tax and accounting firms that either want a customized design or want to build a site based on a template. Since the product is owned by Tomson Reuters and con- tains a template for a client login page to NetClient CS, as well as a basic file exchange portal and integration with NetClient CS, it could be considered by firms using the CS Professional Suite. STRENGTHS r Templates have attractive designs, and it is easy to switch between templates. r The tax tools, news, and financial guides provide plenty of helpful information and resources for website visitors. r Easy interface within the administration page for managing a site's page r Onl ine appointment requests, referral submission forms, and client testimonial collection tools. r Technical support and website edits (except custom design changes) are included in the monthly service fee, so firms don't need to learn the back-end administrative tools. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS r Built-in blogging system is proprietary. While it is simple and easy to use, it does not contain advanced features of other blogging software (such as Word- Press). However, third-party blogging platforms can be integrated. r No mechanism to prevent webform spamming, but firms must approve testimo- nials before they are posted. www.CPASiteSolutions.com BEST FIT Firms that want a site from one the best template-based web builders along with comprehensive web mar- keting services, and firms that want to build a website quickly. CPASiteSolutions boasts that it only needs 15 minutes of a CPA's time and that the dedicated webmaster often completes the site within 2 days. STRENGTHS r 366 great templates to choose from, including smart designs which auto- recognize screen sizes and devices for a perfect fit (unique among products reviewed) r Great point-and-click WYSIWYG editor makes it easy to add and format text. Essentially, changes are previewed as you make them on the page. Advanced users can use an HTML editor. r New site styles, features, and upgrades are released almost monthly. As a result, the product is constantly improving. r Newsleters contain a lot of content (10 articles each month) and are writen by CPASiteSolutions' team of CPAs and MBAs. r The CPASiteSolutions website and online Help Center is full of answers to frequently asked questions, explanations, tutorials, videos, and web marketing ideas. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS r In general, newsleters con- 28 August 2012 t www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com tain only national content (for example, they do not contain state-specific tax news). However, a firm can write its own newsleter. r Firms looking to make modifications to the website style (the layout, for example) on their own will find it to be very restricted to the template and will need to contact CPASiteSolutions for changes. CPASiteSolutions has been helping accountants create websites since it was founded in 1999. With a strong belief in constant and never-ending improvement, the company adds new designs and product enhance- ments nearly every month. Aſter having evolved for 13 years, CPASiteSolutions' impressive offering includes hundreds of professional designs, thousands of pages of content writen by CPAs, and a long list of add-on fea- tures. CPASiteSolutions is a good fit for both firms that want to enter content on their own or want to have all of the changes made for them. Firms will find the WYSIWYG editor very easy for making minor text edits. Firms that do not want any part of the website administration back-end can call or e-mail their assigned dedicated webmaster with a to-do list. SUMMARY & PRICING With an impressive array of templates and features, CPASiteSolutions has created and maintained over 5,000 websites for accounting firms and solidified its position among the leaders in the industry. CPASiteSolutions offers three tiered plans: Silver at $49.50 per month, Gold at $69.50 per month, and Plat- inum at $99.50 per month. Te Gold plan offers all of the features of the Silver plan plus a dedicated webmaster, remote assistance, more designs and a more robust integrated portal. Te Plat- inum plan adds site statistics, search engine marketing and a social media marketing system. Te first 60 days are free for all plans, and there is no contract or commitment. Unlimited technical support is provided by phone, Live- Help IM chat, and e-mail. Local search engine opti- mization is a one-time fee of $499. Custom website design ranges from $195 to $495. Custom copywriting is $1 per word with a 150 word min- imum. Other add-on features available for additional fees include extra client portal storage, professionally pro- duced online video, online payroll processing system, online accounting system, online tax soſtware hosting, and managed WordPress blogs. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10739706 been one of the leading website builder service pro- viders to lawyers and CPA firms. On December 9, 2011, the Tax & Accounting busi- ness unit of Tomson Reuters acquired Emochila. Not to be confused with Thomson Reuters' previous website builder soſtware, the current product offered is known as Thomson Reuters Web Builder CS, Powered by Emochila (however, throughout this review, I will refer to it as simply "Web Builder CS"). Since it is built on the Emochila platform, it is completely different than the former Tomson system. Te company is in the process of helping customers that had built sites using the previous Thomson Reuters Web Builder CS software to upgrade to the Emochila CPASiteSolutions CompleteWebSuite platform. Web Builder CS has client firms with both hands-on and hands-off approaches to their websites. For the "hands-off" firms, custom website design services are provided for an additional fee. Firms can contact the technical support team to handle minor edits (such as text changes), which are included in the monthly service fee. Though only about 29 different templates are offered, they are very distinc- tive. Some have large images for the home page while others have more text. Users can easily switch templates by clicking on a thumbnail image. Compared to its competitors, Web Builder CS has one of the easier interfaces for managing the page struc- ture (creating a splash page, adding subpages, reordering submenus, etc). For editing page content , both a WYSIWYG editor is available with an interface similar to a word processor and an html code editor is provided for advanced users. Technical support is available both by phone and e-mail, and an online knowl- edgebase can answer many frequently asked questions. Tomson Reuters also offers the ARNE Community, an online peer-to-peer support system through which profes- sionals can share tips and advice on all products in the CS Professional Suite. SUMMARY & PRICING It will be interesting to see the Emochila platform develop as it further integrates with the Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite. Its combi- nation of solid web design, marketing tools, and user friendly interface helps thousands of tax and accounting firms build an online presence. Pricing starts at $70 per month, which covers the hosting, content, features and support. Tere is no up-front setup cost, and the template designs are free. Custom design work ranges from $500 for a logo, $1,250 for a custom designed site, and $2,000 for a fully ani- mated designed site. Inter- ested users can try the product free for 30 days. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10737428