Accounting Today - October 11 2010

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October 11-24, 2010 | accounting today 19

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For 2010, we have looked at the top seven research platforms — all of them online offerings. It is clear from the trends that while tomes of bound-paper Tax Codes or CD/DVD research offerings are still around, demand for them is declining. The need for work-any-where, access-all-the-time research is making these products obsolete. The online research platform is here, and it is the future.

The best of these platforms — BNA, the CCH Accounting Research Manager, and Checkpoint — have redefined how research is done in the accounting industry, and are driving a new generation of practice management tools that will spur the industry into new growth in the 21st century.

Smaller accounting firms that may not have the funds to invest in these best-of-class services are not left behind, either. Free services offering access to tax codes, regulations and advice abound on the Internet, with Drake’s 1040.com and Accountants World two worth looking at. Intuit offers a low-cost research product powered by BNA, plus a free tax practice wiki that is worth joining.

Overall, a roundup of the best accounting and tax research tools of 2010 finds an industry more robust, more interesting, more precise and more economical than ever before. And while there are plenty of entries at the high end of the marketplace, there appears to be room for more economical and targeted services for smaller accounting firms to emerge.

BNA Tax and
Accounting Center
BNA Tax and Accounting
Bureau of National Affairs Inc.
(800) 372-1033
www.bna.com/products/tax/btac.htm
Pricing: Contact vendor.

The BNA Tax and Accounting Center is a Web resource that integrates BNA’s best content — Portfolios, the Daily Tax Report, practice tools, source documents and commentary — in a single location. Its key features are advanced search capabilities, customization features, simplified navigation and fast access from any computer.

BNA was formed in 1929 to explain the increasingly complicated workings of the federal government and their impact on the country. Its strong focus on tax and accounting came during the Eisenhower administration, when the Tax Code underwent a major revamp. Today, BNA offers more than 350 daily, weekly, monthly and up-to-the-minute news services, and for tax and accounting alone offers more than 500 “Portfolios” — in-depth analyses and guidance written by practitioners for practitioners. BNA Portfolios are available in printed form, on DVD or via the Web.

Each Portfolio is divided into three sections. A detailed analysis of the topic or issue with citations and references covers opportunities, approaches, alternatives, probable IRS positions, code provisions, IRS rulings and tax cases — including common pitfalls to avoid. The second section for working

BY Dave Mcclure

Technology has spurred a revolution in the tax and accounting practices of most firms. What were once rather mundane practice areas of Internal revenue Service forms and findings and Financial accounting Standards Board releases has exploded into a content-rich, profit-generating segment of the industry. and nowhere is that more evident than in the emergence over the past decade of strong Web-based research sites and resources to make accountants more efficient and their advice more pertinent to the needs of their clients.

Feature-rich platforms make tax and accounting research better

papers includes all of the relevant forms, documents and background tools, such as checklists and sample language. The third section is a bibliography that documents all sources, official and unofficial, including statutes, regulations, rulings, congressional committee reports, and tax articles in professional journals.

Content in the Tax and Accounting Center includes the Accounting Policy and Practice Series; Compensation Planning Portfolios; Country Portfolios covering 40 other countries; Estate, Gifts and Trusts Portfolios; Foreign Income Portfolios; IRS Practice Advisor; Premier International Tax Library; Real Estate Portfolios; Sales and Use Tax Portfolios; State Tax Portfolios; Tax-Exempt Organizations Portfolios; Transfer Pricing Portfolios; Tax Practice Library; Transfer Pricing Premier Library; and U.S. Income Portfolios Library.

At presstime, BNA was adding another feature — the Premier State Tax Library. The new library features more than 80 Portfolios and a state-by-state Sales and Use Tax Navigator.

The site offers multiple ways to navigate the content, via tabbed sections at the top of the page, indexes, saved favorites, and by content type. It offers the ability to create a customized home page, offers helpful links to other Web sites, provides links to primary sources, and has a simple but powerful search box at the top of the index page.

Its clean interface, simple navigation and depth of content make the BNA Tax and Accounting Center one of the most powerful research tools on the market today, and a strong contender among Web-based systems that can level the playing field for smaller and specialized accounting firms.

REMOTE ACCESS FOR QB MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. — Intuit has released QuickBooks 2011, with new features designed to allow small-business owners to access essential information remotely. A new service, QuickBooks Connect, lets small businesses access QuickBooks data remotely via the Internet or a mobile device. Other key additions include customer and vendor history features and a customer snapshot. QuickBooks 2011 also includes a simplified start-up process, with start center guides that assist users through installation and allow them to import business contacts directly from their Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail accounts.

THOMSON REUTERS ADDS
CLIENT ACCESS PRODUCT

NEW YORK — The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has released a new product that helps accountants and clients collaborate online. Accounting CS Client Access is an extension of the company’s recently introduced Accounting CS, and will initially offer clients check-writing and payroll-calculation capabilities, with accounts receivable and payable to be added over the coming year. Firms can choose which functions to deploy on a client-by-client basis.

Firms can maintain control over how clients interact with data and execute their day-to-day bookkeeping functions. Clients can access the software through a secure portal on the firm’s Web site with customizable permissions. Firm employees can set up each client directly from the firm’s computer systems, with no client visit required.

Dave McClure is the president of Kent Associates, in Alexandria, Va., an independent testing laboratory and evaluation service.

CCH Accounting Research Manager CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (888) 224-7377 http://cchgroup.com Pricing: Ranges from $500 to $4,600, with charges for additional features.

The CCH Accounting Research Manager is a Web-based research tool that offers a com-

PERSONABLE LAUNCHES SCAN AND POPULATE FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CALIF. — Personable Inc. has introduced Scan Writer for QuickBooks, a technology that will allow for automation of all previously keyed entries into QuickBooks. Scan Writer is designed to capture scanned documents or existing electronic statements, including bank statements, credit card statements, receipts, invoices and other documents, and immediately populate QuickBooks transactions for a client.