2010 Review of Professional Tax Systems (Advanced Workflow)

Why did we do this? Because, simply put, what may be a 5-star tax program
for one firm may not be for another. And the factors that are most likely to
determine what features and functions a practice needs from their tax system
generally revolve around the level of complexity in a firm’s workflow
structure. It isn’t simply a matter of how complex their client returns
may be, although that does influence the complexity level. Nor is it strictly
related to a firm’s size or the volume of returns they process.

Only 15 years ago, the most critical assessment of a tax preparation system
was in its calculation abilities and whether it could correctly move data from
parts of a return or related worksheet/schedule into the proper place. All tax
packages are competent in these areas now. Only a decade ago, as “tax
compliance suites” were developing, a key concern was in the ability to
handle all forms. Well, all of the major tax preparation systems on the market
today can pretty much handle any return.

CHANGING WORKFLOW NEEDS & EXPECTATIONS
With the continuing revolution in the way that professional practices manage
engagements, we’ve seen movements toward paperless workflow, digital document
management, advanced collaboration features, data routing, scan and organize,
remote access capabilities, client portals, automatic population and other features.
So many of the new key factors in finding the best tax system for a particular
firm is in determining what level of complexity that firm experiences, not only
in terms of their clients, but also in terms of the workflow processes that
take place within the practice.

The end result is that there are firms who expect and demand these dynamic
and more technologically advanced workflow functions, and there are firms who
don’t expect or have a need for those functions. So we’ve divided
the tax systems based on both our view and the vendors’ of the type of
practice each program would best be suited for. This will allow us to better
compare products in an “apples-to-apples” way, which should provide
greater benefit to professionals seeking a new tax compliance system.

2010 Advanced Workflow Review Criteria Core Product Functions/Features Product Depth/Multi-State Navigation/Ease-of-Use Integration w/in Publisher’s own suite w/other or external programs 1040 workpaper integration Paperless Workflow Paperless creation 1040 Scan (and organize/populate) Data import Paperless integration Workflow Remote Capabilities Portal Remote Access Summary & Pricing Overall Rating

WHAT ARE ‘ADVANCED WORKFLOW NEEDS?’
I know of a four-person practice that specializes in ex-pat returns, plus all
of the principals are located in different states. While a small practice in
terms of staff, the firm must rely on systems that offer greater collaboration
and web-based tools, along with extensive international tax law and treaty research.
Similarly, a larger practice that manages corporations with multiple subsidiaries
may have multiple professionals or departments working on different areas at
the same time. As such, the complexity level would be quite extensive.

On the other hand, a 10-person practice that handles a thousand 1040s may
not need those features, and while a one-person shop certainly wouldn’t
need functions that allow for multiple preparers to work on the same return,
he or she might specialize in a more regulated area of corporate or individual
taxation.

Ultimately, principals or partners need to determine the level of complexity
for their own firm. By dividing the tax systems into two groups, we are better
able to fairly assess their capabilities against programs geared for a similar
practice.

OTHER CHANGES IN OUR REVIEW PROCESS
In addition to creating two groups of tax programs, we’ve made changes
to the way in which we review all professional (For Your Firm) and client-side
(For Your Clients) programs. While reviews are inherently opinion-based, we’ve
taken steps to add some measure of objectivity to this subjective process. Each
product in a review will continue to be scored on several key areas of its functionality,
but how a program scores in each of these areas will be based on several subsections.
This new grading formula will help ensure that each product is graded on the
same critical functions. The chart on this page outlines each of the sections/subsections
for this review genre so you have a clear picture of how the ratings were determined.

An example of these categories and subcategories is one of the key differentiating
points between the “advanced workflow” tax systems and the “traditional
workflow” programs reviewed in this issue. Reviews of the advanced internal
workflow programs include a category for Remote Capabilities, which includes
subcategories for judging client portals and remote access functions. This category
is not included in the review of “traditional workflow” systems
because such features aren’t necessarily “needed or expected”
by most firms the programs are geared toward.

NOT EVERYTHING IS CHANGING
While it may seem like many of our review processes are changing, our goal remains
the same: To provide tax and accounting professionals with apples-to-apples
reviews of technology products that they can use to find the best fit for their
firms or their clients. We will continue to provide overall star ratings in
addition to section ratings, and are extending these ratings to include 1/4-star
increments to help provide greater differentiation between programs and better
serve our readers. As always, we will continue to provide pricing information
for every program we review. This information will be located in the Relative
Value section of each product review, in which we will also identify a program’s
key strengths and the type of practice or business a system for which it is
best-suited.

This review section focuses on professional tax preparation systems that are
geared toward practices with advanced internal workflow needs. Specific features
and functions that were expected in programs designed for these needs included
the ability for more than one professional to access and work on different areas
of a client return simultaneously; collaboration tools that allow users to attach
virtually any type of document, note, file or web link to a return field; client
portals; and the ability to remotely access the program. For individual returns,
these systems should natively include workpaper automation features that allow
users to easily receive preparation-order bookmarked PDF folders of client documents,
with the eventual ability to transfer client data into the return.

 

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