Intuit -- EasyACCT Professional Series

Though Intuit’s EasyACCT has been part of Intuit’s line of products for several years, it may be familiar to some users as the write-up offering of the now-defunct Tax and Accounting Software of Tulsa, Oklahoma. With solid improvements to the EasyACCT write-up program, Intuit has served notice that it intends to be a force in professional accountant’s write-up. That’s interesting news for the many practitioners who have been struggling with their clients’ adoption of the popular QuickBooks accounting program.

EasyACCT consists of general ledger,
payroll, financial statements, bank
reconciliation, depreciation, amortization,
trial balance, Information Return
System (compliance forms module),
accounts receivable and accounts
payable. EasyACCT is really an all-in-one
system, as users don’t have
an option to purchase individual
modules; it’s all or nothing.
(The information return system is
available as a stand-alone product.)
Intuit also offers the EasyACCT
Business System, which integrates
with EasyACCT write-up.

EasyACCT runs on Windows 98se, Windows
NT, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and
Windows XP. The network version
runs on the same operating systems
with the addition of Novell NetWare
5.0 (or later).

The new purchase price for a single-user
system is $1,590; renewals are $850.
Pricing for a five-user system is
the same as a single-user system
but adds a $199 multi-user fee.
Unlimited, free tech support is
offered with the following exceptions:
assistance on the financial statement
design feature, help with previous-year
customers and help with EBS business
clients. Help with these areas will
cost extra ($120 per hour).

LEARNING
CURVE & EASE OF USE – 5 Stars

Setup is fast and intuitive. EasyACCT
offers free conversion of Creative
Solutions’ write-up product.
It would be nice if they extended
this ability to other vendors as
well. Data entry is heads-down and
fast and features various built-in
options that add to user efficiency.
Entry screens keep track of debits
and credits, and an auto-balance
“fail-safe” feature
solves and posts out-of-balance
amounts should the user attempt
to exit transaction entry prematurely.
However, it would be nice to have
an auto-balance transaction tool
while the user is still “IN”
transaction entry. Don’t get
me wrong, fail-safes are cool, but
an accessible tool for repetitive
tasks is way cool! Transaction entry
works equally well whether the user
prefers keyboard commands or right-clicking
their mouse. On-the-fly capabilities
receive very high ratings here.
Consistent navigation behavior is
truly a strength of EasyACCT write-up.

REPORTING & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – 4.5 Stars
Financial statement formatting is
flexible and easy. Multi-department
(or division) reporting is a snap.
Financial reports viewed to screen
are available for immediate editing.
EasyACCT offers standardized or
custom financial reports. Standard
reports are created through an automatic
design feature; custom reports are
created using a built-in detail
layout tool.

INTEGRATION, IMPORT/EXPORT & PRODUCTION PROCESSING – 4 Stars

Integration with other modules is
powerful and offers flexibility
in meeting client needs. Import
is available from EasyACCT modules
and from QuickBooks. Export is available
to Lacerte and (Intuit) ProSeries
tax software. EasyACCT can also
export to a spreadsheet. Higher
grades could be obtained in the
area of Import and Export: If Intuit
can program Creative Solutions data
in, why can’t they program
data out? In this regard, Intuit’s
EasyACCT is not alone. We have far
too many software companies that
are technically “limited,”
if you get my drift. Production
processing is advanced in EasyACCT
as the user is provided the means
to batch print multiple clients
(while the office sleeps, before
or after that all-important nightly
system backup, right!).

SCALABILITY & PORTABILITY – 4.5 Stars
The 32-bit functionality of EasyACCT
will satisfy and serve single users
to large networks. EasyACCT users
at the low end of system requirements,
Pentium 3s loaded with Windows
98se or Windows ME, have environments
which already suffer their limited
fault tolerance abilities to the
end that increased burdens cannot
be placed on these systems, which
is true of most any software application.
In other words, the better and more
modern the system environment, the
more effective the software performance.
However, EasyACCT users deploying
higher-end Pentium 4s with
Windows 2000/XP operating systems
will be well positioned to operate
the EasyACCT system for years to
come.

SUPPORT, TRAINING & HELP SYSTEM – 4.5
Stars

Comprehensive context-sensitive
help within the program is always
just a mouse click away. A complete
user’s manual is easily accessed
on the program CD. Traditional support
can be accessed via telephone or
e-mail.

INTERVIEWS – WHAT USERS HAD TO SAY
Users were enthusiastic about EasyACCT,
but one user stated, “Financial
statements can be a little difficult.”
Another user echoed this, saying,
“Financial statement setup
can be a little time consuming,
but once setup works well.”

One user commented that there is
“no learning curve and it’s
very easy to use. All data entry
from one screen.”

When asked about support, I was
told that “support works well.
I’m never on hold long, and
they always have the answers.”

One user stated, “Transaction
input has a few kinks; we have to
retype a description unless it is
a vendor or an employee.”
Still, the general consensus was,
“We are totally pleased with
EasyACCT. Wish it had been available
sooner.”

2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5

The choice of a write-up program should be based in large part on identifiable attributes of the write-up program that best fits the sum of the individual needs of the practice. In no particular order, factors that lead to the sum include setup & learning curve; training & support; program pricing & cost of updates; data conversion, maintenance & storage; efficiency & flexibility; and integration with a practitioner’s other programs (tax, payroll, analysis, word processing, etc.). Finally, throw in a wild card ‘ the practitioner’s overall dedication to technology.

Technology