2012 Review of Commercial Logic APS Advance

Commercial Logic—APS Advance
603-643-1900
www.CommerciaLogic.com  

From the July 2012 review of Practice Management systems.

Best Fit: Larger firms needing customized practice management integration with existing software architecture.

Strengths

• Offers strong customization options to adapt to most firm needs
• Microsoft SQL platform offers user scalability and unified reporting platform
• Program built around project management instead of time management functions
• Multiple modules available to further enhance management and reporting

Potential Limitations

• No current cloud offering for US based solution
• Smaller firms may not yield full benefits offered through system

APS Advanced Practice Management is a business intelligence system offered through APS, a company based in Sydney, Australia. APS Advanced Practice Management is the central product offering within the APS suite of products designed to make accounting and consulting firms more productive. Commercial Logic, Inc is the sole provider of APS products in North America and handles all sales and first line customer support. APS customer support is also available to North American clients from London, Sydney, and Auckland. Multiple modules are available and APS Advanced Practice Management is designed as one of the most customizable practice management solutions in the marketplace today.

BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS - 4.75 Stars

APS Advanced Practice Management is developed and licensed through APS and distributed in North America solely through Commercial Logic, Inc. APS Advanced Practice Management is the center of a suite of product offerings from APS focusing on a variety of solutions for accounting and consulting firms. The system has been developed in-house rather than through acquisitions and has been built upon the Microsoft SQL platform since 1997.

The interface design of APS Advanced Practice Management is similar to Microsoft Outlook 2007/2010. Most users will focus on the To Do list feature that shows all outstanding projects and tasks along with target due dates and accumulated time information. Depending on user rights, users may also view projects and tasks associated with other users. The interface is fully customizable for each user, but may be standardized throughout the system by implementing templates. Since the system is built on the Microsoft SQL platform, user scalability is easily achieved, especially for larger accounting firms.

TIME MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES - 4.5 Stars

New to APS Advanced Practice Management for the current North American release is a redesigned time sheet entry form designed by Commercial Logic, Inc. This new time sheet allows recording of time and expense associated with all clients and associated projects. Entered time may be automatically available for billing or may be manually posted by each user. Timers are available in the system and multiple timers may run simultaneously. Timers may also be started based on previously entered time and automatically pick up from the previously entered time amount. Time entry can be set to automatically round up or down based on company setup preferences. APS offers an Internet based time and expense keeping system as well.

APS Advanced Practice Management takes a different approach to project management. The system was originally designed for project management and the time keeping feature was integrated within this design. Due to this, there is a much tighter feel to the overall practice management setup. Project management in most systems is reliant on setting up the projects as one of the final steps. APS Advanced Practice Management implements the solution around each firms desired project management design. During company setup, the projects and associated tasks are created and are used system wide to create consistency. These projects and tasks are then assigned to each client, based on client type and need.

INVOICING FUNCTIONS - 4.25 Stars