Behind The Curtain

BidaWiz

www.bidawiz.com

When all is said and done, the Wizard of Oz isn't really a whiz of a wiz - he just knows things other people don't. This is a position that accountants, with their in-depth knowledge and expertise, can relate to, and the driving idea behind BidaWiz, a new online tool that lets scarecrows, tin men, lions and other clueless clients post their accounting and finance questions. Wizards like you then post offers (including a time frame and a fixed fee) to answer them. If a user picks your offer, you're off! If they don't, send in the flying monkeys.

Behind The Name

MultiTax

New America Software

www.newamericasoftware.com

While it might be tempting to think that the name of New America Software's new tax prep product, MultiTax, refers to the fact that everywhere you turn, someone is waiting to tax you, often in multiple ways, it actually stems from a number of more positive things. To start, the software, which was originally developed for the fast-growing Latino market, works in multiple languages, with English and Spanish standard, and other languages easily added. Then, with its advance form-filling capabilities, it can quickly and efficiently prepare multiple years' worth of returns at once (as well as automating applications for ITINs). Finally, it offers a number of features for managing a tax prep business across multiple offices. They'll still tax you everywhere you go, but at least MultiTax makes it easier to prepare the returns.

Behind The Portrait

SmartVault Accountant Edition and Business Edition

SmartVault Corp.

www.smartvault.com

While we'd be the first to say that a safe hidden behind an oil painting protected by infra-red beams is the coolest place for your clients to store important financial documents, it doesn't make it easy to update and share them. Their next best bet is an online client portal for document transfer and management, like that offered by SmartVault. The company recently released two new versions: SmartVault Accountant Edition and SmartVault Business Edition. The first offers you streamlined client set-up and management, enhanced security access levels, and free use and training to get you up to speed quickly, while the second offers businesses an efficient and secure way to communicate and collaborate, and safe storage of important documents for business continuity in the event of a disaster. Both let you and your clients access the vault through QuickBooks or a Web browser, though your clients will still have to find a place to store their bearer bonds and blackmail photos.

Behind The Times

V1 Document Management

www.v1documentmanagement.com

If you haven't begun considering a document management system to replace your old filing cabinets, it's time to join the rest of us in the 21st century. A new entrant in the field is V1 Document Management, which recently debuted its solution for the electronic handling of financial documents in the U.S. With tight integration to all the major accounting and ERP systems, it offers a range of solutions for creating, scanning, delivering, authorizing and storing all sorts of financial documents, using Optical Character Recognition technology to improve accuracy and significantly reduce manual data entry, and authorization and circulation features to make sure that everyone who should sign off on a document does.

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