The Future is Mobility, Collaboration & SaaS

2011 Awards Honor Advances in Technology.

Most professionals who rely on technology to perform their jobs and provide client service (isn’t this everyone?) would likely agree that we’re in an age of constant technological evolution. Here at CPA Practice Advisor, we’ve chronicled many of these changes during the past 20 years, not only noting their passing, but also evaluating and advising on the most beneficial developments.

When we started the Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Awards in 2004, the profession was in the middle of the process of going paperless, and since has moved toward integrating more advanced workflow tools, enhancing their client collaboration capabilities, broadening their service offerings and continuing to streamline their processes.

One of the greatest continuing advances in technology developed for tax and accounting professionals is the adoption of web-based and mobile tools and applications. The 2011 Innovation Awards, announced at a special reception at the California Accounting & Business Show & Conference in June, reflected many of these trends, with honors going to an online receivables management system, a mobile app for practice management, a portable mini-scanner, a cloud-based solution for managing IRS responses, and an audit workflow system.

“Modern tax and accounting practices must continue to drive their firms toward greater efficiency and productivity in order to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment,” said CPA Practice Advisor Executive Editor, M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP. Root is also the managing partner of the Bloomington, Indiana, accounting firm Root & Associates, LLC, and CEO of his technology consultancy RootWorks, LLC.

“At the heart of this mission must be a focus on implementing not only the most effective resources and technologies, but also a redevelopment of best practices and workflow strategies that enable firms to achieve the greatest results. CPA Practice Advisor will continue to provide information, advice and other resources that help firm decision makers realize a greater level of success.”

In addition to the award winners that follow, Honorable Mentions were also extended to FreshBooks and to CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business for its CCH Mobile app.

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2011 Innovation Award Winners

Bill.com Accounts Receivable

www.bill.com

Well-known for its self-named accounts payable solution, Bill.com recently introduced its completely web-based Receivables system, which can work with the payables side to offer all the features small businesses need for managing cash flow and billing.

Features include an intuitive dashboard overview of all payables and receivables customers and activities, a cash flow calendar that shows money going out and coming in, and data synching for customers, items and invoices with QuickBooks.

Bill.com offers an easy way for small businesses to send invoices and reminders, track their responses and, most importantly, an easy way for those customers to make their payments electronically using the ePayments feature, which also supports recurring and automatic payments.

Businesses report receiving customer payments two to three times faster when using Bill.com, which makes it automatically appealing. Plus, that helps reduce trips to the bank, eliminates lost checks and enhances accountability since payment data is automatically entered into QuickBooks.

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CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business – Knowledge Coach

tax.cchgroup.com/knowledgecoach

Rather than spending time managing workpapers, checklists and administration, CCH’s Knowledge-Based Audit (KBA) software streamlines the process, saves valuable time, and gives auditors the opportunity to get back to the investigative work of auditing. It has received a positive peer review by the AICPA Peer Review Committee.