2010 Review of BNA — BNA Tax and Accounting Center

BNA Software - BNA Tax and Accounting Center
800-372-1033
www.bnatax.com

BNA’s leadership in tax research can be validated by the inclusion of its research products in the research systems of all four platforms reviewed this year, including offerings from Thomson Reuters, CCH, and Intuit. Here we review BNA’s Tax & Accounting Center.

Basic System Functions:

Analysis, primary sources and other guidance documents can be located using one of four primary methods on the BNA Tax & Accounting Center platform:

• - A Quick Search, which locates all information on a topic in a user’s subscribed databases.
• - An Advanced Search, which allows the scope of the search to be limited, as well as permits more complex filters such as Boolean search terms.
• - Guided Search, which allows the user to browse through categories and topics as part of the search process.
• - Finally, a user can enter a known citation, case, or Portfolio number in the Go To box, and be taken directly to that document.

BNA also has staff members who read the content and classify it into topical indices for each content database. Although electronic word searches may be effective for many searches, the work of its editors and authors to create these proprietary indexes makes it easier to find the best, on-point content, which is actually needed when searching for a topic as opposed to simply displaying where the search words are presented.

Content:

BNA offers a comprehensive catalog of primary sources, including entire Internal Revenue Code, regulations, tax treaties, federal tax court cases going back to 1913, and more. The company also has an excellent library of state tax resources to assist practitioners with typical issues such as payroll and sales tax, as well as diverse business, legal and international topics such as environmental taxes, international taxation, pensions, employee benefits, and specialized industry practices and procedures.

Interpretative guidance and insight from practicing experts is available in BNA Portfolios, a series of publications that provide deep topical analysis, historical perspective and alternative approaches to transactions for of a wide range of topics, as well as links to the related primary sources and relevant guidance. Each Portfolio is authored by a practicing expert, focuses on a transaction or topic, and includes three sections:

1. Detailed Analysis – analysis and discussion of the relevant issues as well as different scenarios associated with the topic so you and your client can make the best decision about how best to approach an issue.
2. Working Papers – tools to assist you and your clients with effectively implementing different approaches to accounting for a topic, including checklists, publications from taxing authorities, forms of contract and illustrative language to use in agreements, as well as information from the IRS.
3. Bibliography – Provides additional official and unofficial documents and citations that may assist the reader with additional research on the topic. Typical contents include statutes, congressional committee reports, court cases, IRS rulings and procedures, and on-point agreements, conventions and treaties.

BNA’s editors report that they have invested in the new Premier State Tax Library in 2010, which includes the Sales and Use Tax Navigator that summarizes the types of taxes levied by a jurisdiction, as well as detailed analysis and links to authoritative sources and Chart Builders, designed to create comparative charts and tables summarizing key points of tax law in various jurisdictions.

The BNA Tax & Accounting Center also features other practice tools, such as Client Development Letters, which are designed to present planning opportunities to clients and assist the practitioner’s business development to both new and existing customers.

Customization:

The BNA Tax & Accounting Center’s user interface can be customized to meet the needs of individual users, and the home page permits users to configure key settings, including saved searches and the size of the text used throughout the service.