Get your bucket
GovCount
VentureCount LLC
www.venturecount.com
The federal government is extremely careful about the way it wastes money. You have to go through a long, complicated tender process, and frequent audits of your accounting system, before they'll start tossing bucketsful of cash at you. For government contractors who want a headstart, VentureCount has released GovCount, a cloud-based accounting platform that is Federal Acquisition Regulation-compliant, which will put you (or any clients you have in the government sphere) ahead of the game when it comes to audits by government agencies, such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency. Designed specifically for small and midsized contractors, GovCount can easily scale up as their business grows, since it's powered by leading Software-as-a-Service vendor Intacct's financial management and accounting application.
Bob Fosse, CPA
ProSystem fx ActiveData
CCH Inc.
http://cchgroup.com/aasolutions
Why crunch numbers, when you can choreograph them? While the usual data analysis and calculations for audits and the like have all the grace, ease and lightness of foot of the finale of a fat-camp talent show, ProSystem fx ActiveData can have those numbers dancing like Fred Astaire. It adds a pull-down menu to Excel that lets you put the data through its paces - merging, matching and comparing sheets; searching and replacing across workbooks; analyzing gaps in sequenced items; and much more. With an easy learning curve, ActiveData should help turn the search for errors and fraud in data into a cakewalk.
'Tis the seasons
No Accounting for the Holidays
Steve Zelin, the Singing CPA
www.thesingingcpa.com
Let's make this clear: Tax organizers are not a holiday gift. If you're looking to show your clients - or your staff - how much you appreciate them, we strongly recommend No Accounting for the Holidays, a CD of tax- and accounting-related take-offs of seasonal favorites like "We Wish You a Great Big Refund," "The Twelve Days of Taxes" and our favorite, "Hava Tequila." Written and performed by actual CPA Steve Zelin, the tunes will make the transition from holiday season to tax season a little easier. Better still, you can hire Zelin himself to perform at a firm event, or write a customized song for you.
Fishing tackle (1)
InoviumPay 2.0
Inovium
www.inovium.com
Billing is a bit like fishing - you set out a bunch of invoices, and hope for a bite. Fishermen who are in it for the sport may object, but fishermen who are in it for the fish know that the best results come from using the most advanced tools, like sonar, fishfinders, dragnets and dynamite. InoviumPay, the first of two advanced billing solutions we've come across recently, offers a single comprehensive platform for hauling in money. It offers invoicing and payment-tracking functions, as well as the ability to let clients pay electronically, or by paper check, credit card or even cash. All data is automatically synchronized with your accounting system, and there's an optional remote deposit capture option for processing paper checks even more quickly. Altogether, it should streamline your fishing expeditions considerably, and increase your catch.
Fishing tackle (2)
RPM Invoicing
Fineline Software LLC
www.finelinesoftware.com
To the uninitiated, all fish are the same, and so are all invoices. The compleat angler, however, knows that different fish call for different bait, and different business models present different billing problems. Fineline Software's RPM Invoicing is aimed at addressing the invoicing needs of companies that deal with regularly recurring fees, like monthly renewals or support fees. It offers functions for flexible pricing, reminding customers of upcoming billing dates, combining or separating a customer's invoices for different products, and pro-rating fees to different anniversary dates, as well as a variety of reports, and tax rate verification capabilities. It integrates with many of the leading accounting systems, including QuickBooks, and Fineline recently introduced a module for revenue recognition, which should substantially reduce the nightmare that presents for many companies.
Your trusty
Social Media Starter Package
PDI Global Inc.
(800) 227-0498
You know how it is when you move into a new cell block - you don't know where to sit in the cafeteria, or who the snitches are, or who will sell you a pack of smokes or a shiv. We're not comparing social media to prison - prison is nowhere near as frightening - but they're both strange new experiences for most accountants, and an experienced guide can come in handy. Fortunately, PDI Global is now offering a Social Media Starter Package, a bundle of services designed to get your firm established in the social media sphere. The package includes a consultation about your goals; case studies showing how social media can help generate new business; a sample social media privacy policy and code of conduct; a plan for creating profiles and posting content to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter; and communication strategies and best practice tips tailored to your firm.
Enhanced accounting
Executive Series and Director Series V. 6.1
Searer Business Technology
www.sbtexecutiveseries.com
SBT has released the latest editions of its entry-level Director Series and mid-market Executive Series accounting systems, with a significant number of new features and enhancements. Version 6.1 includes enhanced usability, such as required field highlighting, integrated document scanning, support for new database drivers, and easier company/fund security settings. Routing and approval logic has been improved, and the Fixed Assets module now offers a main asset screen for a quick overview of all of an asset's depreciation books. In addition, new intercompany/interfund processing automatically balances transactions between entities on different fiscal calendars, and source code is available for Executive Series to enable significant customizability.
Damage report
AllData Advisor
CashEdge Inc.
www.alldataadvisor.com
Clients are tricky to keep track of - they're always flitting off to mess up their financial lives with badly timed purchases and harebrained investments. But if you can't nail down your clients, you can at least get a better idea of the damage they're doing with an account aggregation tool that brings all their financial account information together in one place. CashEdge recently released a new version of its AllData Advisor aggregation tool, with a number of enhancements to make it easier to get a comprehensive damage report. The new release includes an advisor dashboard with consolidated aggregation alerts, message and summary information for accounts and clients; HTML e-mail alerts to keep you aware of issues that may affect the aggregation of client accounts; new data export capabilities; and a number of new customization options. It will prove extremely useful, at least until you're allowed to inject GPS tracking chips directly into your clients' necks.
New and improved!
Thomson Reuters' myPay Solutions payroll service has partnered with HR AnswerLink to offer HR resources to its users. ... ProStore Systems has released the latest version of its InfiniVault removable disk storage appliance, Model 5. ... ConnectWise, a provider of SaaS professional service automation applications, has made CoreConnex's Corelytics financial management system available over its cloud platform. ... Two Step Software has released the latest version of its hosted equity management and compliance system. Version 6.2 includes faster stock option administration and document production for faster, easier stock plan administration, FAS 123R compliance and year-end reporting.
Send your new product and book items to Daniel Hood at daniel.hood@sourcemedia.com.
