Intuit’s websites were first reported down around 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15. The offline websites included QuickBooks, QuickBooksOnline, Quicken, Lacerte Software, ProSeries and the main corporate website for Intuit. The websites for two recent acquisitions by Intuit, Mint.com and Intuit Online Payroll (formerly PayCycle), remained online.

As of 7:30pm CDT Wednesday, the company had not resolved the down website issues, which was resulting in problems for small businesses and professionals who rely on the web-based resources and programs. Will this pose a longer-term problem for Intuit and for web-based programs in general. Whether these website difficulties prove to be purely technical or the result of external sabotage, there may be a resulting lack of confidence in the SaaS systems.

What do you think?

Sage Presents Annual Awards

The IRS announced on April 27 (www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=222193,00.html) that the changes are effective immediately and retroactively, allowing employers with cafeteria plans to let their employees use pre-tax contributions to pay for qualified healthcare costs for their adult children.

The new age limit is specifically written as “children who will not have reached age 27 by the end of the year…” This new age standard replaces the lower age limits applied under prior tax law and removes the requirement for dependency status.

More at the IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=222193,00.html

[And for readers who might not get the "Dog bites man" reference:
Congress changing tax law is like a dog biting a man... not really news. Now on the other hand, if man bites dog, or Congress actually left tax law alone for a year, well that would be news. ~ Isaac]

There are surely countless reasons for these practice units not having a website, but most probably boil down to one of these:
A) I Don’t have time to build and manage a website
B) We don’t really need a website; or
C) Too much hassle.

First, all of these are lazy responses, of course. At the very least, a practice should have a basic website- which a non-web experienced person can create in about 10-15 minutes using simple tools available from many tech vendors, including most tax prep vendors, and companies like Intuit, Yahoo!, etc. The definition of such a “basic” website would be at least 4-5 pages, including your home page, an about us section, services, contact info and, perhaps, useful links. Most of the template-based website tools make this part easy. So, not really a hassle.

As far as “needing a website,” well, “need” and “should have” are two different things. Every firm can find value from a website, even at the most basic level. Most practices can also find value in offering more substantial website resources, such as financial and tax related content, enewsletters, blogs and calculators. In my June column in The CPA Technology Advisor, I will discuss some of the automated content systems that make it easy to provide useful information to clients and potential clients, as well as simple SEO strategies that help people find your website quickly when they do a search.

It’s 2010. There aren’t any excuses to not have a website anymore. And it should offer valuable content to it’s visitors, as well. While waiting on my June column, you might also want to check out this article from AccountingWeb, about blunders that accountants make on their websites.

The Vertex 2009 Sales Tax Rate Report (PDF) shows a record-setting number of state increases
over the past year, plus more increases across all levels of sales taxing jurisdictions
in the U.S. since the 1940s. Rates vary widely across all states, and especially
between cities, counties and special districts, such as mass transit zones.

The report shows the average state sales tax rate in the U.S. is now 5.468%.
Add in to this the average county rate of 1.629 and the average city rate of
1.532%, and the combined average sales tax rate across the country is now 6.629%,
the highest since Vertex began tracking the data in 1982.

The highest state sales tax rate:
California, at 7.25%. (IN, MI, NJ, RI and TN tie for second at 7%).

The new overall highest combined sales rate:
Arab, Cullman County, Alabama, with a combined (city/county/state) sales tax
of 12%.

The new highest city sales tax rate:
Catawba Indian Reservation in Lancaster County, South Carolina, with a municpal
rate of 8%.
This tops the 2008 top city rate found in Wrangell, Alaska (7%).

Sales taxes are an integral revenue source for states, counties and cities
across the U.S. While they may be a point of contention for some consumers,
keeping up with the thousands of different rates can be a major challenge for
retail businesses and professionals who help them with compliance. Especially
for those with collection and reporting requirements in many jurisdictions.

——–

Vertex is a good source for sales tax compliance systems for businesses with
very comprehensive needs. The CPA Technology Advisor’s review of additional
options for small business sales tax compliance needs is here: 2009
Review of Sales & Use Tax Systems.

How fast is that? Well, they say people would be able to download full-length movies and other large files in about 30 seconds, instead of hours. For professionals, including tax and accounting pros, who increasingly rely on web-based programs and hosted services, this obviously has great promise.

But don’t expect to be able to connect to it tomorrow, or even next year, unless you live in one of the very lucky cities selected for the initial development. But as more and more people use the Internet for streaming movies, video games, audio and other large files, it’s good to see the beginning of a solution.

More info at the San Jose Mercury News.

The study, onCareerCast’s website, rated professions on several factors, including physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook.

The related fields of financial planning and bookkeeping came in at 17 and 24, respectively.

According to CareerCast, the “2010 Jobs Rated rankings serve as a guide for anyone trying to get a clearer picture of employment in an uncertain time. Whether you’re graduating from college, have recently found yourself downsized or just can’t stand the thought of going back to the grind for one more day…”

Thomson Reuters has announced that Teresa, a multi-year 40
Under 40 Honoree by The CPA Technology Advisor, has been
named the new Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Tax and Accounting
arm of Thomson Reuters. She has been named to this top post to replace Jon Baron, who has been promoted
to the position of President of the Americas region for Thomson Reuters.

Both Jon and Teresa have served with Thomson Reuters and with Creative Solutions,
which was acquired and merged into the Thomson Reuters’ family. Teresa previously
served as Vice President of Marketing for the organization.

More on the 2010 Awesome Add-ons for QuickBooks is at: www.cpata.com/go/2692

2010 Awesome Add-on for QuickBooks Winners:

• Alocet Incorporated, for Method Integration, a web-based platform for QuickBooks
  that allows users to create customized, online business management systems
  with real-time syncing to their QuickBooks data. MethodIntegration.com

• ExpenseWatch.com, for its self-named online system that gives small businesses
  automated tools for managing their spending processes, while ensuring that
  spending policies are enforced. ExpenseWatch.com

• MISys, Inc., for MISys SBM Shop Floor Control, which gives manufacturers
  enhanced tracking features for managing work tools, production centers, shop
  operations and manufacturing capacity. MISysInc.com

• Netfira, for Connect Commerce, an ecommerce solution offering secure, real-time
  applications for both sellers and buyers, giving each party access to more
  accurate data that can be automatically integrated into their accounting system.
  Netfira.com

• Propelware, for Autofy, which reduces data entry tasks by synchronizing
  business records between desktop and enterprise software, online data sources,
  ecommerce systems and mobile devices. Propelware.com

• Qvinci Software, for the Qvinci business management system, which aggregates
  data from QuickBooks and Excel, providing a dashboard view of financial information
  with forward-looking tools, drill down, early warning indicators and graphical
  data representations. Qvinci.com

• Sharefile, for its self-named online collaboration suite that lets users
  create custom-branded, secure portals for exchanging business files with clients
  and coworkers. Sharefile.com

• Virtual Software, for Virtual Time + Expense, an online platform that simplifies
  the preparation, approval and accounting processes for timesheets and expense
  reports, and includes features for time, class and project tracking. VirtualSoftware.net

• XpandedReports, for ExpandedReports for QuickBooks/Fishbowl, a comprehensive
  and flexible reporting tool for business using QuickBooks of Fishbowl Inventory
  that helps consultants produce and customize reports for clients, filling
  the gaps left by standard reporting options. XpandedReports.com

The Sleeter Group also recognized incMagic (incmagic.com) search as a “New Product to Watch.”

BQE Expands
BQE Software, which makes the popular BillQuick program and offers business management software for professional services organizations, announced today that it has acquired Orange Loft, LLC, the makers of ArchiOffice and EngineerOffice, which help architects and engineers manage their business more efficiently.

BQE also recently announced the expansion of its Australia office and has established a sales and support center in Europe. In September 2009, the company was listed in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. More on the BQE acquisition at www.cpata.com/go/2651

Sleeter Conference Kicks Off
The Sleeter Group’s annual technology conference for accountants and tech consultants serving small businesses officially opens tomorrow and runs through Thursday, but pre-conference activities are underway starting today in Orlando, Florida. Highlights of the Next Generation Accounting Solutions Conference include:

• 59 CPE sessions in seven tracks
• 49 exhibitor/sponsor software and service vendors, including 19 that are new this year
• 20% of the attendees are attending their first Sleeter Conference
• Announcement of 2010 Awesome QuickBooks Add-ons Awards
• Several vendors will be launching new products and programs at the conference

More information about The Sleeter Group’s Conference at: www.cpata.com/go/2652.