ARCHWAY

50

TECHNOLOGY
QUESTIONS:
ACCOUNTANTS

INTRODUCTION:
50 TECHNOLOGY
QUESTIONS

Your role as an accountant is pivotal to your organization, yet you may find yourself bogged down by spreadsheets, manual data entry and errorprone reconciliation exercises. In an effort to improve your current accounting processes, youve begun researching integrated accounting, investment
management and reporting solutions. You and your team have likely drafted a specifications list a flexible General Ledger, bill pay functionality,
partnership accounting capabilities but how do you know which questions to ask?
To assist you in your research, weve compiled 50+ questions to help you measure the breadth of each wealth management solutions accounting
capabilities. Our suggestions are centered around core accounting features and functionality including General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Reporting, and
Portfolio, Partnership and Trust Accounting. By incorporating these questions into your due diligence process, you are able to compare solutions and make
recommendations based on your specific accounting and technology needs.

ACCOUNTANTS
DO YOU HAVE A
CUSTOMIZABLE
CHART OF
ACCOUNTS?

GENERAL LEDGER QUESTIONS

1. Do you have an integrated General Ledger?
2. Do you have a customizable chart of accounts?
3. Do you have a global chart of accounts?

a. Can you add an account to a single entity and have it update

across a group of entities?

4. Do you have multi-user access?

a. Can multiple users be in the same entity simultaneously updating

information?

5. Do you have recurring transaction capabilities?

a. Can you determine frequency?

b. Can you use pre-populated debits and credits? Amounts?

6. Do you have cash management capabilities?

a. Can you transfer cash between entities and/or accounts?

7. Do you have the ability to generate wire instructions?

8. Do you have cash balance and transaction

reconciliation tools?

9. Do you have accounting period close and reopen

capabilities?

10. Do you have budgeting capabilities?

a. Can you compare budget to actual?

b. Can you import budgets via Excel?
c. Can you create multiple budgets for an entity?

ACCOUNTANTS
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE QUESTIONS
1. Can you create a global vendor list?
a. Can you store multiple addresses for a single vendor?

2. Can you set up recurring bills?

CAN YOU SPLIT A PAYMENT ACROSS

MULTIPLE ENTITIES?

3. Can you cut checks?

a. Can you print on pre-printed check stock?

b. Can you print on blank check stock and include MICR information?

PORTFOLIO ACCOUNTING QUESTIONS

4. Can you create a payment cycle that prints all checks

within an entity?

a. Can you create a global payment cycle that prints out checks across
multiple entities?

5. Can you print digital signatures?

a. Can you print more than one digital signature?

6. Can you send out an ACH file?

7. Can you split a payment across multiple entities?
8. Can you set up an approval process or workflow?
a. Can you set up a multi-tiered approval process?
b. Can you view bills pending approval?

9. Can you set up a central disbursement entity or account?

a. Does the system automatically handle the intercompany accounting?

1. Can you handle portfolio accounting?

a. How do you handle this for marketable securities and alternative

investments?

2. Can you track cost and tax basis? Fair market value?
3. Can you automatically track amortization and accretion
for fixed income instruments?

4. Can you automatically accrue dividend income?

5. Can you track wash sales?
6. Can you produce a Schedule D for realized gains and
losses?

7. Can you track alternatives such as private equity? Hedge

funds? Direct investments?

a. Can you track calls, commitments and distributions?

8. Can you track tax lot level detail?

a. Does the system have tax lot matching options?

ACCOUNTANTS
PARTNERSHIP ACCOUNTING QUESTIONS
1. Can you handle partnership accounting?

a. How do you handle contributions and withdrawals from the

partnership?

2. What options are available for allocating gains and

losses?

a. Aggregate?
b. Netting?
c. Layering?

3. Can you track unitized partnerships?

4. Can you automatically calculate management or
performance fees?

5. Can you track side pockets?

TRUST ACCOUNTING QUESTIONS

1. Can you handle trust accounting?
2. Can you track the principal and income components of a
transaction?

3. Can you track underlying details of a trusts profile such

as Settlor, Lead Trustee, Primary Beneficiary, etc.?

4. Can you create reports to support the filing of a tax

return?

ACCOUNTANTS
REPORTING QUESTIONS
1. What kind of reporting can be generated out of your
system?

a. Portfolio reports?
b. Performance reports?
c. Asset allocation reports?

2. Can you create financial statements?

a. Balance Sheet? Consolidating/consolidated?

b. Income Statement? Consolidating/consolidated?
c. Cash Flow Report?

3. Can you create audit reports?

a. Can you run a report which shows changes by user, transaction and
date?

4. Do you have a report writer tool available?

a. What is the underlying technology?

5. Do you have automated batch reporting functionality?

TECHNOLOGY QUESTIONS
1. How is user security set up and maintained?

a. Can you define user permissions?

b. Can you control which entities a person can view and/or work
within?

2. Do you have built in document management?

a. If so, how easy is it to upload a document?

b. Where can documents be stored?
c. Can you attach documents to accounts, invoices, securities, etc.?

3. How is your solution delivered?

a. Software as a Service (SaaS)?
b. Desktop software?

ACCOUNTANTS
CONTACT ARCHWAY

Archway Technology Partners

www.ArchwayTechnology.net
sales@archwaytechnology.net
866.775.9994

Archway - Indianapolis
9100 Keystone Crossing
Suite 830
Indianapolis, IN 46240

Archway - New York

41 Madison Avenue
Suite 3108
New York, NY 10010

Archway Technology Partners (Archway) is a software company

whose products support the accounting, investment management
and reporting functions for Single Family Offices, Multi-Family
Offices, Investment Advisors and Hedge Funds. Archways technology
platform, ATWeb, is a comprehensive web-deployed application that
enables clients to simplify the operations and reporting of their firm
through a single software solution.