Honoring Innovation

From the August 2008 Issue

For many practices, the transition to a paperless office environment (or at least a less-paper one) has resulted in significant changes to workflow. Old methods of managing engagement folders are no longer applicable; the way review functions are processed are inherently different; management functions have changed. In short, the paperless revolution has brought new challenges and new opportunities to further increase productivity and enhance efficiency.
Programs focused on streamlining these and other public practice issues claimed the spotlight at this year’s Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards, held in June at the California Accounting and Business Show & Conference in Los Angeles. The 2008 winners were Copanion, Inc. for the GruntWorx system; XCM Solutions for its Workflow & Information Automation Software; CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, for ProSystem fx Document E-mail Management; and Thomson Reuters for two of its products — Engagement CS and PPC SMART e-Practice Aids – Risk Assessment.

Now in their 5th year, the Innovation Awards were presented by Executive Editor, Gregory L. LaFollette, CPA.CITP, who noted that this year’s award recipients seemed to share a common purpose of maximizing efficiencies in public practices. “The movement toward the paperless accounting and tax practice, which professionals have been undertaking for nearly a decade, is well on its way to completion,” LaFollette said. “The next step in the continuing evolution of the professional digital environment is rethinking workflow processes to maximize productivity, and each of the products selected for awards this year approach various workflow processes with the goal of streamlining tasks and management functions.”

Over the past few years, the Innovation Awards have emerged as the most honored recognition presented to developers of technologies geared toward tax and accounting professionals. The awards are selected by the Awards Committee of The CPA Technology Advisor, which includes its editorial staff, thought leaders in the profession and the magazine’s editorial advisory board, which is comprised of accounting and tax professionals from across the country who are engaged in public practice in firms ranging from sole practitioners to major, multi-office regional practices.

Nominated products or services must be less than two years old or have undergone a significant revision or addition during the past two years. They are voted on based upon their innovation and the potential benefit the products or services are likely to deliver to the profession. A total of five awards are presented each year on an “at large” basis, with no categories or rankings.

“Each year, the nominations increase in number and improve in quality, which is both wonderful for the profession and challenging for our judges. We sincerely appreciate the efforts of our nearly 50 judges who vetted this year’s nominations. It is a daunting task, indeed!”

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Copanion, Inc. — GruntWorx
www.Copanion.com

The GruntWorx system automatically scans, organizes and bookmarks tax documents to save time finding, organizing, entering and reviewing tax data. The web-based solution makes it easy and affordable for any size firm to use scanned tax documents to prepare returns.

GruntWorx reads scanned tax documents, automatically recognizes the type of form, and consistently organizes forms in a single PDF file for each client. The system uses advanced technology to identify tax documents, including brokerage statements, tax organizers and handwritten notes. The PDF file output option allows users to add tick marks and notes to prepare workpapers, while the consistently organized file helps standardize workflows. The bookmarks make it easy for support staff with limited tax experience to find tax data.