Tech news: Wolters Kluwer releases BOI solution

January 12, 2024 9:00 AM

Wolters Kluwer releases new Corporate Transparency Act solution for beneficial ownership information reporting; Intuit adds TurboTax to Credit Karma and QuickBooks; FreshBooks introduces payroll capacities; and other accounting tech news.

Wolters Kluwer releases new Corporate Transparency Act solution

Wolters Kluwer HQ

Wolters Kluwer released a new beneficial ownership reporting solution to help companies comply with the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires small businesses and entities subject to the new rule to collect, document and submit previously unreported beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. For accounting firms and their clients, the CCH Axcess Beneficial Ownership solution automates the beneficial ownership information filing process for large volumes of reports. Wolters Kluwer also offers a new Beneficial Ownership Platform, which contains a streamlined five-step workflow for filing and compliance for both single-entity as well as multiple-entity filers within a secure hosting environment for uploading, storing and updating beneficial ownership information. More information is available on the Wolters Kluwer resource page: "Understand beneficial ownership information."

Intuit adds TurboTax to Credit Karma and QuickBooks

Intuit said that Credit Karma members and QuickBooks Online customers can prepare and file their 2023 taxes through TurboTax within the Credit Karma and QuickBooks Online product experiences. Credit Karma members who did not file with TurboTax last year and choose to do their taxes themselves will be able to file their federal and state taxes in the Credit Karma app with TurboTax at no cost. Through the TurboTax integration, taxpayers can access their refund up to five days early when they deposit it into a Credit Karma Money account or, for those who qualify, get a Refund Advance loan in as little as 30 seconds after the IRS accepts their return. Meanwhile, the integration with QuickBooks means users who file their taxes with TurboTax through QuickBooks Live Tax gain access to unlimited expert help to get their maximum refund. QuickBooks sports QuickBooks Live Full-Service Tax, which is for S corps, multimember LLCs and partnerships; and QuickBooks Live Assisted Tax for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs filing a Schedule C with their Form 1040.

FreshBooks introduces payroll capacities

Hood, Daniel

Accounting software provider FreshBooks launched FreshBooks Payroll, an integrated payroll solution for U.S.-based customers that uses Gusto's payroll technology. Features include unlimited payroll runs, automatic payroll tax filing and payments, direct deposit and tax forms like W-2s. Additionally, transactions for every pay run will be automatically tracked to encourage accuracy and organization in the books. FreshBooks Payroll software is an add-on for current FreshBooks subscribers. In addition to the cost of a FreshBooks subscription, customers will pay for FreshBooks Payroll per person. The subscription costs $40 per month, plus $6 per month for each employee.

RKL Solutions buys Chortek's Sage practice

ERP provider and IT consulting firm RKL acquired Wisconsin-based Chortek LLP's Sage Practice, including Sage 100, Sage 50 and Sage BusinessWorks. The acquisition adds an extensive range of product expertise to the expanded client base. Clients transitioning from Chortek will benefit from expanded support options and access to RKL eSolution's portfolio of process automation solutions for document management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, tax management and more. As part of the acquisition, Steve Krueger, Chortek's principal in charge of business software consulting, will join RKL Solutions, along with team members Sue Wolf, Debby Hanson and Debra Scheider, who will contribute product knowledge and industry experience to the Sage 100 practice.

SmartVault introduces "unlimited" plan

The SmartVault mobile app

Document and client management solutions firm SmartVault launched its new Accounting Unlimited Plan. In addition to all the features of Standard and Accounting Pro plans, the new plan also offers unlimited SmartVault eSignatures, unlimited ID verification and knowledge-based authentication, unlimited PDF form fillers, and the ability to send unlimited quotes and proposals. While these digital tools are traditionally priced per user, SmartVault's Accounting Unlimited Plan offers unlimited usage at a fixed price. The Accounting Unlimited Plan is $65 per month per user when billed annually, or $90 per user when billed monthly.

Sovos acquires payroll specialist Aatrix Software

Tax compliance solutions provider Sovos announced the acquisition of payroll specialist Aatrix Software. The acquisition bolsters Sovos' software through enhanced capabilities across e-filing for 1099 and Affordable Care Act Form 1095 reporting and W2 payroll reporting, increasing its local, state and federal coverage. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sovos is owned by Hg, a London-based specialist private equity investor focused on software and service businesses, and TA Associates. Holland & Hart LLP served as legal advisor to Sovos.

Canopy launches podcast

Canopy founder Kurt Avarell

Courtesy of Canopy

Practice management software provider Canopy debuted a new podcast, "Canopy Practice Success," which features interviews with top accounting profession thought leaders and firm owners. In each episode of the Practice Success Podcast, Canopy takes a deep dive with accounting professionals, exploring their career trajectory, extracting advice for firms, and discussing the latest trending topics. Guests on the podcast include Stephen Smith, the founder of Controllership Solutions in New Jersey; Scott Scarano, superintendent of Accounting High and owner of Padgett North Carolina; Randy Crabtree, founder and partner of Tri-Merit, a firm focused on tax credits and cost segregation; Sean Duncan, founder of SMD Consulting & Accounting; and Gaynor Meilke, owner of Charisma Ink. Other guests on season one of the podcast include Randy Johnston, Elizabeth Manso, Ben Richmond, Liz Scott and more. The first season of the Canopy Practice Success podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout.

New hires and appointments

AP/AR automation solutions provider Quadient appointed Petra Wolf as chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 2, 2024. Prior to joining Quadient, she steered global marketing for small and medium businesses at Amazon Web Services … Interval, an accounting platform provider, appointed fintech veteran Matt Beecher as chief revenue officer.

Partnerships and integrations

Accounting data provider Validis announced a technology partnership with automation platform DataSnipper. When integrated with Validis, DataSnipper delivers a single audit test workflow. Validis provides access to financial data provided by the ERP systems from an audit client. Validis then structures the data into usable reports with the ability to extract the structured data as an Excel file. This Excel file then flows into DataSnipper and is used by the auditor to automatically match data with audit evidence. … Tech giant Oracle announced a partnership with Big Four firm Deloitte. Oracle is introducing new capabilities to Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) that, when paired with Deloitte's implementation services, can be used to help multinational organizations manage the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's upcoming Pillar Two tax requirements, which effectively create a global minimum tax rate of 15% and significantly impact financial processes and operating structures for large multinational organizations. Combined with Deloitte's Tax Technology Consulting's existing Oracle implementation service team, companies can enhance tax reporting with the Pillar Two solution in Oracle Cloud EPM. Capabilities include Pillar Two data collection and management, a Pillar Two Task Manager, and Pillar Two tax forecasting and modeling.

Other news

Lease accounting software provider LeaseCrunch announced a major growth investment from Aquiline Capital Partners LP, a private investment specialist with $10 billion in assets under management that invests across financial services and related technologies. … Tax platform TaxGlobal launched a networking community bolstered by AI that aims to connect accountants with the right clients. Users can visit the community portal to ask, reply and react to questions. Through TaxGlobal's chat module, individuals, businesses and CPAs can connect, and through users' personal homepages, share information and service offerings.