Two of the qualities that make for a Top 100 Product are longevity and the sort of patient accrual of incremental improvements that go with it. But most of our Top 100 started as brash innovations - and the past few years have seen the rise of a wealth of exciting new products that, while not yet established enough to join the Top 100, are definitely worth your attention. We call them the Ones to Watch, and this year we're watching more products than ever, in almost every conceivable practice area and specialty.

AUDIT & ACCOUNTING

We don't usually highlight many auditing tools, for the simple reason that there aren't many available. Many firms develop their own tools in-house, but recent years have seen a number of new tools released by vendors, and older tools gain greater prominence.

RSM McGladrey is one firm that developed its own programs, including the McGladrey Audit Performance System, which it now makes available through AdvanceCPA. HKMP Technologies' amelio application lets firms create and manage dynamic audit programs and checklists following their own audit methodology. And while CCH's TeamMate audit management system has been popular with internal auditors for some time, its new ProSystem fx Knowledge Tools is designed to provide external auditors with a metholodogy for implementing the latest risk-assessment standards.

On the accounting side, NetBooks is due to launch the beta of Version 2 of its eponymous SaaS entry-level accounting software in January 2009. Further up-market, Sage has launched Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suite, which adds Sage fixed assets and CRM software and a host of other capabilities to the MAS 90/200 accounting apps. CCH Small Firm Services has added Client Write-Up packages for its ATX and TaxWise tax products.

Finally, we'll mention a number of recent products that should be of interest to your clients, particularly in their back-office operations. There's been a great deal of excitement around Bill.com, an online accounts payable solution that streamlines the whole AP process and integrates with the top accounting packages. BlackLine Systems' Financial Close Suite, meanwhile, automates the entire financial close process in companies of all sizes.

On the governance front, Oversight Systems' Oversight Continuous Transaction Monitoring Software inspects the integrity of each financial transaction, identifying fraud, misuse and errors in real-time. And on the regulatory front, CaseWare's CaseWare IFRS Financials combines with its Working Papers to let users automatically create IFRS-compliant financial statements.

TAX

Businesses have slowly come to realize the importance of sales and use tax management, but now that they have, they have a few solutions to choose from. Besides pioneer Avalara's product, they can now use SpeedTax's SaaS SpeedTax Manager, or the new Sales Tax Service from payroll giant ADP.

Worth noting alongside the established players in tax prep are New America Software's MultiTax, focusing on multi-year preparation for Spanish-speaking clients; the online ProTaxPro.com from e-filing provider FileYourTaxes.com; and Red Gear Software's 1040Works, a speed-entry tax prep program for preparers with large volumes of returns.

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