2013 Readers Choice Awards: The Votes are In

1. Thomson Reuters Financial Analysis CS 36%
2. SageWorks ProfitCents 26%
3. Sage Business Intelligence and Active Planner 17.5%
4. CCH ProSystem fx Profit Driver 9%
5. Tableau Software 6%
6. Others Combined 5.5%

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Business Valuation

Insight: Knowing the proper value of a business is especially important when planning on sales, transfers or other transitions, and sometimes when a client is involved in litigation. While this is a smaller specialty service offered by a smaller set of professionals, it is one that still requires advanced systems to help manage all of the potential variables in determining accurate values.

1. Thomson Reuters PPC Business Valuation Specialist 39.5%
2. ValuSource Express Business Valuation 22%
3. NACVA Business Valuation Manager Pro 16.5%
4. MoneySoft DealSense Plus+ & Corp. Valuation Professional 13.5%
5. Others: 8.5%

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Insight: As a firm grows, its partners and senior managers need to keep track of a broad range of issues, ranging from top level growth and business metrics, to client WIPs, AR and project budgets. This year, we separated Practice Management systems, which take a broader view of firm activity, from systems designed for Time & Billing, which generally are geared toward invoicing and AR management in professional firms. Thomson Reuters’ Practice CS was the leader in this category this year, followed by CCH’s ProSystem fx Practice Management, AccountantsWorld’s Practice Relief, Commercial Logic’s APS and CaseWare.

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Insight: Once again, we separated this section from Practice Management this year to better reflect the different focus of the product genres. Time and billing systems do more than just invoicing, they help firms manage many areas of projects and client collaboration, with increasingly mobile time, expense and document tracking functions. This year’s leader was the popular BillQuick system, followed by Timeslips, Office Tools Pro, ImagineTime and TPS Software.

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Time Tracking & Attendance Tools

Insight: In addition to the overall management of time, invoicing and AR, there are many systems designed as an add-on or simplified time tracking or attendance tool for either firms or, more often, business clients. QuickBooks Time Tracker once again came in first, followed by systems from SwipeClock, Wasp Barcode, Chrometa and B2Bee.

1. QuickBooks Time Tracker 63%
2. SwipeClock 17%
3. WaspTime 8%
4. Chrometa 4.5%
5. B2Bee 2.5%
6. Other Misc Products: 5%

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Insight: Many small and mid-sized businesses, and accounting firms, are adopting online invoicing systems. These programs can help streamline billing functions on both the AR and AP sides, while removing paper-based errors from the equation. Mobile solutions can also help small businesses compete by accepting credit and debit payments. This can also save time otherwise wasted taking checks (which can often be fraudulent) to the bank. Bill.com led in voting this year, followed by Intuit Payments, Sage BillingBoss, Freshbooks, Xero and Bill & Pay.

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Client Portals

Insight: As more and more Americans are mobile and are comfortable with online banking and transactions, portals are increasingly a competitive requirement for professional firms. Clients can access and upload or download documents, allowing them “visit” you on their schedule. It’s also a much safer alternative than unsecured email. In this year’s voting, Thomson Reuters’ NetClient CS Portals took the most votes, followed by eFileCabinet, ShareFile and CCH’s ProSystem fx Client Portals.

1. Thomson Reuters NetClient CS Portals 29%
2. eFileCabinet Secure Drawer 16%
3. ShareFile 13.5%
4. CCH ProSystem fx Client Portals 12%
5. Intuit Document Exchange 7.5%
6. Microsoft SharePoint 7.5%
7. AccountantsWorld CyberCabinet%
8. SmartVault 4.5%
9. All Others Combined: 4%