Red Moon Solutions LLC — Fixed Assets Manager

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Red Moon Solutions offers several corporate tax and asset management applications, with the Fixed Assets Manager (FAM) system offering fixed asset tracking, depreciation, compliance, planning and reporting capabilities. The program can manage any number of individual or interrelated organizations, and supports all asset types and classes. It also provides comprehensive tools for calculating depreciation and is available as either a hosted solution or a traditionally installed on-premise product. Red Moon also offers programs for like-kind exchange matching, advanced analysis, tax calendaring, risk management and collaboration.

Basic System Functions

Fixed Assets Manager uses a multi-paned interface with multiple navigation options for accessing companies, assets, asset types, and the books and projections for each asset. The screens generally provide the look and feel of a Microsoft Office program, with quick access to calculation tools and system features available through the main icon menu, while an expandable menu on the left has links to entities, subunits and company information. Initial program setup and creation of company asset databases is guided by a collection of wizards and intuitive data-entry screens that include smart lists and calendars for selection of common data such as accounts, asset types and classes. Additional guidance is available during advanced program functions, particularly disposals, import and reporting processes.

The system is designed for use by business entities that may also have needs for tracking and managing the assets of subsidiary elements or geographic locations, but the flexibility in the design also enables the program to be used to manage multiple unrelated organizations. The summary asset information screens offer a spreadsheet view and the ability to drill down to more detail on a specific asset or group, and users can make global changes across asset types and groups. These asset detail screens include a tabbed view for moving between data entry and a display of all of an asset’s books side-by-side, with calculations performed as data is entered or treatments are changed. Customization options allow for the creation of custom views, user-defined asset types and depreciation methods, reporting properties, the ability to add virtually any number of fields, and options for tailoring the navigation menus as needed. When implemented on a network, FAM can support any number of concurrent users for management of any number of entities with unlimited assets. 4.5

Core Asset Management Features

The FAM system comes with pre-configured books for Federal tax, AMT, ACE and Accounting, but users can create an unlimited number of custom books to support states, foreign locations or E&P calculations. The program includes support for bonus depreciation, mid-quarter calculations, Sec. 179 and 280F, plus depreciation that includes the ability to create custom treatments or standard methods that include MACRS, ACRS, straight-line, modified straight-line, declining balance, sum-of-the-years’-digits, amortization and zero depreciation. It includes more than a hundred asset types and classes, and offers compliance with GAAP, IFRS and FASB standards.

Wizards help users perform asset life events from acquisition to disposal, including bulk and full and partial dispositions, asset splits, unsplitting, and inter- and intra-company transfers and multi-destination transfers. Consolidations can be performed between both related and unrelated entities managed within the program. The system does not include barcode or other physical asset inventory utilities but Red Moon can work with other vendors to incorporate this information for assets.

All of an asset’s books are presented side-by-side within a subwindow of information screens, with tabs allowing users to move to data entry for period information, user-defined data, transactional histories, investment tax credits and UOP. Users can also add attachments, such as invoices or spreadsheets, photographs and notes to asset files. Red Moon Solutions also offers an outsourcing program for advanced like-kind exchange matching, enabling businesses to better strategize tax-deferrable gains. Depreciation can be projected yearly up to 60 years or monthly for the current or next year. 4.5

Reporting

The reporting functions in FAM are available through an Explorer-style selection list accessed through the File > Print menu, and include more than 40 pre-defined Crystal Reports that can be customized as needed. These reports are organized into categories for accounting, asset information, compliance export, database, depreciation, Excel-formatted reports, tax-related reports, transactions and Canadian compliance. Users can create report sets for departments or other groups. The system can also produce fileable Forms 4562, 4684, 4797 and 6252. In addition to Excel, reports can be saved to various formats, including PDF. 4.75

Integration

The FAM system offers direct integration with the Domestic corporate income tax system from Vertex, as well as the ability to integrate with several financial platforms and ERPs. Integration is also possible with other tax compliance packages. Additionally, there is a specific version of FAM for SAP Business One. Financial period data can be exported into Excel, CSV and text formats for import into most accounting programs. Users can import asset data, including additions, dispositions, transfers, asset updates and user-defined fields, and the system provides an import diagnostic tool. 4.75

Help/Support

The assistive features in FAM are primarily centered on the Help utility, which provides traditional index-based reference functions. The company’s support website provides a knowledge base, FAQs, secure file-sharing functions, whitepapers and links to tax and accounting resources. The installed version of the program supports all modern versions of Windows, while the hosted version can be used on all major browsers. Technical support and system updates are included with program pricing. Red Moon also has a blog, Intaxication: Tax Buzz With a Twist, accessed via the vendor’s website, where weekly posts provide helpful tax, technology and business information. 4.5

Summary & Pricing

Red Moon’s Fixed Assets Manager provides a user-friendly asset management system geared primarily for direct use by corporations and other entities, providing excellent support for organizations with multiple locations, departments and other subsidiary units. The system includes fileable compliance forms, along with options for Canadian accounting and compliance. Pricing for FAM starts at $1,000 for a single-user version that supports up to 1,500 active assets with versions available to meet any organization’s needs.

2010 Overall Rating 4.5