Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/39633
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Other essential mobile tools enable practitioners to be more eff ective in helping clients analyze their fi nancial data. Many SaaS and mobile products function as collaborative tools, where the accountant and client can simul- taneously work with transactions and data in a SaaS application, despite the long distances between the two parties. T ese tools provide users with the benefi ts of scalability and fl exibility, as well as the ability to monitor and control how each user works with the product. Clients who are overwhelmed by the many features within their soſt ware products are able to utilize mobile apps built and tailored spe- cifi cally to their job functions, without fear of interfering with other areas of the system. SaaS-based product Bill.com con- tinues to improve its application to be device indiscriminate. Bill.com Mobile allows Android, iOS and BlackBerry users to pay and approve bills, as well as view outstanding and overdue invoices with its new Receivables module. T e mobile application allows users to send invoices and payment reminders from any device, and the notes feature fosters ongoing communication between senders and recipients. Xero.com, a web-based financial accounting system, has also extended its SaaS solution to the mobile platform, giving partners instant access to the partner dashboard with the opportu- nity to troubleshoot or analyze data from any device. Users are able to view bank and credit card account balances, prepare and issue invoices, and snap a photo of a receipt to prepare expense Image 1 reports instantaneously (see image 1). Concur Breeze, an easy-to-use online employee expense management tool, makes it possible for users to create, update, approve and pay expense reports using any Apple iOS or Google WE SHOULD ALL EVALUATE HOW WE CAN USE MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO BETTER SERVE CLIENTS AND PROVIDE OURSELVES AND OUR EMPLOYEES A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE WITHOUT SACRIFICING PRODUCTIVITY. Android phone. As with Xero, receipts can be downloaded from your fi nancial institution or scanned with your mobile device's built-in camera. The information captured on the mobile application is automatically updated in the Concur website. T ere is no need to tape down and scan pages of thermal receipts, enter them into Excel, and then have another employee type them into your accounting soſt ware. With the Concur mobile app, the data is keyed in once, imported directly into accounting soſt ware, and can be fi led in Breeze or exported to the company's digital document management system as a PDF fi le. Recent improvements to the Intuit Partner Platform (IPP) bring a more heavily populated Intuit App Center, which is a marketplace for third-party, on-demand add-ins for the popular QuickBooks small business accounting soſt ware. Business owners can fi nd apps that work with QuickBooks and satisfy extended needs in their business beyond fi nancial tasks provided in the accounting software. The Center provides a wide range of SaaS applica- tions that extend QuickBooks to meet specialized needs such as expense reporting, e-Commerce, time tracking, cash fl ow management and marketing. Another vendor in the SaaS accounting space is Intacct, which off ers an accounting suite designed for medium-sized and public compa- nies, as well as an accountant edition for tax and accounting firms. The Intacct financial management and accounting system provides a modu- larized suite of products to cover time 14 September 2011 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com and expenses, purchasing, inventory, revenue, project management, as well as the core general ledger. Mobile apps such as ExpenseCloud, eliminate the manual entering of expenses for reporting and immediately import credit card transactions, receipt images and clients directly into Intacct. NetSuite also off ers a robust line of SaaS-based accounting solutions to the mid-market, with Accounting/ ERP, CRM, Inventory and Ecommerce applications. With the introduction of SuiteCloud, developers are able to create applications that provide additional mobile flexibility. And SuiteApp.com is a marketplace for exploring additional tools built for industry-specifi c needs. Developments in the payment industry have brought additional pay- ment options to small business owners who are on the go. Square and Intuit GoPayment streamline credit card processing from smartphones or the iPad. Charlie Russell, founder of CCRSoſt ware, off ers a detailed look at Intuit GoPayment on the iPad2, which is worth investigating (see image 2). Dwolla takes the paperless concept one step further, off ering the ability to pay vendors or accept payments utilizing elec- tronic transfers (neither cash nor credit cards are required). Users can quickly identify merchants that accept Dwolla using the vendor's Spots feature. If you're not quite ready to fully immerse yourself or your fi rm in mobile and SaaS solutions, you're in good company. Many fi rms fi nd that they still need access to features that reside in their desktop products. Companies like CPAASP/Insynq, Right Networks, Awensa and Cloud9 Real Time are helping to bridge the gap that exists between desktop, SaaS and mobile applications. T ese companies host almost any computer application in a secure server farm. One hosting provider, Insynq, off ers the ability to host more than 300 applications, including tax preparation soſt ware, fi nancial accounting soſt ware and even Microsoſt Offi ce. Vendors in the mobile tax and Image 2 accounting marketplace realize that security is a concern for everyone. You will want to ask questions and review documentation and third-party reports to become comfortable with each vendor's approach to security and business continuity. Some areas for evaluation include data center operations (SAS 70/SSAE 16 reports and compli- ance), industry-specifi c compliance requirements (e.g. HIPAA, GLB, IRC §7216), safeguards that prevent Denial of Service (DoS) at acks, the physical security of the servers, backup systems, support and response times. The introduction of apps for smartphones, hosting platforms and SaaS solutions has changed the way we think about where we want to work. This revolution, combined with the general availability of reasonably priced hardware, powerful soſt ware and always-on connectivity everywhere means that today's users will not accept the business processes of a generation ago. We should all evaluate how we can use mobile technology to bet er serve clients and provide ourselves and our employees a bet er quality of life without sacrifi cing productivity. By Kara Haas, CPA.CITP, CFE Kara owns her own fi rm and is dedicated to the growth and success of small business, individuals and community organizations. Her fi rm's core focus is the retail industry and online solutions, offering a solid mix of accounting knowledge and technology to assist businesses in reaching their goals. Kara has worked in manufacturing and family business for several years developing a passion for accounting. She is a member of the Florida Institute of CPAs and the AICPA.