Tax Compliance Inc. has released an upgrade of its Property Management Tax System with improved asset-mapping tools.

Business software developer Epicor expanded its Latin American presence by allying with Technology Coast Partners in Chile and Ability Data in Colombia.

Gina Gwozdz realized just how valuable blogging can be when, as a sole practitioner vying for clients with three other CPA firms in the small town of Bullard, Texas, she started looking to expand her reach beyond writing articles and columns in her local newspaper.Research led her to find a blogging community within the accounting and tax profession, and there she discovered that she could jumpstart her new practice by taking the plunge. She decided to go online and start Gina's Tax Articles at http://glgcpa.blogspot.com.

Over the past 10 years, technology has become more ubiquitous, as well as more complex.In accounting firms, the definition of technology is now "anything that plugs into the wall" - including telephone systems and copiers/scanners. Previously, these systems were part of the administrative budget. Today they are integrated with the network and should be managed by the IT department.

NETSUITE FILES IPO REGISTRATION FORMOnline business management applications provider NetSuite has filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its planned initial public offering.

Sage Software released Sage Master Builder V. 13, adding the ability to drill down multiple levels from reports.

Sabrix introduced a subscription-based, outsourced service that handles tax determination, return preparation and audit administration for sales and use taxes.

Can Intuit bring CPAs back to the technology game?

Thomson Tax & Accounting received a U.S. patent for its ePropertyTax software's ability to manage multi-jurisdictional property tax information.

KashFlow has added features to its bookkeeping software to make it more usable by accountants.

In 2007, it's clear that payroll processing has become better, cheaper and faster - particularly at the small-business end of the marketplace.Companies like Intuit and Sage are building payroll into their accounting products for all but the very tail end of the market, while Sage, Thomson and Microsoft are beefing up their ERP and human resources offerings for the mid-range and enterprise markets.

SAGE RELEASES TIMESLIPS 2008Sage Software has released the latest version of its billing application, Timeslips by Sage 2008. The new offering allows greater capability for determining when clients should be billed based on billing criteria set up by users.

During the first-ever Women's Forum in May, we had the privilege of speaking to a group of 200 professional women who were smart and fun, and had plenty to say about what is working and not working in our industry. One of the most interesting ideas bantered about was part-time partners as a common concept for the firm of the future. We decided to speak with a few firms that are blazing the trail for others to follow and have currently implemented this practice.The part-time partner position within the firm is relatively new. It usually results when someone making a major life change approaches the firm to ask for a new way to work. This life change could be the joyous occasion of a new baby, or it could be the other most joyous occasion in life - retirement!

MYOB released FirstEdge V.3, the latest version of its entry-level small business management and accounting software application for Mac OS X, with universal Mac support so it’s designed to run on both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Mac machines.

CCH has appointed Gene McGovern as vice president of tax and accounting publishing, replacing Catherine Wolfe, who was named U.K. CEO of the publisher's parent company, Wolters Kluwer, earlier this year.

Business software developer Epicor saw its second-quarter earnings slip from last year, though revenue was up.

BQE Software has added human resources software to its time, billing and project management products.

Remember the old days? Forms shipped off to service bureaus? Is it possible that manual data entry will seem as quaint within a few years?

Attendees at the American Institute of CPAs' recent Tech+ Technology Conference were not here to gamble, but, instead, to learn about the latest trends and learn how to harness technology to improve their bottom lines.The three-day confab's sessions were intended to provide the roughly 500 attendees with a "cookbook" of information, according to conference chairman David Cieslak, a partner at Arxis Technology Inc. in Simi Valley, Calif.

CPA2BIZ DEBUTS REVAMPED SITECPA2Biz, the marketing and services portal of the American Institute of CPAs, has unveiled its next-generation Web site, a revamp that includes enhanced content organization and navigation tools, as well as less clutter and easier search capabilities.