Software, Hardware & Services AUTOMATING AUTOMATION

While some may have thought that installing QuickBooks would automate their bookkeeping process, it turns out that there's room to automate the QuickBooks process, with the Real Time Bookkeeping System from ManageComm Inc. This solution integrates hardware, software and services (including scanners, dual-screen monitors, a document management system, dashboards and a Web site) to digitize and process source documents so that a company's QuickBooks data, which is maintained on an RTB server, is constantly updated, accurate and accessible to both the company and its accountant.

www.realtimebookkeeping.com

SPECIALIST TOOLS

As regulations pile up, business processes multiply, and the pressure builds, every aspect of accounting is becoming more and more specialized, and specialized tools are a must. Enter The Accounts Payable Network, an online repository of best practices, templates, benchmarking data, and advice and news on the latest developments in AP processes and technology, covering everything from preventing fraud and complying with regulations, to that last painful moment when the check is signed and mailed.

www.tapn.com

SOXSOXSOXSOXSOXS

Sarbanes-Oxley has now acquired so much gravity that it has begun sucking in and putting its stamp on every single product and company in the universe. Take, for example, graphics software vendor SmartDraw, which now has 22 new Smart Templates on its Web site. Each loads a diagram-specific command set and instructions to help users document and analyze their internal controls. The templates are available in the SmartDraw Resource Center, which also offers white papers on best practices. Next up: SOX-compliant paper clips.

www.smartdraw.com

PDF MANIA!

Having successfully dethroned competitors like the cave wall and the clay tablet, paper has gotten a little cocky over the past 2,500 years - but it looks like a scrappy little newcomer, the PDF, is set to pose a serious challenge to its dominance. PDFs seem to be everywhere nowadays, and form the backbone of many document retention, management and distribution systems.

But the competition isn't just between paper and PDFs - there's also competition between Acrobat, the PDF-creation tool from Adobe (which invented the PDF), and several smaller companies offering PDF software. Two recent contenders are Nitro PDF and Docudesk's deskUNPDF. Nitro PDF emphasizes its security and protection features, while deskUNPDF promotes the accuracy and consistency of its conversions, but both are cheaper than Acrobat, and offer quick and easy PDF creation. Either way, paper better watch its back.

DeskUNPDF - www.docudesk.com, $39.95; NitroPDF - www.nitropdf.com, $99

NEW AND IMPROVED!

AccuFund (www.accufund.com) has released a Budget Development module for its AccuFund Accounting Suite for nonprofits. ... Maxwell Systems (www.maxwellsystems.com) has released the latest edition of its job-cost accounting software for contractors, American Contractor 7.5. ... Softrax Corp. (www.softrax.com) has released Softrax Revenue Manager, which manages revenue recognition in ERP systems.

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