Cougar Mountain Expands Red Cross Relationship: Cougar Mountain Software has built on its 18-year-old business relationship with the American Red Cross, by developing a fund accounting software package with built-in customized reporting capabilities exclusive to that nonprofit relief agency.
The Boise, Idaho-based accounting software developer said that more than 240 American Red Cross chapters use its software and that the Red Cross operates a national users group dedicated to its applications. The vendor deals directly with the Red Cross and the relationship has not included resellers, according to a company spokesman.
The new customized report package, which is integrated with the Cougar Mountain’s Fund Accounting solution, includes American Red Cross reports for areas such as budgets, revenue and expenses, and statements of financial position.
Blackbaud Adds Accounting Firm In D.C. Area: Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, a Bethesda, Md.-based accounting firm with 400 nonprofit organization clients, has joined the reseller channel of nonprofit industry software developer Blackbaud.
The firm will handle Blackbaud’s Financial Edge fund accounting software. GR&F, which has been working with nonprofits for 30 years, provides audit, accounting and consulting services to that segment.
Best Names Two VARs to Million Dollar Club: Best Software has named resellers Blytheco, of Laguna Hills, Calif., and Macdonald Consulting Group, of Atlanta, to its Million Dollar Club for bringing in that volume of revenue related to Best products over the past fiscal year.
Blytheco, whose offerings includes Best’s MAS 90 accounting software and its customer relationship management systems, has made the Million Dollar Club in several previous years, and is also the 2002 MAS 90 Partner of the Year.
Macdonald, which previously was in the Million Dollar Club in 2000, is also Best’s Partner of the Year for 2002. The company handles MAS 90, MAS 200, Best’s SalesLogix CRM software and its MIP line of nonprofit and government sector software.
Macdonald’s founder Taylor Macdonald, a CPA who is no longer with that company, is a Best Software executive responsible for developing channel strategies.
ACCPAC Parent Denies Widening Of Accounting Probe: Computer Associates, parent company of middle-market accounting software vendor Accpac International, denied reports that the government has widened its probe into the Islandia, N.Y., company’s accounting practices to include bookings made as recently as 2001.
Immediately after the report appeared in The Wall Street Journal, CA issued a statement claiming the report was based on information from former employees involved in litigation against the company who are trying to "embarrass the company and press their individual lawsuits."
Former employees of the software maker were quoted as claiming that the company improperly dated contracts to shift revenue between quarters.
CA said that the sources of the story were confused about dates when certain contracts were signed. "Many of these transactions referred to by the reporter were examined in the ordinary course of the audit conducted by our outside auditors and [were] found to be in order," according to CA.
CSI Releases Web Organizer: Getting ready for tax season, Creative Solutions Inc., developer of Ultra Tax compliance software, has released a Web-based Client Organizer product that practitioners can use to accept client information online.
Users can provide their clients with a direct link on their Web site or a URL link in an e-mail to access the Client Organizer. Once the client completes the organizer online, they click a submit button and the accountant is automatically notified and can then download Client Organizer information directly into UltraTax.
The product became available with the November release of UltraTax. Dexter, Mich.-based CSI is a Thomson business, which also owns the publisher of Accounting Today.
