Acct1st Technology Group LLC — Acct1st EDRMS

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From the June/July 2007 Review of Document Management Systems

Acct1st is developed with the combined efforts of a Dallas-based CPA firm and a Seattle-based software development organization. It is very much an “accountant-centric” application and offers the best of both worlds in terms of allowing the choice between deploying it on your internal server or using the vendor’s secure web hosting service.

Usability -- 5 Stars

The interface is quite intuitive, and the appearance can be customized by individual users. When searching for a document or file, a magnifying glass tool leads you to a search form that is customizable by the individual user. A Google-style search functionality is provided, and the resulting document hit list can be completely customized by the user, including hiding or displaying selected columns.

Queries can be saved for reuse. An option to display the document organization in a Windows folder view format is available for those who prefer that model. From the document hit list, a multitude of functions can be performed, such as exporting,
e-mailing, printing or publishing files to a portal; viewing document history; reviewing document retention policy; and more.

The viewer function relies on opening the native application (i.e., MS-Word, Excel, etc). A document revision history allows a user to track and view the complete history of a document’s evolution. Annotation is handled within the native applications.

Integration -- 5 Stars

Acct1st offers direct integration with all of the major tax preparation software packages, and direct integration with CaseWare’s automated workpapers application is also provided. A special print driver allows for publishing any application-generated document or report to Acct1st. IQ is a universal export/import tool that allows for the automate transfer of data between Acct1st and other applications. In addition, Acct1st has established a working relationship with Sage Software to integrate with the MAS software product line.

Records Management -- 5 Stars

The document retention module allows you to define the document retention levels at a very granular level based upon the associated metadata. Document security is established at the document type level, and access rights are assigned at the individual or group level.