NEW PRODUCTS
SOFTWARE
Don’t be picky
Accounting CS
The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson
Reuters
http://cs.thomsonreuters.com/accountingcs
One of the advantages of the modular approach to accounting software is not having
to pay for anything you don’t need. It has its
limits, though, since half the time you end up
picking most of the modules anyway. Thomson Reuters’ new Accounting CS does away
with this need for pickiness by combining
write-up, live and after-the-fact payroll, trial
balance, financial reporting and client accounting into a single unified platform.
What’s more, its new architecture is designed to allow online, real-time collaboration between firms and clients, while at the
same time opening up new approaches to
workflow and division of duties, by allowing
users to divide work by tasks, not just by client; offering configuration options to fit an
individual firm’s needs; and letting multiple
staff work on the same client simultaneously,
with instant access to the latest client data
at all times.
Staying CPAs
Firm CPE Center
CPE Link
www.cpelink.com
One of the things that makes a CPA firm is
having CPAs employed in it — which you
won’t, if they fail to keep up with their continuing education requirements. That may
be why so many firms are taking to managing their staff’s CPE, whether with Excel and
scolding e-mails, or with more advanced solutions like the new Firm CPE Center from
course provider CPE Link. The CPE Center
lets staff easily register for courses — or be
registered by you; tracks CPE activity; and
notifies you when staff register for, complete
or cancel CPE events.
At the moment, it only tracks CPE for
courses taken from CPE Link, but the company plans to add tracking for other vendors’
courses in the future. In the meantime, the
center lets you take advantage of all kinds
of discounts and group pricing on CPE Link
courses. Its Firm Advantage Pass lets you buy
discounted course hours and distribute them
to staff as needed, and there are even deeper
discounts available if staff members view live
Send items for consideration for New
Products to Daniel Hood at daniel.hood@
sourcemedia.com.
webcasts as a group. It’s a handy way to make
sure you stay a CPA firm.
From bad to work
CNG-Web
Cabinet NG
www.cabinetng.com
It was bad enough that being able to access
your firm’s digital document management
system meant you could never get out of
work by claiming not to have a particular
document. Now the new version of Cabinet
NG’s CNG-Web — the browser interface
to its CNG-SAFE DM system — has added
workflow capabilities, so not only can you
get documents, you can also access their
workflow history, add notes to it, and route
them as needed. To soften the blow, they’ve
streamlined the navigation and added a feature that remembers where you were in the
system from your previous session. But it still
means it’ll be harder and harder for you to
get out of work.
If you must send …
Biscom Delivery Server
Biscom
www.biscomdeliveryserver.com
The single best way to make sure that you
don’t send client information in an unsecured format is not to send it at all: Simply
arrange for them to come to your office
whenever you have something for them
to look at. If they’re too lazy for that, you
might consider the Biscom Delivery Server,
a secure file transfer solution that can encrypt and transfer files small and large. It’s
easier to use than FTP, and at the same time
enhances Microsoft Outlook so that users
can still e-mail files as they’re accustomed
to, without sacrificing security. Better still,
BDS maintains a complete transaction and
audit trail, and offers the ability to set up automated file transfers.
A good scam ruined
Payroll Analysis Service
Apex Analytix
www.apexanalytix
Payroll fraud: Just the words make our mouths
water. Who wouldn’t want an extra paycheck
or two? Unfortunately, Apex Analytix is mak-
ing it harder than ever with its new Payroll
Analysis Service. The service combines the
expert analysis of certified fraud examiners
with sophisticated detection algorithms to
assess a company’s payroll data and person-
nel files against dozens of potential fraud sce-
narios. It then ranks risks for investigation
and recommends a mitigation plan. So now
we’re back to stealing office supplies.
Beyond the books
Workflow 4000
Real Asset Management International
www.realassetmgt.com
With all the work that goes into accounting
for a company’s fixed assets, it’s easy to forget
that they’re actual physical things, and not
just entries in a computer system. Real Asset
Management International hasn’t forgotten,
though, and has added Workflow4000 to its
Series4000 fixed asset management products
in consequence. The solution keeps track of
the important events in the life of a fixed asset
— such as insurance renewals coming due,
or warranties approaching expiration — and
sends automatic alerts and notifications by
e-mail, text message or fax. Preconfigured
notifications are available that can be used
as is, customized, or copied and modified
into new events.
Smart about phones
Telesoft 10.0 TEM
Telesoft
www.telesoft.com
When we here at New Products need to make
a phone call, we leave a quarter in a jar on our
CFO’s desk. While most companies aren’t as
cost-conscious as ours, that doesn’t mean
they can’t find ways to cut their communications costs. Consider, for instance, the just-released Telesoft 10.0, a telecoms expense
management solution that gives companies
in-depth reporting on their telecoms usage
and costs, as well as a single Web interface to
control ordering and policies for both fixed-line and wireless phone services. Between
the increased visibility into spending and the
improved control, Telesoft claims that users
typically save as much as 35 percent on costs.
Which means we’d only have to put 16 cents
in the jar.
More payroll
Heartland PlusOne Payroll
Heartland Payment Systems
www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com
Heartland Payment Systems has released
Heartland PlusOne Payroll, a comprehen-
sive new payroll platform based on Oracle
technology that lets users enter payroll data
directly from a Web browser, while also let-
ting them and their accountants access the
information with SSL-encryption protection,
and allowing employees access to paystubs
and self-serve options through an online por-
tal. It also offers easy-to-use reporting, and
interfaces with leading accounting and time
and attendance solutions.
Don’t be BP
Sustain4
Unit4
www.unit4.com
As BP is beginning to realize, environmental
issues can have an effect on a company’s bottom line. Before your clients go the BP route,
they might consider Sustain4, a new environmental performance management solution
from ERP vendor Unit4. It uses a company’s
financial and business performance data to
benchmark its environmental impact in more
than 700 areas against those of thousands
of organizations across over 450 industries.
Actually counting every barrel of illicitly
dumped toxic waste and each ton of greenhouse gases emitted could take months or
even years, but Sustain4 lets companies gain
an immediate handle on their environmental
impact, and enables the detailed reporting
necessary for environmental compliance. After its initial launch in the U.K., Unit4 plans to
market Sustain4 around the world. (For more
lessons from BP, see Books, see page 39.)
New and improved!
Imagine Time has released Version 9 of its
practice management solutions, which now
include a document management system.
… Thomson Reuters has enhanced the integration between its Sabrix Managed Tax
Service and Microsoft Dynamics GP. … CCH
has integrated its ProSystem fx Tax with its
Tax Prep Partner Series, so users can access
research, guidance and explanatory content
directly from the program. … Copanion
has integrated its tax workflow application,
Grunt Worx Populate, with CCH’s ProSystem
fx Tax and Thomson Reuters’ Ultra Tax CS. …
Open-source software vendor x Tuple has introduced the new x Tuple Web Portal so users
of its accounting, ERP and CRM solutions can
work directly with customers, suppliers and
others. … Cimcon Software has launched a
new version of its SOX-XL governance, risk
and compliance solution, which includes
support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008
R2. … Lenovo has released a new set of ThinkPad laptops, including the ThinkPad L Series
and the ThinkPad X100e Ultraportable.
