Online Services Take Center Stage at Innovation Awards

LOS ANGELES – June 1, 2009 – The growth in Web 2.0 and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings geared toward public accountants, tax professionals and their clients was on display at the 2009 Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards. The awards were announced and presented Monday at the California Accounting and Business Show & Conference in Los Angeles. The conference was held at the LAX Hilton. The Awards were also announced live via Twitter (www.Twitter.com/cpatechadvisor).

The Innovation Awards are recognized as a pinnacle of achievement for developers of software, hardware, services and other technologies. Now in their sixth year, they serve to honor new and enhanced technologies that benefit accounting and tax professionals. They are presented by The CPA Technology Advisor, the leading independent multimedia technology resource for the profession. Five technologies receive the award annually.

This year’s winners are Bill.com for its self-branded online payables management system; Capital Confirmation, Inc. for the CONFIRM service, which offers secure, electronic fund confirmations; CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, for the IntelliConnect online research platform; Copanion, Inc. for its GruntWorx Pro automated tax workflow solution; and SmartVault Corporation for SmartVault, a paperless document management add-on for QuickBooks.

The Innovation Awards were presented Monday evening at a special event hosted by The CPA Technology Advisor’s Executive Editor, M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP, a practicing accountant who holds the accounting profession’s Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) credential. Root is also the managing partner of the Bloomington, Indiana, accounting firm of Root & Associates, and CEO of technology consultancy RootWorks, LLC.

“This is the first year that online technologies have won all five Innovation Awards, a noteworthy feat that clearly demonstrates the continued growth and acceptance of SaaS applications and other web-based systems by tax and accounting professionals,” Root said. “This year’s winners also span the spectrum of professional services, from small business document management and payables solutions, to professional tax and accounting research, tax process automation and electronic confirmations. This shows the strength of the technology market for tax and accounting firms, and that there are abundant choices for these professionals.”

Winners of the Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Awards are selected by The CPA Technology Advisor’s Awards Committee, which includes its editorial staff, contributing expert writers, editorial staff, thought leaders in the profession and its editorial advisory board. The advisory board is comprised of accounting and tax professionals from across the country at public firms of all sizes, 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. A total of five awards are presented each year on an “at large” basis, with no categories or rankings. Honorable Mentions are also presented to products not receiving an award but which possess significant innovative potential.

For the 2009 Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards, Honorable Mentions were presented to Alocet Incorporated for Method Integration, XCM Solutions, LLC for XCM Version 6.0 Workflow Management Software, LeapFILE for LeapFILE Secure File Delivery and Storage, and to ShareFile for ShareFile for Accountants.