Accounting
2016 Review of Accounting Power by AccountantsWorld
May. 20, 2016
Accounting Power from AccountantsWorld, Inc. was previously marketed as Accounting Relief for many years. They were one of the first to market in terms of providing accountants with a 100% cloud based client accounting solution. Of the five solutions we have reviewed, Accounting Power and Accounting CS from Thomson Reuters are the only two that are primarily “accountant centric.” The other three are “client centric.” Each approach has its advantages and it comes back to defining your firm’s accounting services strategy.
From the 2016 Reviews of Virtual CFO Accounting Systems.
The advantage that AccountantsWorld provides as an “accountant centric” solution is a full suite of cloud-based integrated practice applications including: client write-up, trial balance, after-the-fact payroll, document management, client portal, website builder and time billing. This model allows you to run a fully integrated virtual accounting services practice that is 100% cloud-based.
Best Fit:
Accounting Power is best suited for firms that want to have a single source provider for both the client side accounting system and the firm side practice system that are fully integrated. If you want to offer write-up and after-the-fact payroll services in addition to the cloud-based client accounting application, AccountantsWorld can be a good fit. This provides the opportunity to serve both ends of the market from a single platform. The integrated practice applications suite provides a complete solution that require virtually no on premise server infrastructure or IT support. This makes for a relatively easy path to setup a complete practice solution for startup practices.
Strengths:
- Accountant centric model means that clients can only access the solution through accounting firms
- Fully integrated accounting practice suite that is 100% cloud-based
- Fully customizable financial reports including departmental reporting,
- Bookkeeping module supports AP, AR, job cost reporting and inventory control
- Advisory services toolkit includes marketing materials, customizable client dashboard, exception based client transaction and balance alerts and more.
- Direct bank and credit card download feeds
Potential Limitations:
- Limited opportunity to leverage the potential of integrated 3rd party industry specific applications
- Cannot be used as a stand-alone bookkeeping application by clients
Summary and Pricing:
Accounting Power bookkeeping module is priced at $20 per client, per month. Accounting Power Pro, which provides write-up, trial balance and customizable financial statements is $1,195 per year for anunlimited number of clients and staff. First year only special gives you Accounting Power Pro and the bookkeeping module for an unlimited number of clients for a flat price of $1,595.