Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/42507
WEBSITE BUILDERS Intuit, Inc. — Intuit Websites Reviews For Your Firm BEST FIT Virtually any small business, including tax and accounting practices, wanting a simple and automated website creation system. STRENGTHS • Easy to add Intuit Web Payment service for ecommerce activities. • Good search engine optimization tools. • Includes email marketing features BEST FIT T e system can be used by any fi rm, but it's optimized for use by profes- sional practices using the CS Profes- sional Suite of accounting and practice management programs. STRENGTHS • Client portals enable secure col- laboration and document sharing. • Integration with CS Professional Suite. BEST FIT CCH Site Builder is one of the longer-established players in the website builders market and can be used by any fi rm. It is part of the ProSystem fx suite of applications and is an ideal fi t for fi rms who use other components of the ProSystem fx product suite. STRENGTHS • Recent updates include redesigns, additional tools and content, enhanced customization, fi le share BEST FIT Drake's 1040.com preparer websites are exclusively for Drake Soſt ware users, and have gone through a full modifi cation in layout, look, color scheme, enhanced ease of use and full edit capabilities. STRENGTHS • Free for Drake Soſt ware users. • Unlimited pages. • Built-in counter for measuring site and an online small business marketing toolkit. • Broad collection of template designs. • Customized blog service can be integrated into websites. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • System not specifi cally tailored to needs of accounting practice. • T ere are no options for syndicated news content, newsletters or • Professional layouts, images and background colors. • Support for unique domains. • Calculators and track-refund links. • Custom site building available for an additional fee. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Somewhat limited free content, charge for additional content. • No automated social media inte- gration. accounting/tax-related content or calculators. • No integration with professional accounting, tax or document management systems. • No client portals. SUMMARY & PRICING With Intuit Websites, Intuit truly is catering to the needs of the busy small business owner who doesn't have a lot of time or a lot of resources to create Thomson Reuters — Web Builder CS • Extra charge for web email service. SUMMARY & PRICING Like other giants in the fi eld of site building, T omson Reuters has a proven track record and a solid off ering for fi rms. Firms who use other components of the T omson Reuters CS Professional Suite of programs will fi nd Web Builder CS a good fi t for their practices. Setup is $350 with a basic recurring cost of owned by the fi rm. a useable site. Accounting professionals will also find the simplicity of the signup process and creation of the site to be very painless. Intuit off ers three levels of pricing, with each based on the number of available pages, amount of storage, number of email addresses, and a few other bells and whistles. T e Starter plan, also called "Personal," websites.intuit.com off ers a 30-day free trial and is $4.99/ month. With the Gold or "Business" plan, the fi rst 30 days are also free, and the cost is $19.99/month. T e Platinum or "Professional" plan is $49.99 per month. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10358891 CS.ThomsonReuters.com $65 per month (or $780 per year). PPC Tax and Business Alerts are included in this price, as is Forefi eld KnowledgeTrust content. PPC advanced newslet ers are $20 per month ($240/year), and Web email service (up to fi ve accounts) is $10 per month ($120/year). Additional email accounts are $2 each. For fi rms who want T omson Reuters to create a website for them, the Web Builder CS Design Service add-on is available for a one-time charge of $350. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10358897 CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business — CCH Site Builder security and more. • Two portal options: File Share and ProSystem fx Portal. • Nearly 100 different templates with thousands of diff erent com- binations available; new templates added regularly. • Design services provide fully customized site design options. • Users can use CCH content or their own. • Expansive SEO tools & Google Analytics supported. • Unique domains available and • Email marketing included. POSSIBLE LIMITATIONS • No current blogging engine and only basic social media options currently available (tighter integra- tion with social media platforms and mobile browsers slated for later this year). SUMMARY & PRICING CCH is one of the premier providers of accounting soſt ware across a range Drake Software 1040.com Preparer Websites traffi c. • Reporting tools allow users to monitor visits, clients using the site, as well as any income gener- ated by the site. • The prep-site template offers linking to social media platforms. • Users receive free subdomain (prep.1040.com/yournamehere). • Blog portals may be linked to site, and syndicated news content is provided by Taxingsubjects.com; 28 October 2011 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com additional content available for a fee. • Firms can offer do-it-yourself online tax preparation through their websites. POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Only seven customizable layouts. • No client portal integration or compatibility with Google Ana- lytics available at this time. • Unique domain names require upgrade. CCHGroup.com/SiteBuilder of applications, and the vendor's advancement in this area proves that the company is aggressively con- tinuing to tackle the website and design needs of tax and accounting professionals. Setup costs $295 with an annual fee of $995, which includes e-mail account hosting and spam fi ltering, eNewslet ers, secure fi le exchange, and much more. Premium content and options available include the following: CCH Tax Guide, Life Cycle Reading Rack for the Individual or Business, Domain registra- tion, Financial Planning Toolkit, Business Owners Toolkit, ProSystem fx Portal (for needs beyond simple file exchange), additional email accounts and storage, Custom and Deluxe Web and Graphic Design packages, and Customized SEO consulting services. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10358710 www.1040.com SUMMARY & PRICING Drake's 1040.com preparer websites have gone through a full modifi cation and off er a dynamite premise: pre- parers helping clients do their taxes online easily and inexpensively. And the long-established Drake Soſt ware seems like the logical provider to move this good idea ahead. Setup is free for existing Drake Software customers with no recurring costs for users of the full package. Read the full review of this product exclusively online at www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10358734