Acct1st Technology Group, LLC — Acct1st

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From the June/July Review of Document Management Systems

Acct1st has had a busy year building out its “tax productivity suite” based upon client feedback. The vendor continues to brand Acct1st as the solution for “$1.00 a day” due to the fact that licensing is priced at $365 per user, per year. They offer the option to deploy the system in-house or you can subscribe to their hosted solution.

Usability -- 5 Stars
The interface is designed to display a customizable toolbar along the top of the screen and a search window along the left side. A keyword search tool is provided for searching across the entire database of metadata. The search form can be customized by each user to display only those fields in which the user typically searches (i.e., client, date, etc.). The document hit list displays folders that can be expanded to show all documents and files. A right click lets you change the sort sequence and the display of sub folders. You can customize the hit list display by dragging and dropping the hit list columns to add, delete, move and expand columns. A browser tab in the hit list window lets you right click to “create resources,” which can be URL links or links to files or folders, such as the IRS website. You can use this feature to create custom buttons that launch other Acct1st features, link to an Excel file, etc.

Scanning -- 5 Stars
Acct1st is designed to work with third-party scanning solutions to provide a “best of bread” approach to scanning and leverage existing investments in scanning technology. The Scan and Organize module is a private label version of Copanion’s scanning software. The application works by allowing you to upload an unorganized set of scanned papers. The file is returned to you fully bookmarked and organized, typically within an hour. Acct1st offers a promotion to all firms to organize 100 files for free. This is a web hosted application, so there is no software to install. Acct1st has recently released its new Tic, Tie & Calculate add-in for Adobe Acrobat. This tool enhances the bookmarking functionality of Acrobat by adding a pagination feature that links the pages with the bookmarks. An extended set of accounting and tax-related tick marks are provided as Adobe stamps, and a paperless calculator is included. Support for MFP (multifunction printer devices) is provided and allows users to import scanned documents directly from the individual’s scan-to folder. You can then drag and drop the file into the DMS. The properties are inherited from similar files, thereby eliminating the need to enter/select all of the metadata.

Integration -- 4 Stars
Acct1st provides direct integration through the print driver with the popular ProSystem fx tax software from CCH in order to automate filing PDF copies of the tax return into the DMS. IQ is an integration tool that runs as a service in Windows and will monitor one or more folders for new files and will import files into the folder based upon configurations linked to the file naming convention. As well, integration to MAS 90 and MAS 200 is provided. Currently, Acct1st offers no direct integration with MS Office and Outlook, but it is anticipated for release in version 6.0.

Workflow Tools -- 4 Stars
Acct1st provides a number of workflow features. Workflow functionality is provided by establishing a particular document type referred to as a workflow template. Each workflow is customizable with multiple tabs for customized metadata values based on the type of process (i.e., audit, tax, etc.; project status, sign-off, processing and delivery instructions, and more). Workflows can be cloned for rollover for the next period. An “In Tray” button displays all workflow folders that are assigned to the logged in user.

A color-coding schema is provided to identify the status of a workflow: blue font represents a brand new file or folder, black means it is no longer an original and has had some activity, and purple indicates that there is a “comments sheet” attached to the file as an indicator that notes about the project exist. A right click will take you to a comments sheet that has a list of comments with customizable columns, such as created date, created by, comment text, follow-up instructions, status, etc. Users have a “My Comments” button to view all of the comments that are open. Comments can be linked directly to specific documents or files. A “Trigger” feature goes into the DMS and displays all of the files related to the specific project. A Workflow button displays a list of all workflows. A filter tab on the left side of the screen allows you to narrow the list of workflows displayed (i.e., by current file holder, engagement type, PIC, assembly date, etc.). Metadata fields can be mixed and matched for a more narrow focus.

Client Portal -- 4 Stars
The portal module can be integrated with the DMS or utilized completely independently. The portal functions as a completely separate repository, which requires that a duplicate copy of the document or file be placed in the portal, leaving the original document in the DMS inaccessible via the portal. The system will generate an e-mail to new portal users when their accounts are set up, as well as when a new file is uploaded. A link to the portal can be embedded into the firm’s website and customized with the firm’s logo. A login screen for the guest will show their company name and a subset of folders that can be customized at the firm level. Clicking on the folder will bring up a list of files with the document type, comment and modified date.