“I don’t see that someone is going to do all their work from the phone,” says Steve Zelman, SVP for the Checkpoint platform at Thomson Reuters.
“Mobile is the first go-to source for users,” says Tina Rajski, a CCH product manager
And it depends on which mobile device is in the user’s hands.
“The research with customers leads us to believe they are not going to do the same thing on the phone that they do on a desktop,” says Zelman.
There are some fine distinctions at work here. But how these views are interpreted both agree that mobile devices are now being used routinely within the office, not just when accountants are on the road. Zelman describes what’s happening in offices as a multi-screen issue, not just a mobile issue.
“I am walking around in a meeting room. I have my tablet, or I am researching while I am sitting and talking to other people,” he says. And what users want to be able to do is move from device to device and continue to access the information that they need for their jobs.
Thomson has multiple mobile avenues. One is its ProView ebook platform, which has had tax and accounting titles available for more than a year. The company has made content easier to print and email.
The company also has a Smartphone version of checkpoint, a browser utility, which enables the user to access Checkpoint without downloading the application itself. “Checkpoint senses if you are using a smart phone,” says Zelman. SmartPhone users get a different interface than those on a desktop computer. For tablets, the system is optimized to support touch-screen technology.
In terms of appearance, the tablet interface is similar to the desktop, but the smartphone interface is not.
“The research with customers leads us to believe they are not going to do the same thing on the phone that they do on a desktop,” says Zelman.
A more recent approach is the new Checkpoint Pocket Assistant, a free app that serves as a hub for the sale of apps with specific functions. The product hit the market with two free apps, the 2013 Income, Gift and Estate Tax Rate card, and the 2013 Pension and Profit-Sharing Plans Dollar Limitations Reflecting Cost-of-Living Adjustments card.
There are three apps that can be purchased for the pocket assistant: Like-Kind Exchange Calculator and Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Look-up, priced at $1.99 each; and the Health Care Reform Act - Individual Shared Responsibility Penalty Estimator for $2.90.
Designed for the iPhone initially, the product will be available for other platforms later.
A major emphasis at CCH has been to refine the search capabilities for its research platform, IntelliConnect. The goals, says Rajski, is to provide a method that fits the user’s preference “Whether you use the browse tree, key word search or you prefer to look up by citations.”
But this year, the company is focused on a macro approach. “What 2013 and beyond is about is focusing on the entire research workflow,” she says Users, she continues, are “not just looking for answer, they are reviewing, they are consulting, they are sharing information, they are collaborating with peers and clients.
Recent changes in that area included the ability to share research folders. “I could share one folder with you and a different folder with another person,” Rajski says. Access rights can also be controlled a person viewing a share folder might have view-only rights or the ability to make notes and annotate documents. A time and date stamp will shoe who entered the notes.
Users are now also able to email several documents simultaneously. “You can email as many documents as you want,” says Rajski. “Now you no longer have to send them one at a time.”
The next phase comes next month when those enhancements are extended to the CCH mobile platform. Shared folders can be accessed and users will also no longer have in IntelliConnect to see the notes.
And mobile is no longer a side act. “Mobile is the first go-to-source for users,” she says. She agrees with Zelman’s assessment that mobile is being used routinely in the office “right next to their desktops.”
Mobile capabilities are important in the area of collaboration. Users must “get up to speed on a new or potential client,” she says. In a midsize firm, a staff might be assigned to someone whose experience “Isn’t day to day on the account.” All users need to be able to access documents and information from wherever they area.
Keeping It Simple
While the two major players continue developing their platform, Parker Tax Publishing focuses on offering a simpler and less-expensive product for small firms and sole practitioners.
“We stick to the basics. but we try to make it in depth, practical and readable,” says Tracy Shannon Levey, Parker’s co-founder and VP of communications. The company also continues to develop the search engine, developed by founder James Levey. “It goes right to what they need,” she says.
Recently the company added free content to its website, including articles, weekly bulletins and client letters. Parker has also added content, especially in the areas of S Corps and C Corps; international taxes and has greatly expanded information about estate and gift taxes.
