[Anonymous]

If you were going to start your own practice, what is the must have technology for the 21st century to work as efficiently as possible?

I was actually researching ways for clients to send SECURE images of tax forms or other documents by snapping a picture on their smartphones. Does anything like that exists? I know I have the ability to send receipts to my HSA using my camera.

What other cool gadgets and gizmos are available to give us an edge in a digital world?

[Anonymous]

Must-have? Computer, scanner, printer. On said computer, Excel (don't use any knockoffs…had a boss who still used Lotus and it was l-a-m-e) and decent accounting software. Dual monitors would be a big plus.

Cool things? Secure images would be nice, but making them secure is hard. Too easy for your client to just attach it to an email, which of course is not secure! There are dropbox-type sites available, though, where a customer can log in to their account and upload files to you. Secure File Pro: https://www.securefilepro.com is one such site – this is created/run by the Drake Software company, which is the tax software that my old boss used. It's set up to meet all the security requirements for tax documents (stored on-shore, secure access, etc.), so you can get your client set up with login information and they can log in on their computer – or I assume on their phone – and upload files. You can set it so that when a file is uploaded, you get an email letting you know, so that you don't miss something your client sends you (email would just be like “J. Smith has uploaded a document” or something like that). If you use Drake Software, it's integrated into Drake so that you can upload and retrieve documents to and from a client's records in Drake with a click of a button, but it could be used outside of Drake too. (Drake doesn't “read” the documents, though they do sell another product that does that; however, the PDF is downloaded and saved with any other PDFs that you have for that client, like if you'd scanned in documents they gave to you on paper, or if you'd saved a PDF copy of their return.)

[Anonymous]

Is Drake the best software? What is the best software for people just getting started.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of Drake software so I can't give an opinion on that topic. We use CCH Small Firm Services products, ATX for taxes, fixed assets and payroll taxes, and Client Write Up Suite for monthly write up's. Most of my clients bring their info to me or mail it, so there really isn't much inbound traffic. We scan EVERYTHING and have it stored on a secure server. When it comes to scanners, I would recommend you go with a sheet fed instead of a flat bed scanner. I know you can get a flat bed scanner, copier and printer all in one for a reasonable price, but I can tell you from experience, the sheet fed scanners get a work out and keep going while the all in one's bite the dust pretty quickly. Here is a link to the scanners that we use. Everyone has one on their desk at work and my partner and I each have one at home. We also have a portable to take on audits.

https://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/peripherals/scanners/scansnap/scansnap-iX500.html

As far as “must have technology” I would have to strongly recommend that you spend a little of money and get a good backup system. Our server backs up to a “black box” several times a day. Either my partner or I take it home at night as a precaution. Doing this has kept us up and running during several hurricane's. His house is out of town, on a different utility company (same company as the office) and power goes out if we get a slight breeze. I'm in town and my power typically never goes out so we turn my dining room into our “hot site”.

[Anonymous]

Definitely get a sheet-fed scanner! A flat bed is nice and may be needed for some things, but it's sooooooo slow for large amounts of loose papers. Being able to put a stack of 30 pages in the hopper and turn it loose is very nice!

@Akkula – best or worst software is a matter of preference, goals, and budget. Drake is one of the cheapest main-line softwares (if I remember right they're the 4th largest professional tax software, but I might be wrong) – you can buy the whole program for about $3k if I remember right, or get a 15-return package for $300 and add returns for $15 each till you reach the unlimited price, at which point it converts over. So, if you're looking to do about 30 returns a year, it's a lot cheaper than having to by an unlimited program or a more expensive one. However, Drake is the only tax software I have used extensively so I can't really compare it to any other. It generates returns, handles e-file, alerts you to simple errors (if schedules don't balance, characters that aren't allowed in fields, missing data, etc.), and other basic features, but so does any other major tax software. So, what I can say is that Drake will do the job, but so will ATX, Creative Solutions, and many others. It's basically like picking a CPA review software – Becker, Wiley, Yaeger, Roger, Gleim, CPAExcel, and others will all work, just have to find what you can afford and what you prefer!

[Anonymous]

Great tip on the scanner! It seems like finding a way to avoid doing all of the manual data entry and file backup is a big deal. OCR software seems pretty important too. I am also wondering if some online file backup is the safest way to go. I use carbonite for personal.

I was also looking at godaddy.com for websites. When I googled domain names their ad came up and I remembered the commercials! Is it hard to buy a domain name and actually keep the rights to the name without being subjected to extortion down the road?

On a related note, I am surprised at how little CPAs seem to advertise online. Does anyone know why our profession doesn't seem to have a huge online presence? Is it because of some advertising restrictions that I missed during the CPA exams, LOL?

[Anonymous]

I found a great article about secure client portals:

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/article/10891895/which-portal-is-right-for-your-firm

To me, the Thomson Reuters NetClient CS seems to be the winner from the features that were strongest for me.

Here are a couple of cool things I read:

*A “To Do” list called the Task Center prompts clients to provide missing items

*Use File Exchange to upload document pictures from your photo library

*customizable firm branding which supports drag and drop

[Anonymous]

I can only answer for my region, which is a traditional small-town environment, but around here people place a lot of value on personal connection for things like their taxes which have a big impact on their life…so an online ad wouldn't garner that much business, because they want to know you or know someone who knows you before trusting you with their taxes. That being said, this is not your average American metropolis, so online advertising may be quite useful elsewhere!

[Author]

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