Absolute, not relative

Ordinarily, when we apply the word "cool" to anything related to tax prep, it's understood that it's "cool" in a relative way - not actually cool, but as cool as anything involved in tax prep can be. This year, though, we think it's safe to describe some of the new tax-time tools as actually, not just relatively, cool. For instance, CCH Small Firm Services (www.cchsfs.com) has teamed up with Versicom Communications to let preparers offer Toll-Free Tax Infoline Plus, an automated service to send clients automatic notifications by e-mail or text message regarding the status of their returns and refund, or let clients check their status by a toll-free number or Web site. We think that's legitimately cool, particularly for small preparers. We also like CCH SFS's 3Fund, which lets clients receive their refunds in any of three ways - by direct deposit or check, or on a debit card. More on the relative side of cool, but still hugely useful, is CCH SFS's new PaperlessPlus software, a document management system for organizing and storing e-mails, spreadsheets, memos and other documents. It features scheduled automatic backups and electronic signature capabilities, and comes in a Premier version with more features, including bookmarking capabilities. ... Also legitimately cool is Sawhney Systems' new TaxMode (www.taxmode.net), one of the more flexible and easy-to-use tax calculators we've seen. It's set up to look like an actual calculator, and lets you run a wide range of tax analyses and computations in a variety of different modes, with the ability to drill down to specific details (and get references to the applicable IRS forms and line numbers), as well as to make year-to-year comparisons. It's an extremely handy and flexible tool for all sorts of tax planning and analysis. ... Anything even vaguely app-like is definitely cool, and the CCH Tax News Highlights app from CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (www.cchgroup.com), is also free, which makes it even cooler. It lets anyone with an iPhone, iPad or Android get the latest federal and state tax headlines from CCH - even if they're not a CCH research subscriber. Cool. ... OK, we're not going to pretend that J.K. Lasser is even relatively cool. But its authoritative tax guide, Your Income Tax (Wiley, $22.95), is definitely useful and, as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, totally venerable. And it's at least working on the whole cool thing, since it's now available as an e-book, and has its own Facebook page.

The accountants' elves

CPA Express Program

BookKeeping Express

http://bookkeepingexpress.com/services/cpa-express

The shoemaker was a fool. When he found the elves making shoes for him overnight, did he use the time thus saved to focus on expansion strategies and high-level business analysis? No; instead of building his business, he made clothes for the elves - and tailoring wasn't even his area of comparative advantage! Please promise that when you take advantage of BookKeeping Express' new CPA Express Program, you won't make the same mistake. While their experienced bookkeepers handle your clients' bookkeeping and organize their financials, you should be out developing and selling new, high-value services. The CPA Express service is white-labelled, your firm gets a cut of the gross revenue as long as the client stays with BKE, and you'll have easy, unlimited access to your clients' financials to help with all those fancy new analytical services you'll be offering. Best of all, the bookkeepers all come with their own clothes, so you won't feel pressured to make any for them.

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