If your clients are still using Excel to do their budgeting and forecasting, they may not be using the most effective or efficient means to an end.That was the message delivered by K2 Enterprises' chief executive Val D. Steed at the recent American Institute of CPAs' National Not-for-Profit Industry Conference, here.

Professional service companies can be successful as either shared services or shared vision firms, although there are limitations on shared services firms.Your question may be, "What is the difference?" Conducting an honest assessment of your firm is the first step that should be taken. Next, develop a strategic plan. Shared services firms can grow and prosper financially, while shared vision firms can provide more than just financial results. Shared vision firms can also provide exponential growth, as well as a differentiating culture where individuals are rewarded for their significance in support of the firm's strategic objectives. Shared vision provides direction, growth and integration with personal goals and a differentiating culture.

Intacct Corp., an on-demand enterprise resource planning software provider, announced that its corporate headquarters have moved from Los Gatos, Calif., to downtown San Jose to accommodate their doubling workforce.

Non-profit and point-of-sale software provider Cougar Mountain has released new shipping software called CMShip.

Avalara, a provider of Web-based sales tax solutions for the small and midsized business market, and Taxware, a provider of global transaction tax calculation and compliance software, have entered into a strategic partnership.

Speaking to a conference of small technology partners Sunday, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer said that his company will continue to expand its small business software lines for a variety of industries, beginning with accounting.

* INTUIT LAUNCHES TAX RESEARCH SITE: Intuit has launched an online tax research Web site called TaxAlmanac, in which it is enabling practitioners to post questions and answers.

Marc Einbinder, a CPA and founder of his own accounting practice in Miami, believes that traditional write-up practice - where a client comes in with a shoebox full of receipts - is becoming a "thing of the past."

Tax prep software maker Drake Software has named company veteran Tim Hubbs, CPA, as its president and chief executive. He replaces company founder Phil Drake, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board and as a technical consultant and software architectural advisor.

Just as time and billing software can be considered a subset of practice management, trial balance is often thought of as a subset of write-up. That's because the ultimate product of these two applications, a set of financial statements, is the same. The intent of trial balance software, however, is usually very different from that of a write-up package.Write-up software is designed to allow an accounting practice to perform detailed data collection from their clients. In many cases, this will consist of bookkeeping as well as accounting in the form of preparing adjusting and correcting journal entries. While financial statements may be generated frequently for client use, the real goal of write-up is generally to produce the original books of record, including a general ledger and subsidiary journals, for the client.

It's the 15th of February and your firm is just going into the heart of tax season. The managing partner learns that the document management implementation is not going as planned. In fact, people - including partners - have lost their commitment to the project and are saying that the change is too difficult (among other excuses). You have to make a decision: Pull the plug on the project or figure out a way to make the project succeed.

Microsoft announced the upcoming release of their newest customer relationship management module, CRM 3.0, at the Microsoft Tech·Ed 2005 Europe conference in Amsterdam this week, and plans on making a U.S. announcement at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Minneapolis later this month.

A partnership between software makers SysPro and Business Objects will result in the integration of Crystal Reports XI with the SysPro 6.0 business software as early as the end of this year.

Serenic Corp., a provider of financial and nonprofit software, recently unveiled Serenic DonorVision -- a new fundraising tool.The new application is designed to streamline fundraising efforts by nonprofit groups, integrating a variety of functions with Serenic's Navigator programs. DonorVision allows users to manage gifts and gift-matching information; manage pledges; track affiliations and relationships; manage mailing groups; and organize ongoing communications with donors.The software can be integrated with both Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Word, making it easier for groups to analyze the success of their fundraising campaigns. Serenic DonorVision can be used as stand-alone software or be integrated with the financial ledger capabilities of the Navigator suite.Aimed at midsized and large nonprofit organizations and government agencies, the cost of DonorVision will typically range from $15,000 to $50,000, depending on the number of users, according to the company."Fundraising is the lifeblood of most not-for-profit organizations," said Serenic president and chief executive Jay Malik, in a statement. "Because we are a leading technology solutions vendor for the NFP community, it was essential that we develop a tool that eases the fundraising burden for our clients."

National CPA and business advisory firm RSM McGladrey, headquartered here, has teamed with document management provider Immediatech for Immediatech's proprietary GoFileRoom. Terms were not disclosed. Under the pact, members of the RSM McGladrey Network can subscribe to GoFileRoom, a Web-based document management service. RSM Network personnel will work with member firms to analyze their respective document management needs and subsequently assist with GoFileRoom implementation. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Immediatech will provide RSM McGladrey Network firms with a discount on its GoFileRoom services.

Sage Software (formerly Best Software) announced a new name for its Best Software Accountants Network program. The new program will be called the Sage Software Accountants Network, and will expand its libraries for accountants to include Timberline and Accpac. The Accountants Network offers resources for accountants. Accounting professionals have access to software libraries for Sage products that include accounting and business management software, support services, and automatic upgrades and updates, including tax tables, when applicable. Two additional companies will join the Accountants Network as Value Partners in July. First Research will allow accountants access to industry profiles from more than 170 target markets, as well as industry trends and call prep sheets, which are one-page executive summaries of the industry profiles. ILumen offers private-company trending, monitoring and benchmarking services that firms can use to monitor and benchmark their private-company business clients. Also new are the Sage Payroll Services offerings for mid-market companies. The new outsourced payroll services join the company's existing Peachtree Payroll Service for small businesses. The Web-native Sage Payroll Services include Sage Payroll Services - Abra Edition, which integrates with the Sage Abra Human Resources Management System solution; Sage Payroll Services - MAS Edition, which integrates with the company's Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 accounting products; and a stand-alone Sage Payroll Services offering, which can be used in conjunction with any in-house accounting system. Furthermore, in conjunction with its corporate rebranding, Sage will be changing the names of its MIP Fund Accounting and Fundraising software. The new product names are Sage MIP Fund Accounting, formerly MIP Fund Accounting; Sage Fundraising 50, formerly MIP Fundraising Paradigm; Sage Fundraising 100, formerly MIP Fundraising GT Pro; Millennium, formerly MIP Fundraising Millennium; and Sage Endowment Management, formerly MIP Endowment Management.

Last week business software provider Oracle announced that Gregory B. Maffei will be their new president and chief financial officer, starting in July. Maffei comes to Oracle from 360networks, a fiber optics communication company based in Seattle, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. Previously, Maffei was chairman of Expedia, a travel Web site, and the CFO of Microsoft from 1997 to early 2000. He will succeed Harry You, who left the position in March to become chief executive officer at BearingPoint, a business consulting and services enterprise near Boston. Safra Catz, co-president at Oracle, will continue to act as interim CFO until Maffei takes over.

Three years after it purchased the consulting unit of Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, IBM Corp. said that it would launch a new supply chain consulting arm specializing in global logistics. The Armonk, N.Y.-based concern has tapped veteran Bob Moffat to head the new unit, which will bundle consulting services, software automation technology and its proprietary global computer logistics. IBM projected supply chain services -- which constitute a $23 billion market, according to IT industry researchers -- as its next new growth area.

Denali, a new product line from business applications developer Cougar Mountain, was unveiled this week and the company said that many of the modules will be ready for shipment in late July. The Denali product family is based on .Net and SQL technology from Microsoft, and is geared toward those companies looking to grow in size, location and data volume. The remainder of the products will be released in the fall."This new family of products provides features of the high-end accounting programs at a very reasonable price," said chief executive officer Jim Stone. "The product allows organizations to tailor functionality while following generally accepted accounting practices." Scheduled for the July release will be the Denali Point of Sale, Inventory, Specialty Shop, and Multi-location Inventory solutions. In the fall, Cougar Mountain will unveil its Denali General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable applications. Denali products will be available for multiple-location environments with unlimited transaction volumes, and provide multi-level security. The Denali POS system being released this July accepts multiple currencies and different tenders (checks, credit/debit cards and cash) in one transaction, updates in real-time to let users know if an item is out of stock, and has automated vendor pricing information, among other features.

The Compliance Consortium, an international group that promotes effective governance, risk and compliance management, has merged with the Open Compliance and Ethics Group, a nonprofit organization specializing in compliance and risk-management strategies. The merger is effective immediately. Members of the Compliance Consortium will serve as the initial members of the newly created OCEG Technology Council. Ted Frank, chairman of the Compliance Consortium advisory council and president of governance software provider Axentis, will join the OCEG's overall Leadership Council and head the newly formed Technology Council. Sebastian Holst, president of the Compliance Consortium, said that one of the OCEG Technology Council's first objectives will be to expand its membership to include commercial organizations and other technology providers.