AccountantsWorld - Accountant's Relief

Please fasten your seat belts. Use of a helmet is strongly advised. We have discussed platform-independence, but the owner of Accountant’s Relief offers us the promise of what they call the “anytime-anywhere world.” Desktop or Internet – you decide. The landscape called telecommuting and the remote office is about to evolve big time!

Accountant’s Relief for the Windows Desktop and Accountant’s Relief Online will allow the user to experience “a truly collaborative effort.” Predictability of data is insured through seamlessly integrated applications.

Accountant’s Relief includes general ledger, financial statements, bank reconciliation, financial analysis and trial balance. After-the-Fact Payroll is available as an optional add-on module. Other optional modules include MICR Check Writing, payroll, sales tax, and a highly integrated client version of Accountant’s Relief.

The stated mission of AccountantsWorld is to partner with professional accountants to help grow their practices, to assist in offering mutually beneficial client services, to insure that business is not lost to competing forces and to regain any business lost, and, through the pledge of AccountantsWorld, to never sell products and services to clients unless requested to do so.

Accountant’s Relief includes software for Write-Up, Compilation, Review, Audit and Financial Statements. The new purchase, single-user price is $695; annual upgrades are $395. Additional licenses for Accountant’s Relief cost $75 per additional user. An additional license for unlimited number of users costs $450. One year of technical support is included.

LEARNING CURVE & EASE OF USE – 5 Stars
Accountant’s Relief features
an intuitive setup, which allows
for conversion of data from many
existing accounting programs. Navigation
& data entry can be described
as “what-you-see-is-what-you-can-expect”
in a smart entry environment, replete
with lookup fields and rich data-entry
aids. This is truly an “on
the fly” system. Have I given
myself away? YES, I liked nearly
everything I saw and used. Data
entry in Accountant’s Relief
results in heads-down efficiency
while fulfilling the promise of
the Windows-based graphical user
interface. Is Accountant’s
Relief perfect? Not yet. However,
its promise is serious in the present
tense. “Put me in, Coach.”

REPORTING & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – 4.5 Stars

Powerful financial reports are created
utilizing easy-to-understand and
flexible formatting tools –
no headaches. Modifications are
easy and WYSIWYG with a right-click
of the mouse. Customized financial
statements are easily shared between
clients. Have I been lifting weights?

INTEGRATION, IMPORT/EXPORT & PRODUCTION PROCESSING – 4.5 Stars
Integration is everywhere you turn.
Accountant’s Relief imports
data from virtually any general
ledger program, including QuickBooks.
Import is offered at no additional
charge, as opposed to programs that
provide this capability at an additional
cost. Import is also available from
spreadsheets. Export is available
to several tax programs, including
UltraTax, ProSystem fx Tax, CLR/Fast-Tax,
Best CPASoftware, Lacerte and ProSeries.
Exporting of trial balance, transactions
and employee information to ASCII
files and to spreadsheets is supported.
Finally, data may be exported to
MAS 90. Presently, there is no ability
to batch process multiple clients.

SCALABILITY & PORTABILITY – 5 Stars

If the future of write-up accounting
is Internet deployment of write-up
software, Accountant’s Relief
is years ahead of competitors. An
“On-the-Net” companion
product, Payroll Relief, may well
demonstrate the ease and simplicity
of 100 percent net-hosted programs,
which could obviate future concerns
regarding scalability and portability
of software and computer equipment.

SUPPORT, TRAINING & HELP SYSTEM – 4.5 Stars
Context-sensitive help is available
through Accountant’s Relief.
E-support via the 24×7 web-based
Support Center and (no additional
cost) telephone support are available
to licensed users.

Training is available through a
computer-based training course,
“Performing Write-Up, Compilation,
and Review Engagements using Accountant’s
Relief,” which is included
on the Accountant’s Relief
CD. Training exams may be scored
and qualify for three hours of continuing
education credit. The training course
was created to teach the essentials
of using Accountant’s Relief,
including client setup, transactions
and financials.

INTERVIEWS – WHAT USERS HAD TO SAY

Users were pleased with their decision
to switch to Accountant’s
Relief. Here are some of the comments
I heard: Productive. No regrets.
Setup was easy. The learning curve
was fast. We were productive almost
immediately. We were surprised.
Installation was a dream.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5

The choice of a write-up program should be based in large part on identifiable attributes of the write-up program that best fits the sum of the individual needs of the practice. In no particular order, factors that lead to the sum include setup & learning curve; training & support; program pricing & cost of updates; data conversion, maintenance & storage; efficiency & flexibility; and integration with a practitioner’s other programs (tax, payroll, analysis, word processing, etc.). Finally, throw in a wild card ‘ the practitioner’s overall dedication to technology.

Technology