Review of Practice Management Software — 2005

The prototype firm for this review is a 10-timekeeper office with two partners
and eight staff and admin members. This firm performs services for five bookkeeping
clients, works on 10 audits, and has 200 tax engagements per year. Several of
the employees graduated from college within the past three years and consider
themselves technologically savvy. This firm attended and paid attention to the
practice management issues addressed at AICPA Tech 2005: security needs, document
management, research tools and prospect tracking. And they are looking for a
product to satisfy those needs.

The following review focuses on six major criteria. First, how easy was the
software to use and navigate? If upon opening the software, the first word that
came to mind was yuck, then the scoring reflects the sentiment appropriately.
If the program was rigid and could not be made to conform to new or growing
practices, that is also reflected. Finally, if a refresh button was regularly
necessary to ensure the information provided was accurate, that too was noted.

Scalability and stability is the second area of focus. Products were only
judged against their stated scalability — if a product was intended for
five to 25 users, then the review was only concerned with how well it might
serve the prototype firm. Similarly, if a product was intended for firms of
all sizes, then the product was judged against implementations in both large
and small firms. In some cases, software packages have a lower score because
database security could be compromised or because crashing or errors persisted
during the testing phase.

The next two sections cover productivity tools, features and reporting. Every
product will have strengths and weaknesses, but the most important areas for
this review were scheduling, easy timekeeping, research capabilities, and the
ability to support sound management decision-making. Some products offered advanced
capabilities such as custom report building, marketing tools, court and legal
proceeding handling, and document management. If your firm has no means of document
management at this time, it would be wise to consider a package that can assist
in the handling of both your hardcopy and softcopy documents.

Rounding out the reviews are sections for support and integration. Surprisingly,
some packages had missing or very limited Help sections. For this review, Software
Technology, Inc., CaseWare and LexisNexis Time Matters provided the best sets
of documentation, while CCH and Sage provided great assistance with setup materials,
guides and tutorials. Integration considers basic capabilities such as synchronizing
with Outlook and handheld devices.

Because some of the vendors requested information as to how scoring works,
here’s the basic principle applied to overall ratings for this review:

5 STARS — This product is amazing, and the vendor should
continue to incorporate user suggestions.
4.5 STARS — Power users are satisfied, and innovative
tools are provided, but a weakness in the interface or issues with support and
licensing may exist.
4 STARS — This product does everything quite well, though
there’s still room for improvement. Users will be satisfied.
3.5 STARS — This product is missing a few key ingredients,
though only a little effort may be necessary to greatly improve the product.
Some tasks may be unreasonably difficult.
3 STARS — The vendor has striven for mediocrity. At one
point, this product was likely a 4- or 5-star product, but has since been neglected.
2.5 STARS — 70 percent of the features expected are available,
and it might take a while for some users to get accustomed to the software.
Some users will know that better software exists and wonder why management was
so cheap.
2 STARS — All users take significantly longer to learn
to use the features of the software, and most people desire a new product within
the next year.
1.5 STARS — No one likes it, it makes you mad to work
with it, and if a company forces it on staff, some people will likely quit by
the end of the week.
1 STAR — The interface isn’t written in English,
and all your time and billing entries are exported to Nigeria. For those just
entering the search for practice management software, you might be best to hold
off until 2006, as some major updates are expected. Next year’s review
will likely play host to many 4- and 5-star products.

Mr. Altman is information systems manager for Altman, Rogers & Co.,
an audit and tax firm with four offices across Alaska. He also serves as vice
president of Altman Consulting and Technology, Inc., an accounting and mapping
technologies service provider.