CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business — ProSystem fx Write-Up

From the Nov. 2007 Review of Client
Write-Up Systems

ProSystem fx Write-Up is one of CCH’s newest additions to the
fx product line of tax and workflow management systems for professional
accounting practices, providing powerful financial statement preparation, bank
reconciliation features, trial balance, options for integrated or online client
payroll processing, integration with other ProSystem fx programs, import
capabilities from most accounting packages, and export to tax preparation and
document management applications. The system supports limitless client companies,
with fully customizable charts of accounts and journals, and offers extensive
customization options for financial statement and report preparation. Conversion
from other packages is offered, and is free for users of CCH’s CPAClient
Write-Up. Pricing for ProSystem fx Write-Up starts at $1,850.

LEARNING CURVE & EASE OF USE — 4 Stars
CCH created ProSystem fx Write-Up from the ground up on the .NET framework
only a couple of years ago, and this is immediately evident in the program’s
advanced interface and outstanding integration functions. The primary windows
provide traditional pull-down menus, but throughout the program users have one-click
access to pretty much all related features. Write-Up offers a customizable Shortcuts
menu, with a tabbed work area that also offers personalization features. Awesome
customization options are everywhere in the program, with drag-and-drop access
to drilldown features and data-entry processes that allow tailoring of data-entry
grids to match workflow needs. Users also have the ability to customize departments,
divisions and locations.

Entry of client data is most easily performed using ProSystem fx
Write-Up’s Import Wizard, which lets users quickly pull and convert client
data directly from Write-Up CS, QuickBooks, Peachtree, Quicken, ASCII files
or the Windows Clipboard. Integration with other programs, including after-the-fact
and live payroll, allows data to flow directly to appropriate account ledgers.
Manual data entry is also flexible and easily performed. Bank reconciliation
functions provide access

to prior reconciliations, with tabbed screens showing outstanding checks,
outstanding deposits, other receipts, reconciling items, and status, and then
clearly presenting bank and write-up reconciled balances. The program also maintains
a working trial balance that tracks adjustments made to client data and provides
automatic on-screen updates with the adjustments displayed. Write-Up also provides
filtering functions that enable professionals to quickly find and answer client
and vendor questions, such as when payments were posted to an account. The vendor
offers after-the-fact payroll as part of the base write-up program as well as
an integrated live payroll module and integration with PayCycle. The payroll
options provide for electronic or paper-based information return preparation
and filing, as well as support for state forms.

REPORTING & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — 5 Stars
Reporting and financial statement preparation processes are guided by a reporting
wizard that simplifies filtering and sorting of information for building customized
reports, client letters and financial statements, and enables the creation of
comparative financials for analysis. Subsidiary reporting is easily performed,
as is the creation of consolidated reports. Reports can be output to Excel or
exported to ProSystem fx Engagement or Trial Balance.

INTEGRATION, IMPORT/EXPORT — 5 Stars
ProSystem fx Write-Up’s Import Wizard eases data acquisition
from QuickBooks, Peachtree, Quicken and ASCII files. Dynamic links between the
write-up system and ProSystem fx Tax make return preparation more efficient
by directly routing data to 1120, 1120S, 1065, and 990 returns, as well as to
Schedules C, E and F. Statements and reports can be saved to PDF format for
paperless document management purposes, or opened in Excel for further data
analysis.

SUPPORT, TRAINING & HELP SYSTEM — 5 Stars
ProSystem fx Write-Up offers excellent content-sensitive Help functions,
right-click menus, tutorials, and links to support, along with a comprehensive
online support center that provides FAQs, program updates, and links to a variety
of web-based and live training options. Phone support is also included in program
pricing.

RELATIVE VALUE — 5 Stars
As the newest entry into the market, ProSystem fx Write-Up’s
.NET platform makes it amazingly customizable and enables it to have best-of-class
integration capabilities that can pull data from virtually any client accounting
system on the market. Because of dynamic linking between programs, however,
Write-Up is best suited to firms that utilize other applications in CCH’s
ProSystem fx Office suite, especially the company’s tax, engagement,
depreciation and document management systems.

2007 Overall Rating: 5 Stars