2018 Readers’ Choice Awards

IN-FIRM TECHNOLOGIES

Federal/State Income Tax Preparation
Insight: More than 90 percent of our Readers Choice voters report using or recommending professional tax systems, making this our most popular category. Drake Software has consistently dominated this and other tax-related questions in the annual awards. Drake has about 10% of the professional tax software market, but has a very active and loyal customer base who support the product and company.

WINNER: Drake Software (59%)
Runners Up:

• Intuit Lacerte, ProSeries, TaxOnline (14%)
• Thomson Reuters UltraTax or GoSystem RS (7%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Small Firm Services ATX or TaxWise (6.5%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess or ProSystem fx (4%)
• TaxAct Preparers’ Editions (3.5%)
• RCS TaxSlayer Pro (2%)
• Other (4%)

————– –
Specialty Systems & Tax Prep Tools
Insight: Professionals often turn to specialty systems to fill the needs of specific clients. These often help prepare less common forms, help streamline tax workflow, cover areas their main tax system doesn’t, or go into greater detail.

WINNER: QuickBooks Self-Employed (33%)
Runners Up:

• GruntWorx (29%)
• Thomson Reuters UltraTax CS Source Document (8%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx Scan with AutoFlow Technology (7%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess (5.5%)
• Bloomberg BNA 709 & 706 Preparer (4%)
• SurePrep 1040SCAN & TaxCaddy (2.5%)
• Xero Tax Touch (2%)
• Sageworks Electronic Tax Return Reader (1.5%)
• DynaTax (1%)
• Other (6.5%)

————– –
Tax Planning Systems
Insight: Tax planning should get a huge boost this year, with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the major new tax reform law. Because tax planning is proactive, tax pros can help identify potential issues that result in direct, identifiable tax savings that clients see and appreciate. As such, tax planning systems go far beyond what tax preparation systems can do when it comes to creating hypothetical situations based on current and projected tax law, phase-ins and outs, and life event changes such as variations in income, college and other family matters. Once again, Drake’s active user base showed up in force for this question.

WINNER: Drake Tax Planner (69%)
Runners Up:

• Intuit Lacerte Tax Planner (9%)
• Thomson Reuters Planner CS (5%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx Planning and fx for Small Firms (4.5%)
• Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Individual Business 3.5%
• Bloomberg BNA Income Tax Planner (3.5%)
• Other: 5.5%

————– –
Tax & Accounting Research Systems
Insight: Taxes are complex enough, and with the uncertainty of the new tax reform law, professionals need a reliable tool for finding the information they need. This includes primary source material such as the federal tax code and state tax laws, as well as tax court rulings and expert analysis of these materials. Some of the available tax research systems integrate with tax preparation programs, while others are used separately, and can be used alongside any system. TheTaxBook handily took this category this year.

WINNER: TheTaxBook – Tax Materials Inc. (55%)
Runners Up:

• QuickFinder Tax Handbooks (15%)
• Thomson Reuters Checkpoint (RIA) (8%)
• CCH IntelliConnect (Wolters Kluwer) (5%)
• Intuit Tax Research & TaxAlmanac.org (4%)
• Parker Tax Pro Library (3.5%)
• Tax Talk Today (3.5%)
• TaxSpeaker (3%)
• Bloomberg BNA Financial (2%)
• Other: 1%

————– –

1099/W-2 Compliance
Insight: Specialty W-2 and 1099 preparation systems help relieve much of the burden of processing hundreds or more forms each year, and streamline the entire process, including mailing of copies to recipients and federal and state agencies. Drake’s Client Write-Up won this year’s voting, with its integrated W-2 and 1099 compliance functions.

WINNER: Drake Client Write-Up (46%)
Runners Up:

• AMS 1099-ETC (14%)
• W2/1099 (Wolters Kluwer ATX and TaxWise) (11%)
• Thomson Reuters Accounting CS Payroll Compliance (8%)
• Tenenz Laser Link/EagleView (4.5%)
• 1099 Pro (3%)
• Greatland/Yearli (2%)
• AccountantsWorld ATF Payroll (1.5%)
• Real Business Solutions W2-Mate (1.5%)
• Others (8.5%)

 

————– –
Sales & Use Tax
Insight: With thousands of jurisdictions in the U.S., even small businesses can quickly get over their heads when it comes to sales tax compliance, whether due to internet sales, affiliations with other retailers, or even delivery and service issues. Fortunately, there are systems that now automate much of the compliance and reporting functions, as well as systems that make it easier to manage the processes manually. Most voters in this category said they use state tax agency websites or use the sales tax functions built into their (or their clients’) accounting systems. Among the votes for specific sales tax software, the results were:

WINNER: Vertex Indirect Tax (35%)
Runners Up:

• eFileSalesTax.com (17%)
• CFS Tax Software (13%)
• Avalara AvaTax or Trustfile (11%)
• CCH Wolters Kluwer (SureTax/SalesTaxOffice/SalesTaxSaaS/STRO) 9%
• Thomson Reuters ONESource Indirect Tax (5%)
• BNA Sales Tax Rates (2%)
• Other (8%)
  ————– –

 

Sales & Use Tax Exemption Certificate Management
Insight: Another specialty area, managing exemption certificates is a critical function for many retailers and especially for wholesalers, since poor management can open them up to sales tax compliance failures, and substantial penalties.

WINNER: Vertex Exemption Certificate Manager (63%)
Runners Up:

• Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Exemption Cert. Manager (20%)
• Avalara AvaTax CertCapture (14%)
• Sovos (formerly Imaging Science Services) 3%

 

————– –
Write-Up
Insight: The increasing adoption of web-based accounting systems is fundamentally changing this function, which used to be a cornerstone of many full-service accounting firms. (Note, cloud-based small business accounting systems are in a separate category below.)

WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Accountant (50%)

Runners Up:

• Drake Client Write-Up (36%)
• Thomson Reuters Accounting CS (4%)
• Sage One/Sage 50/Peachtree (3%)
• PC Software Accounting Inc. (2%)
• Xero (2%)
• AccountantsWorld Accounting Power (1%)
• Client Accounting Suite (Wolters Kluwer) (1%)
• CYMA After-the-Fact Module (0.5%)
• Other (0.5%)

————– –

Audit Engagement Tools
Insight: Managing audit engagements can be cumbersome if not using the right tools, which streamline these functions and provide greater controls on the processes. About 10 percent of this year’s voters selected a preference in this category:

WINNER: Thomson Reuters PPC SMART Audit Suite & WorkPapers CS (35%)
Runners Up:

• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx Systems and ARM (27%)
• Audit Confirmations (9%)
• Capital Confirmation (7%)
• Wiley Advantage Audit (6.5%)
• AuditFile (6%)
• CaseWare IDEA (4%)
• Audit Dashboard Automated PBC (2%)
• Rivio Clearninghouse (1.5%)
• Other (2%)

————– –

Payroll
Insight: Payroll is always the largest category in our annual Readers’ Choice Awards, as well as in our reviews of payroll systems. There are so many systems on the market that are designed for accounting firms or for small businesses to use directly, that we often can’t fit them all into a single issue of CPA Practice Advisor. This is testament to the importance of payroll to modern businesses and the need for firms to provide this service to their clients. Now that most of these systems are cloud-based and automatically update payroll tax rates and other factors, they take much of the pain out of payroll, making it much easier to keep employees and clients happy, and the state and federal agencies satisfied with reporting and remission of payroll taxes.

WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Payroll, Enhanced Payroll & Full Service Payroll (41%)
Runners Up:

• Drake Client Write-Up/Payroll (23%)
• ADP Payroll Solutions (13%)
• Paychex (7%)
• Thomson Reuters Accounting CS Payroll or myPay (4%)
• AMS 1099-Etc Payroll (3%)
• PC Software Accounting Inc. (2%)
• Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll) (2%)
• AccountantsWorld Payroll Relief (1.5%)
• Wolters Kluwer Payroll Compliance Reporting (1%)
• Other (2.5%)

————– –
Business Valuation
Insight: Although a specialty niche, valuation services, and the software that helps professionals provide the services, are highly valued.

WINNER: SageWorks Valuation Solution (30%)

Runners Up:

• MoneySoft Corporate Valuation Pro, DealSense & Business Valuation Specialist (25%)
• ValuSource Pro, BVM Pro & Express Business Valuation (22%)
• Other (23%)

 

 

————– –

Practice Management/Time & Billing Systems
Insight: The systems in this two-part category range from simple tools for functions like time tracking, to extensive systems that offer deep analysis of firm productivity and include advanced workflow management.

Practice Management:
WINNER: Thomson Reuters Practice CS (32%)
Runners Up:

• Sage Timeslips (20.5%)
• OfficeTools WorkSpace by AbacusNext (17%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess, CCH iFirm & CCH ProSystem fx Practice Mgmt. (15%) AccountantsWorld Practice Relief (7%)
• ClientWhys/TaxBuzz.com (3.5%)
• Other (5%)

 

Time & Billing:
WINNER: TPS Software (34%)
Runners Up:

• TSheets (28%)
• ImagineTime (18%)
• BQE BillQuick (9%)
• ClientWhys/TaxBuzz.com (5%)
• BigTime (2%)
• Bill4Time (1.5%)
• Other (2.5%)

————– –

Online Invoicing/Bill Payment Solutions
WINNER: Intuit Payments (40%)

Runners Up:

• PayPal (32%)
• Bill.com (8%)
• Bill&Pay (5%)
• Xero (4.5%)
• Sage Payments (3.5%)
• ReceiptBank (3%)
• Zoho Books (1%)
• FreshBooks (0.5%)
• CollBox (0.5%)
• Other (2%)

————– –
Client Portals
Insight: Now that we almost live in the cloud, it’s much easier and more efficient for firms and clients to electronically share documents and data. Drake once again dominated this year’s voting in this category. Surprisingly, however, about half of all respondents said they do not use a portal system. If your firm is sending documents via email, you may be breaking your state’s privacy laws and could face severe fines. Not to mention you are putting your clients’ data at risk. Of those voters who did select a preferred portal system, the results were:

WINNER: Drake Software SecureFilePro.com (70%)
Runners Up:

• Citrix ShareFile (9%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess Portal/ProSystem fx / iFirm (4.5%)
• Thomson Reuters NetClient CS Portals or Onvio (4%)
• eFileCabinet – SecureDrawer (3%)
• AccountantsWorld Cloud Cabinet (2%)
• ClientWhys/TaxBuzz.com (2%)
• OfficeTools by AbacusNext (1.5%)
• SmartVault (1%)
• Other (3%)

 

————– –

Document Management & Document Storage

Insight: The products in this category range from basic electronic file cabinets, to advanced programs that include client collaboration tools, automatic archiving, retention functions and multi-worker productivity features.

WINNER: Drake Document Manager (43%)
Runners Up:

• Intuit ProSeries & Lacerte DMS (18%)
• Thomson Reuters FileCabinet CS/GoFileRoom (13%)
• eFileCabinet (7%)
• CCH Axcess or ProSystem fx Document (6.5%)
• SmartVault Document Storage (4%)
• OfficeTools WorkSpace by AbacusNext (2.5%)
• Doc.IT (2%)
• AccountantsWorld Cloud Cabinet (1%)
• Other (3%)

 

 

————– –

Document Management Utilities
Insight: Many firms use specialty hardware for scanning and optical character recognition functions, faxing and other features. These systems often work directly with document management systems.

WINNER: Fujitsu (39%)
Runners Up:

• HP (28%)
• Canon (14%)
• Nuance (7.5%)
• cPaperless Tic-Tie-Calculate (6%)
• ABBYY (3%)
• Kofax (2%)
• Other (0.5%)

WINNER: GruntWorx Populate (47%)
Runners Up:

• Intuit Tax Import for Lacerte & ProSeries (29%)
• Thomson Reuters Source Document Processing & Workpapers CS (8%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH iFirm and ProSystem fx Scan with AutoFlow (7.5%)
• cPaperless (3%)
• SurePrep 1040Scan Pro, 1040Scan Organize (2.5%)
• Other (3%)

 

————– –
Comprehensive Firm Workflow Systems
Insight: This category is divided into two groups: Comprehensive Workflow, and Other Workflow Tools, which are designed for aiding in specific tasks and engagements and for smaller firms.

Comprehensive Workflow
WINNER: Thomson Reuters Practice CS Project Management (21%)
Runners Up:

• OfficeTools WorkSpace by AbacusNext (17%)
• TaxWorkFlow (16%)
• XCM Workflow (13%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess Workstream (9%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH iFirm Practice Manager (8.5%)
• Thomson Reuters FirmFlow (7%)
• Pascal Workflow (5.5%)
• Autonomy iManage Workflow Manager (3%)

Other Workflow Tools:
WINNER: GruntWorx (30%)
Runners Up:

• Intuit Tax Import for Lacerte and ProSeries (12%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx Systems (8%)
• ATX and TaxWise (Wolters Kluwer) (7%)
• Thomson Reuters GoFileRoom/Practice CS/Workpapers CS (6.5%)
• Intuit Lacerte DMS and ProSeries DMS (6%)
• Citrix ShareFile for Accountants (5.5%)
• eFileCabinet (4.5%)
• Expensify (4%)
• Bill.com (3.5%)
• OfficeTools WorkSpace by AbacusNext (3%)
• SmartVault (2.5%)
• SurePrep (1%)
• Other (6.5%)

 

————– –

Website Builders & Services for Accounting Firms
Insight: There are many tools out there that are affordable and make it easy to create (and maintain) a professional website for your firm.

WINNER: Drake SiteDart Website Services (41%)
Runners Up:

• GetNetSet (20%)
• CPA Site Solutions (11%)
• Thomson Reuters Web Builder CS (7%)
• Tenenz AFSB (5%)
• AccountantsWorld Website Relief (3.5%)
• ClientWhys/TaxBuzz.com (3.5%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx SiteBuilder (3%)
• Build Your Firm (2%)
• CPASites.com (2%)
• Rootworks (1%)
• NMGI WebCare (1%)

 

————– –
SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

Insight: There are several sub-categories in this group: Below are the top vote-getters in each category.

Small Business Accounting – Installed Programs
WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Desktop (88%)
Runners Up:

• Sage One, Sage 50 or Sage ERP (8%)
• PC Software Accounting Inc. (2%)
• Other (2%)

Online Small Business Accounting
WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Online/Online Accountant (83%)
Runners Up:

• Thomson Reuters Client CS or CS Client Access (6%)
• SageOne (4%)
• Xero (3.5%)
• AccountantsWorld Accounting Power (1%)
• FreshBooks (1%)
• NetSuite (1%)
• Other (0.5%)

 

Expense and Travel Management Solutions

WINNER: Expensify (30%)

Runners Up:

• Concur Expense (27%)
• ReceiptBank (13.5%)
• Certify (13%)
• ExpenseWatch (5.5%)
• Tallie (5%)
• ZohoExpense (4%)
• SpringAhead (1%)
• Other (1%)

 

Retail Accounting/Point-of-Sale
WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Point-of-Sale (88%)
Runners Up:

• NetSuite OnSite POS (3%)
• Vend POS (2.5%)
• Cougar Mountain (1.5%)
• AccuPOS Retail POS 1.5%)
• Wasp Barcode (1%)
• Other (2.5%)

 

Not-for-Profit Accounting
WINNER: Intuit QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit (89%)

Runners Up:

• Blackbaud Financial Edge or Fundware (3%)
• Aplos Software (2.5%)
• Cougar Mountain FUND (1.5%)
• CYMA (1%)
• Abila (1%)
• OneNFP for Nonprofits (1%)
• Open Systems TRAVERSE (0.5%)
• Other (1%)

Fixed Asset Management
WINNER: Intuit ProSeries Fixed Asset Manager (41%)

Runners Up:

• Thomson Reuters Fixed Assets CS (25%)
• Wolters Kluwer CCH ProSystem fx Fixed Assets & Fixed Asset Manager (14%)
• Sage FAS Asset Accounting (8%)
• Pro-Ware Asset Keeper (5.5%)
• BNA Fixed Assets (5%)
• Open Systems TRAVERSE (1%)
• Other 0(.5%)

 

————– –

GENERAL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES

ASP/Hosted Solution Providers
WINNER: Drake Hosted (70%)

Runners Up:

• Thomson Reuters Virtual Office CS/SaaS (9%)
• Xcentric (8%)
• Right Networks (6%)
• AbacusNext Private Cloud and Cloudnine Realtime (4.5%)
• Other (2.5%)

————–

Outsourced Technology Services
WINNER: Xcentric (34.5%)

Runners Up:

• Cloudnine Realtime by AbacusNext (21%)
• AppRiver (12%)
• Right Networks (10%)
• Network Management Group Inc. (6%)
• InsynQ/CPAASP (6%)
• CPA2Biz Email Solutions (4%)
• Cetrom (2%)
• Other (4.5%)

————–

Laptop and Desktop Computers

WINNER: Dell (31.5%)

Runners Up:

• HP (28%)
• Lenovo (10%)
• Toshiba (6%)
• Acer (5.5%)
• Apple (5%)
• ASUS (4.5%)
• Sony (3%)
• Other (6.5%)

————– –

Smart Phone Operating System

• Android (49%)
• Apple (45%)
• Microsoft (4.5%)
• Blackberry (0.5%)
• Other (2%)

————– –

Smart Phone Brand

• Apple (44%)
• Samsung (21%)
• Motorola (10%)
• LG (7%)
• HTC (6%)
• Microsoft (5%)
• Other (7%)

 
————– –

Tablet Computers/Devices

• Apple iPad 44%
• Samsung 18%
• Kindle 10%
• Motorola (6%)
• HP 6%
• Microsoft Surface 3%
• Dell 3%
• Google 3%
• LG 2.5%
• Other 4.5%

————– –
Printers & Scanners
Insight: Printers are needed even in the “paperless” office.

• HP 41%
• Brother 21%
• Canon 11%
• Fujitsu 9%
• Epson 6%
• Dell 3.5%
• Other 8.5%

————– –
Office Supply Store

• Staples 27.97%
• Office Max/Depot 27.42%
• Costco 10.5%
• Sam’s 9%
• Wal-Mart 8.5%
• Best Buy 8%
• Quill 6.5%
• FedEx Office 1%
• Others 1.11%

(* We provided two decimal points on this category to show how close the voting was.)

————– – ————– –

OUT-OF-OFFICE

Favorite Form of Physical Exercise During Tax Season

WINNER: “Who has time to exercise?” (49.5%)

• Jogging/Running (10%)
• Jumping to Conclusions (8.5%)
• Weightlifting (8%)
• Bicycling (7.5%)
• Aerobics (7%)
• Yoga (6%)
• Team Sports (2%)
• Racket Sports (1.5%)

 

————– –

Technologies for Professional Firms

Do you use smartphone or tablet apps designed specifically for tax and accounting professionals?
• Yes 15%
• No 85%

How “remote” are you? How many hours per week do you work on client engagements or firm business while away from the office (at a client, at home or anywhere else)?
1. “My office is my home:” 42%
2. Less than 1 hour: 17.5%
3. Between 1-4 hours: 12.5%
4. Between 5-9 hours: 8.5%
5. Between 10-14 hours: 5%
6. 15+ hours per week: 14.5%

How “social” are you? Which social media tools do you use in conjunction with your work? About half of our voters said they don’t use any social media tools for business purposes. Of those who do, the breakdown is as follows:

• Facebook 31.5%
• LinkedIn 27.5%
• Twitter 9%
• Google+ 8.5%
• YouTube 7.5%
• Instagram 6%
• Yelp 3.5%
• Pinterest 3%
• SnapChat 2%
• Other 1.5%

 

—————— –

 Thank you to the nearly 5,000 tax and accounting professionals who participated in this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards.