2015 Innovation Award Nominee: 1040Bridge.com

1040Bridge is dedicated to developing and marketing software for the tax and accounting community. The SAAS based product is a complete document management system and an integrated client portal in one solution. What separates this client portal from ALL other solutions on the market is the patented feature of “Payment Protecting Tax Returns”. (Patent Feb 24, 2015, US Patent 8,965,805 B2). Not many patents are issued for the tax preparation community and this one is certainly a game changer.

Firm users can require clients to pay an invoice or a preparation fee before the client can download, view, or share the document on the firms custom branded portal. Tax preparers report a significant improvement in cash flow, an increase in efficiency, and are able to service their remote clients with greater ease, not to mention their own ability to now work and get paid remotely. With 1040Bridge the process of Invoicing, Delivering to the Client, Storing in a Document Management System, and Getting Paid happens in one beautiful process.

1040Bridge makes it simple to integrate with any windows program or your favorite tax preparation software via a virtual printer driver. Fujitsu has made it convenient to scan documents to the portal with their line of Scan Snap Scanners. The 1040Bridge Icon now appears as an available icon in the Fujitsu software, making the process of storing and delivering documents to clients seamless. 1040Bridge separates itself from other solutions by recognizing how digital documents are actually stored in other industries and bringing that ease of use to the tax professional.

1040Bridge is much more than a replacement for your physical filing cabinet. Firms are no longer restricted to an outdated file tree structure nor are users required to learn a complicated naming rule policy. In 1040Bridge documents are tagged based upon an intuitive system of subjects and tax years. Documents can belong to more than one subject. Filtering documents for multiple tax years and subjects for one client or across multiple clients is faster and more intuitive than many other portals.

The design and ease of use is compelling. 1040Bridge core mission it to develop practical tools that are designed to save the tax professional time. Once again 1040Bridge solves a major bottleneck in the profession. The process of following up and reminding clients of necessary information to complete the return or other engagement is automated. With the Request Bridge feature, clients are sent email/text notifications every three days until all the requested information is completed by the client. Past Due requests receive daily notifications. Phone tag or emailing clients for clarification only to receive partial documentation is no longer an issue.

With this valuable feature firms can stop chasing clients and focus on productive work. As an added benefit, firms can set up automatic recurring requests for monthly, quarterly, or yearly information such as sales tax reports or client organizers. The Payment Protect Tax Return feature and 1040Bridge is a cutting edge concept that is helping firms reach a truly paperless office experience. 

Click here to see all of the other nominees for the 2015 Innovation Awards.