AccountantsWorld’ Time2Money

All functions are very easy to perform,
and all screens offer the same intuitive
interface. The system employs user-level
security methods, allowing only
authorized staff to access the system’s
bills, reports and setup functions.

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS – 3.5 Stars
Time2Money allows any number of
clients and as many staff as needed,
and supports up to five default
rates for any task, as well as up
to five specific rates for each
task. Tasks can be billed on an
hourly or flat-rate basis, and time
can be entered in increments as
small as 1/100th of an hour. The
system also tracks overhead cost
of staff time, which can be used
to measure individual and firm productivity
levels. Time2Money includes pre-created
tasks that are common to financial
professionals, which is a great
timesaving addition for accountants.

All of the managerial features of
Time2Money are available via the
Bills, Reports and Setup screens.
The Bills section provides a sortable
list of clients and billing sheets
pending approval. The screen also
provides tabs for processing, printing
and reprinting invoices, as well
as for entering received payments.
The system does not provide an actual
AR module, but does handle some
aspects, including client aging
and realization via the Reports
section. It can also apply payments
received against invoices or against
retainers and can be used to issue
credit memos or write-off invoices.
Time2Money does not support PDA
entry or synching of expense and
time data, but its web-based nature
enables access by authorized users
from any location with an Internet
connection.

BILLING & REPORTING FEATURES – 3 Stars
Time2Money’s invoicing and
reporting functions are very simple
to use and generate. Invoices are
automatically generated in *.PDF
format and are presented on-screen
prior to printing, and can be saved
in this format or directly e-mailed
from within the application. The
Invoicing function automatically
maintains the status of invoices
by assigning codes of pending delivery,
unpaid, paid or void. Basic customization
features are available for Invoices.
For example, you can determine whether
to show descriptions of tasks, show
account summary, suppress letterheads,
add footer text, etc. The Reports
function provides a total of 13
reports: five based on client activity,
three for staff, and five for firm
activity. Reports can be previewed
prior to printing. Although they
cannot be modified within the program,
users can export the reports to
*.RTF or Excel format, which allows
them to be edited within Microsoft
Word or Excel, including placement
of headers and company logos (although
templates for such activities cannot
be set up within the system). The
program includes basic firm, client
and task productivity analysis reporting.

INTEGRATION – 2 Stars

Time2Money links to Adobe Acrobat,
Word and Excel when generating invoices
and reports, but does not offer
integration with any outside accounting
programs, not even to the vendor’s
Accountant’s Relief or Payroll
Relief AC programs. The system’s
ability to export to Excel enables
importation and mapping of some
data into applications that can
accept the format.

SUPPORT/HELP – 5 Stars
Time2Money includes a good Help
utility that automatically provides
context or page-specific assistance
when the Help button is selected,
and also includes traditional contents,
index and search functions. Toll-free
support is included at no additional
cost, in addition to web-based seminars
and online support, and the AccountantsWorld
online user community. The system
is updated by AccountantsWorld with
no action required by subscribers.

RELATIVE VALUE – 4 Stars
Time2Money is not geared to be a
full practice management suite,
instead offering a good but basic
approach to time and billing management.
It provides limited reporting and
invoicing functions. The program
is incredibly intuitive and easy
to use, almost fun even, giving
a quick solution to smaller firms
looking for a basic time capturing
and billing solution. Its price
makes it a reasonable option for
AOO users and small firms without
a time and billing application.
Its web-based nature also adds value
to those professionals looking to
limit time spent managing software.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 4 Stars

The programs reviewed here all provide
basic time management functions,
allow for tracking of expenses,
and offer invoicing and a variety
of managerial reporting. They differ
in their approaches to these functions
and some offer additional tools
such as contact management, scheduling
applications and communications
tools. After consulting with professional
accountants and vendors, we scored
the software in this review in each
of the following areas:

Ease of Use ‘ The most challenging part of implementing a time and billing

regimen is ensuring that staff members use the system
properly, whether by operating in-progress
timers or entering time after-the-fact.
If the system isn’t easy to
use, with intuitive navigation,
staff won’t be as reliable
in their use of the program, and
time or expenses may get lost.

Management Features ‘ This section identifies how the program handles time

and flat-rate billing, the number of clients and timekeepers supported, multi-currency

capabilities, calendaring tools, contact management functions and whether the program allows

remote entry of time, client, and expense data by PDA or web-based interface.

Billing & Reporting Features ‘ The billing capabilities of these programs

obviously affect their overall value to a
firm. This section looks at AR functions,
as well as aging, rates and code
structures, split/partial/interim
billing, markups on expenses and
invoice options. As well, the reporting
functions of the programs are examined,
specifically with regard to standard
reports, productivity analysis reports,
customization options and final
output.

Integration ‘ This section looks at the ability of a program to share data

with GL, payroll or other accounting programs, as well as with office productivity

applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel.

Support/Help ‘ Here we assess a program’s built-in help utilities, online
support options, availability of
training and whether support options
are included or available for an
added cost.

Relative Value ‘ This section provides the reviewer’s subjective opinion of

what the user gets for the price. There is some variance in the pricing of the programs in

this review, but it is not very wide. Value, of course, is not exclusively related to cost.

However, sometimes the best deal is not the cheapest, and sometimes the most expensive

option does not provide the best function.