Tech news: Acumatica unveils product roadmap

Business solutions provider Acumatica unveiled new features and capacities to be launched in 2024, including a revamped user interface. New functionalities planned include an AP Bill Link in Proforma, a new side panel for AP Bill selection and the ability to view an attached transaction image. Acumatica will offer the ability to report parallel operations, enabling manufacturers to report operations out of sequence and multiple operations simultaneously. The system will provide access to distribution requirements planning functionality to help non-manufacturers manage inventory supply and demand and plan kitting with material requirements planning and DRP. An enhanced Managed Sales Allocation process will use consolidated views of allocations, enhanced selection criteria and the ability to handle backorders within the same system. Amazon will be more generally available in Acumatica, with additional features like "Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) inventory reconciliation" and "Amazon statement reconciliation." The company also demonstrated its new user interface, which features an improved design and controls for enhanced usability, as well as more options for personalization and customization. A public preview of the new UI will be available in the 2024 R1 release, with a controlled release expected later in the year before full general availability.

H&R Block released a new feature called Direct Import that facilitates moving taxpayer data from rival TurboTax to H&R Block DIY. Direct Import pulls in an individual's prior-year data from TurboTax directly into H&R  Block DIY online products. A tax filer only needs to input the phone number associated with their TurboTax account to make the switch. H&R Block's integration then leverages authenticated data retrieval to import up to 150 data fields. Direct  Import is available across all of H&R Block's DIY online tax filing options when people prepare their taxes with H&R Block Free, Deluxe, Premium or Self Employed Online Editions. The launch comes shortly after the debut of the company's AI Tax Assist product, which offers AI-driven tax help with technology from Microsoft Azure OpenAI. Individuals with paid options also have access to live expert help at no additional charge.

Finance automation solutions provider Ramp announced a host of new features for its procurement solution aimed at streamlining tasks and providing greater visibility into the procurement process. New features include bidirectional integration with providers, including Ironclad, to integrate a contract review process into Ramp's approval workflow. Dynamic intake forms capture every purchase request in one place. Purchase orders sync with accounting platforms including NetSuite and QuickBooks, as well as auto-code matched invoices. Collaboration tools let stakeholders comment and tag team members within requests, centralizing procurement conversations in Ramp. An activity feed tracks procurement processes and keeps a record of approvals and changes made to requests and purchase orders throughout procurement cycles. A seat intelligence feature tracks actual software usage against seats purchased. Ramp also announced the acquisition of Venue, a Sequoia-backed procurement startup that focuses on simplifying how businesses review, approve and manage the cost of vendors in use across their company. At Ramp, the Venue team will lead efforts to automate and streamline procurement workflows and vendor management.