AccountantsWorld — Fixed Assets Relief

From the December 2009 Review of Fixed
Asset Management Systems

Designed
for practitioners managing the assets of multiple clients, Fixed Assets Relief
is an affordable depreciation solution that offers support for all standard
and historical depreciation methods, conventions and asset classes, with the
ability to perform depreciation forecasting. Multiple books per asset can be
maintained, and the system offers additional tracking options by location, department
and other business units. The program offers integration with AccountantsWorld’s
other professional accounting systems, including the web-based Accounting Relief
write-up system and the vendor’s document and practice management systems.
Fixed Assets Relief costs $395 for a single-user license, plus $75 each for
additional users.

NAVIGATION/EASE-OF-USE:
Fixed Assets Relief opens to the client files last used, providing a master
screen with pull-down menus for working with assets, reporting, system tools,
setup functions and support contact, while an icon bar provides access to additional
functions, including the system’s Template Manager, Report Manager and
Query Manager. These act as wizards that guide users through functions and allow
for saving batch reports and searches. Company detail screens offer tabbed data-entry
views for basic information, as well as for setting up defaults for asset schedules,
including determining short-year periods, customizing asset data fields and
using the program’s “speedpads,” which are data-entry shortcuts
for commonly entered data information.

When working with assets, Fixed Assets Relief offers a comprehensive selection
screen that includes virtually all asset data in a spreadsheet format, and allows
users to search, filter and sort the data in numerous ways. Users can also easily
duplicate assets for entering multiple similar items. Individual asset information
screens provide good detail and multiple customizable data fields, with tabs
allowing users to move quickly between general asset information, summaries,
histories, notes and asset books. Images and documents can also be attached
to asset records.

An asset’s multiple schedules can be viewed on the Books tab, which
displays all factors involved in the asset’s depreciation, including cost,
salvage value, business use percentage, ITC amount, adjusted basis, method,
life, ADS life, Sec. 179 expense deduction, auto/listed, adjustments and special
bonus depreciation. The program instantly performs calculations as data is entered,
which lets users immediately see the results of those changes.

MANAGEMENT FEATURES:
Fixed Assets Relief can support unlimited asset bases and companies with up
to eight books per asset, with pre-configured customizable schedules for federal
tax, book, AMT, ACE and state, plus user-defined options. The program offers
multiple asset grouping options, including by company departments and location,
plus the ability to assign assets to staff and track information such as invoice
numbers, manufacturers, insurance categories, warranty dates and other data,
all of which can be set using the speedpad selection lists mentioned earlier.

The program includes built-in support for all traditional depreciation methods,
including multiple declining balance, straight and modified straight-line, MACRS,
ACRS and sum-of-the-year’s digits, plus the ability to create custom methods.
All asset depreciation and Sec. 179 provisions relating to the 2008 and 2009
stimulus acts are also built into the program.

Fixed Assets Relief automatically calculates ACE and AMT depreciation and
can apply various conventions, including half-year, mid-quarter and mid-month,
plus calculations for ITC, earnings and profits, gain/loss and luxury auto,
plus it provides FASB 109 projections. The system automatically selects the
appropriate method and convention based on the date an asset is in service and
the class.

INTEGRATION:
Fixed Assets Relief offers data sharing with AccountantsWorld’s write-up,
document management and practice management programs, and can export asset data
into CSV format. Reports can be generated as Word or text files, which allows
for import into some tax and accounting programs. The system does not offer
data import functions.

REPORTING:
Report options include standard options for detailed and summary depreciation,
asset listings, book comparisons, AMT, gain/loss, recapture, budget projection,
depreciation projection and a GL depreciation adjustment report. The program
also offers a FASB 109 projection and form 4562, plus has label printing capabilities.
All reports can be viewed on-screen or output to Word and text formats.

HELP/SUPPORT:
Fixed Asset Relief’s assistive features include fast data-entry functions,
customizable tools, a traditional Help utility, wizards and guides, plus extensive
right-click menus and a built-in tutorial. The company’s website offers
a host of additional resources, including program documentation and updates,
FAQs, training options, webinars and access to the AccountantsWorld user community.
Live technical support is included in program pricing.

2009 OVERALL RATING:

(Note: The review of Fixed Asset Relief that appeared in the print edition of
The CPA Technology Advisor included an incorrect score under the Help/Support
section. The above review reflects the correct score for this section, and a
resulting increase in the overall rating average.)

Technology