22 accounting today | August 2017 accountingtoday.
com technology
Building up your stack
Leveraging a curated selection of apps can boost your practice
BY ANTOINETTE ALEXANDER
Small-business accounting firm Synergeant was founded in 2015 by a new generation of
accounting professionals with one core objective: to leverage technology and transform the
relationship between the business owner and their accountant.
Today, The Woodlands, Texas-based firm
serves roughly 50 clients across the country
and has tapped into cloud-based software
and the burgeoning ecosystem of software
add-ons to offer clients an array of solutions
including outsourced accounting and virtual
CFO services. “What I saw was the opportuni-
ty to take something like QuickBooks Online
and integrate it with Receipt Bank, integrate
it with Bill.com, integrate it with Deputy, or
TSheets, and Gusto, and Avalara and basi-
cally — for a small investment, far less than
the millions that corporates are spending —
small businesses can have incredibly pow-
erful software ecosystems to run their busi-
nesses on. It is just a matter of putting them all
together and integrating them properly,” said
Synergeant founder and CEO Tom Woolley.
Added Woolley, “We have a software suite
that varies a little bit depending on what in-
dustry someone is in that really takes charge
of their entire accounting workflow and auto-
mates it. … It all comes together in an elegant
Payroll
FROM PAGE 20
line for another option, found Payroll Relief,
and liked the presentation they made for him.
Implementation: “The person who pre-
sented the software to me was an accoun-
tant himself, not a salesman,” Castro recalled,
“So he was able to really explain it to us and
answer all our questions, such as questions
about IRS rules. That made us very comfort-
able.”
Castro said that he was prepared for a more
difficult transition, but it was easy. Accoun-
tantsWorld gave a one-hour training session
to his staff, which at the time was only one
person. Within a week she was doing payroll
with no problems.
Importing data from the firm’s previous
software was “not complicated.” Castro
stressed that no one should avoid switching
to Payroll Relief because of data import.
Advantages: The main advantage Castro
noted was the labor savings. While Payroll
Relief costs about $20,000 per year, he is
saving at least $50,000 on a salary he might
otherwise have had to pay an additional staff
member.
022_ACT0817 22
and powerful platform for small businesses.”
Synergeant is among a growing number
of accounting firms leveraging such apps
and software solutions to transform into an
accounting and technology advisory hybrid.
Fueled by the robust development of cloud-
based software and the greater demand for
automation, vendors are fostering an “eco-
system” of developers to create add-ons that
integrate with their core packages. These
integrated suites of best-of-breed products
are increasingly changing how accounting
professionals serve their clients.
“All-in-one softwares typically include
modules that provide basic functionality,
but they rarely meet the needs of compa-
nies that value efficiency or lack necessary
features beyond a basic configuration. Most
major softwares today understand this and
have developed their own marketplaces in
hopes that add-ons like Expensify will fill that
void and provide a more robust solution for
their users,” said Matt Donaldson, head of ac-
He also likes that Payroll Relief is cloud-
based and accessible anywhere. It has en-
abled him to keep his payroll manager on the
clock, working from home even while she was
on maternity leave.
“They really developed the software with
the end user in mind,” Castro added. “I can
hire someone who has never done payroll
before, and within a week, they’re doing
payroll.”
Challenges/suggestions: Since Castro
runs a tax accounting firm, not a CPA firm,
his staff tend to need education on payroll
rules and regulations. He would love to see
AccountantsWorld offer more webinars and
specific training on those subjects. “I think
they would sell more software if they [provid-
ed educational training],” he said. He added
that he would gladly pay for such an offering.
Practice growth: Originally from Brazil,
Castro serves many Portuguese-speaking
clients. Income Tax Plus has three offices in
Massachusetts, and is planning to expand
to other Lusophone neighborhoods in the
Northeast region. “Every day, we get more
and more calls from clients who want us to
do payroll,” Castro said.
“The flow of our service and the way we
counting and CPA partnerships at Expensify.
“This growing ecosystem allows end users to
customize their workflow by choosing the
‘modules’ that fit best with their company’s
needs.”
Expensify is a travel and expense applica-
tion that integrates with accounting solutions
like QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite,
giving administrators the ability to quickly
approve, export and reimburse employees.
Said Mark Gervase, director of product
marketing for the accountant channel for
Bill.com, “It’s nearly impossible for a software
company to be all things to all customers. The
most successful software companies in the
world understand this, and focus their core
competencies and resources to meet specific
customer needs. For everything else that a
customer needs, it makes sense to partner or
create an ecosystem where other companies
can easily add value with their own special-
ized software add-ons. That way, customers
can customize their solution so that it is ‘ex-
present ourselves is not very different from
the ADPs or larger companies out there,” he
concluded. “Payroll Relief has made us com-
parable to any other big firm, and that helps a
lot because we have an instrument that allows
us to look very good, and when clients see
that, they feel comfortable coming with us.
[The software] has helped me compete in a
very competitive environment.”
Time is money
Product: CenterPoint Payroll (Red Wing
Software)
Firm: J & J Business Services
On record: Frances Pasbach
Start date: 2016
Users: 1
Price: Contact vendor
Objective: The owner of J & J Business ser-
vices, Melissa Hernandez, EA, selected Cen-
terPoint Payroll mainly for its direct deposit
feature. The software also offers tax reporting
at quarter and year end, which the firm liked.
Implementation: Pasbach was not at the
firm when the software was implemented,
but she notes that the software offers a fea-
ture called the “Create new client wizard,”
actly right for me.’ The best example of this is
the Apple or Google app stores that provide
add-on apps for smartphones.”
Bill.com, which works with such account-
ing solutions as QuickBooks Online, Xero,
NetSuite and Intacct, is a digital business
payments company that serves small and
midsized businesses.
“Software add-ons are focused pieces of
software on a given task or need. They be-
come a specialized tool necessary in the eco-
system of everything that accounting, tax and
bookkeeping professionals have to do. There
are generalized software that are wonderful
tools and specialized add-ons that allow us
to select technology for unique needs clients
have,” said Don Emery, director of client
solutions for Doc.It, a provider of document
management, workflow and document stor-
age solutions. The vendor recently launched
Doc.It Go, the Doc.It Suite mobile app that
is engineered to work in conjunction with
Doc.It Suite.
DOES YOUR FIRM ‘STACK’ UP?
These add-ons are changing how many pro-
fessionals serve their clients. One significant
trend playing out within a growing number of
firms is the building out of a “stack” of tools.
“When selecting a stack, it’s usually best
to start with the core [accounting] system.
Don’t look for a solution that does it all for the
small business; instead, look for a solution
See STACK on 26
which she finds very helpful. “And if you are
stumped, all you have to do is call the 1-800
number,” she added. “It’s some of the best
customer support I have used. You can speak
with a person. Then they can remote in to
show you how to fix the problem.”
Advantages: The main highlight, for Pas-
bach, is “definitely the tax reporting software.
It is so easy.” She also noted that users can
easily run reports for annual workers’ com-
pensation audits, even when employers ask
for unusual date ranges.
Challenges: One challenge that Pasbach
pointed out was that CenterPoint Payroll
doesn’t allow users to print two checks for
one person in a single pay run — for instance,
if an employee is due a regular paycheck plus
a bonus check. A user has to perform two pay
runs in order to print two checks.
Suggestions: Pasbach also said that she
would like the client set-up process to be
streamlined a little more.
Practice growth: “The direct deposit fea-
ture has brought us new clients,” Pasbach
said. “And the biggest factor is time. We save
so much time on processing quarter- and
year-end reports … the fact we save so much
time can only help us grow as a company.” AT
7/21/2017 1:51:09 PM
 26 accounting today | August 2017 accountingtoday.com
Stack
FROM PAGE 22
that handles the accounting piece extraor-
dinarily well and supports a great ecosystem
of add-ons through fantastic APIs,” said Don-
aldson. “From there, we suggest looking for
two more add-ons that would be required by
every client you bring on board. For instance,
every business has expenses, but not every
business has revenue. Expensify is a tool that
every client needs in order to provide their
accountant/bookkeeper with information
relative to their business. The second add-on
might depend on a vertical or niche that the
accountant specializes in, but another great
add-on to service every client is Bill.com.”
Jody Padar, CEO and principal of Mount
Prospect, Ill.-based accounting firm New Vi-
sion CPA Group, agreed, and said, “I think
there’s some core ones that you are going to
use in your stack and then, depending on the
niche that you serve, there will be additional
ones that come in or out.”
Padar said that her firm’s typical stack starts
with either QuickBooks Online or Xero, and
includes payroll (Intuit Online Payroll for Ac-
countants) and Hubdoc, a cloud application
that automates financial document collection
and processing. Depending on the client and
their needs, additional solutions could in-
clude Bill.com or Expensify. “Everyone gets
Tax software
FROM PAGE 25
client to sign, not just the 8879.
Intuit (ProSeries and ProConnect
Tax Online): Enhancements for ProSeries
include the auto-attach form capability for
e-file compliance for 1040s; and the ability
to lock returns to prevent them from being
changed once filed. Enhancements for Pro-
Connect Tax Online include enhanced data
import capabilities; expanded tax content
capabilities; a new split-view feature; batch
processing capabilities; and more granular
access control features.
TaxACT! Enhancements for 2017 will in-
clude continued improvements to product
navigation and workflow efficiencies, and
improved client reporting.
Thomson Reuters (GoSystem Tax RS
and UltraTax CS): For GoSystem Tax RS,
enhancements include the ability to process
all tax return types within their Web brows-
ers; enhanced print options; a new e-file
quality control capability; and a streamlined
extension creation process. For UltraTax CS,
enhancements include expanded 1040NR
e-file capabilities, and an estimated 18 newly
supported filings across a number of state
jurisdictions, with more expected later in
the year. AT
026_ACT0817 26
technology
a trial balance, Hubdoc and payroll, and then
everybody else we would interchange apps
depending on who the client is and what they
need. Now, these app stores are crazy and
you could go into the depths of specialization
… but, for the majority of small businesses,
those three [solutions] will work,” Padar said.
As Padar noted, the apps marketplace con-
tinues to grow at a rapid pace. For example,
the Intuit QuickBooks apps store launched
in November 2013 and, according to Intuit,
more than 1,200 apps are integrated on the
QuickBooks platform, of which about 400 are
published in the app store and about 800 are
private integrations.
A recent Intuit study that focused on small
businesses in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and
Australia found that 68 percent of small busi-
nesses are currently using mobile or Web-
based apps to help run their operations and
eliminate administrative tasks. Of those small
businesses that use apps, 82 percent reported
using between one and six apps.
Jackie Meyer, an Intuit user and president
and founder of Southlake, Texas-based Meyer
Tax Consulting, said of the growing market-
place, “I think it is very overwhelming for
clients to try and find these solutions them-
selves. It is overwhelming to me. It is over-
whelming to even an expert in this field be-
cause of all of the different options out there.
… Just taking that burden off the clientele and
the ease of mind that goes along with it [is
beneficial for the client relationship]. Trust-
ing us as their expert to find a connection with
the app and help them with training on it.”
Nick Houldsworth, general manager of
ecosystem for Xero, said that the cloud ac-
counting provider’s ecosystem has grown
to more than 500 app partners since 2011.
“We’ve got a very vibrant ecosystem, and
when you think what that means for accoun-
tants, there’s really two areas of strength that
we are seeing,” he said. “One is just in terms
of their ability to be more productive with the
clients and add value. The second area, which
is what we are starting to see more of now,
especially as firms reach enough scale of 50 to
100 clients, where they can really look at how
they can start to generate new revenue lines
from within their own customer base but also
from specializing in new customer types.”
There’s no doubt that the vast number of
software add-ons can be daunting but, ac-
cording to Donaldson of Expensify, there are
a few tips to keep in mind:
Functionality: Find a tool that supports
90 percent of your clients, and worry about
the exceptions when they matter.
Partner programs: Make sure the add-
ons you select have a program that supports
you as an accountant, with offerings like a
free personal account, discounts, expedited
support and specialized training.
Growth: Choosing a tool that scales with
your company will reduce the number of
headaches for accountants, admins and em-
ployees, and also maintains data integrity that
might otherwise be lost in a transition.
People: Look for a tool backed by a com-
pany that is filled with people who will contin-
ue to drive the product and industry forward.
Establish a relationship with these people as
a partner, instead of just as a vendor.
“Add-ons can make or break an accounting
professional’s stack, so carefully evaluate as
many as possible,” said Donaldson. “Make
sure you trial first to understand the core
functions of the product.”
REAPING THE BENEFITS
Atlanta-based accounting and financial ser-
vices company Acuity was founded in 2004,
and today helps small businesses and entre-
preneurs build up their internal accounting
system by providing bookkeeping, bill pay,
payroll, invoicing, GAAP reporting and CFO
services. This year, the 80-person firm is pro-
jected to serve more than 700 small busi-
nesses. “Once we saw that there was some
momentum in the cloud space, we started
looking at different solutions and I think what
I was surprised about was how many differ-
ent solutions were out there,” said CEO and
founder Kenji Kuramoto. “We didn’t feel like
we could be successful or could be a good
partner to our clients if we just came in and
offered every single one of those solutions.
We had to try to help them identify what
would work best. Typically, we endorse may-
be a handful [of solutions]. In some cases, one
or two systems or maybe three, but we don’t
go too much deeper than that.”
The core of the firm’s stack is Xero, said Ku-
ramoto. As far as add-ons, the firm works with
Bill.com for bill pay, Expensify for expense
reporting, Harvest for timekeeping and Stripe
for payment processing.
For Acuity, the advent of add-ons has re-
sulted in two key benefits: greater efficien-
cies through automation and greater access
to more robust data. “There’s a greater op-
portunity to capture that data and more of
that data in a meaningful way for clients. …
When you can take that data and integrate
it back into some of the accounting systems
and other systems, you are going to just get a
more robust and meaningful picture, a more
real-time picture of how their business is op-
erating,” Kuramoto said.
Rodefer Moss & Co., which has eight of-
fices throughout Indiana, Kentucky and
Tennessee, has been using Receipt Bank
for approximately nine months to facilitate
collaboration with its clients and reduce the
reliance on paper documents. Since then, it
has experienced a significant increase in the
productivity of its accounting staff, according
to Susie Spears, a small-business services as-
sociate, and Ike Orwick, a partner at the firm.
A reduction in the reliance on paper docu-
ments, increased accuracy in accounting re-
cords due to a reduction of data entry errors,
and real-time reporting of financial data are
some of the benefits realized by both the firm
and its clients. In terms of time and cost sav-
ings, the firm is able to process transactions
much more efficiently, which has increased
staff productivity — all with no need for filing
and storing paper documents. The savings in
paper and storage alone more than pays for
the applications, they stated.
Furthermore, the firm recently launched a
new cloud-based accounting service, dubbed
“Anywhere, Anytime Accounting,” to give its
clients greater access to their financial data.
Spears, a QuickBooks Advanced ProAdvisor,
is leading the new automated service and
said, “My ProAdvisor affiliation has provid-
ed a network of end users to collaborate with
on the multitude of applications that are
currently available. Additionally, we are af-
filiated with several consulting groups, which
vet many of the applications available and
provide useful feedback to their members. We
have selected apps that we felt best integrated
with QuickBooks in order expedite account-
ing procedures with a seamless process. Our
clients appreciate the speed and accuracy
of their financial data processing as well as
access 24/7.”
Said Damien Greathead, vice president
of business development for North America
at Receipt Bank, which extracts information
from invoices and receipts and publishes
it directly into such software as Xero and
QuickBooks Online, “I think more and more
of the accounting process has an opportunity
to be automated. By that, I mean the debits
and credits. Receipt Bank can take all of that
data off the source document and put it in
the right place in the accounting software.
If the accounting firm allows the software
to do that, what that means is it frees up an
enormous amount of the professional’s time
to actually concentrate themselves to that
trusted advisor.”
Jay Kimelman, a specialist Xero accountant
and founder and chief accounting technolo-
gist of the Digital CPA in Orlando, Fla., said
that, for the most part, his business clients
“love the apps and the ability to make their
job easier.”
“Gone are the days of collecting receipts,
getting them into an envelope, and saving
them until the end of the year. That is the
greatest thing that we hear from our clients,
is they can get their receipts, upload their
picture [of the receipts], and upload to the
app immediately and get rid of them. It saves
them space, time and the energy of trying to
keep up,” said Kimelman. AT
7/21/2017 1:51:12 PM
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