Workflow applications and mobile devices have been two of the hottest technologies in the tax-and-accounting marketplace. So making workflow and project management functions available via smartphones and tablets is about a logical combination as bread and butter.

While the iPad will support a full version of the application, "The iPhone is going to be more of a dashboard-based solution, so people get a very quick read of what is going on and what needs attention," says Bob Locke, VP of sales for the Braintree, Mass.-based company. "You could pull up a specific client's information and dill down to what the client in fact needs."

The other major trend in delivery of workflow products is their increasing availability on the web. XCM has been web-based from the start. Other vendors are moving quickly in that direction.

Thomson Reuters has also been in the market with a web-based application for several years with Firmflow, which is a module within the GoFileRoom line.

However, Firmflow is also sold as a stand-alone application and while it is sold to the larger firm space it can also be accessed via Practice CS.

"The biggest change in the last year is the notifications module, which allows for triggers," says Ann Bourdages, enterprise sales manager. Before that, notifications were sent out via email. However, the module added alerts and a partner can tailor these, for example, to "notify me when a 1040 workflow is within five days of being due,"  Bourdages said. The other choice for tracking the project status would be to run reports.

FirmFlow provides the ability to structure how any workflow is routed as a project or return makes its way through a firm. Milestones can be established and responsibility for each step assigned and also the partner can assign who gets notified as workflows move from step to step.

While Thomson Reuters is supporting Practice CS on mobile devices, the company is not yet ready to discuss mobile plans for FirmFlow.

For CaseWare, workflow isn't a single application but incorporates a marketing concept, Collaborate, that provides workflow tools via a more do-it-your-self approach that includes WebApps via which firms can tailor solutions to workflow needs.

"Our philosophy is that the technology enables you to put your workflow in," says Dwight Wainman, CEO of CaseWare International,

WebApps can be utilized to develop dashboards for monitoring activity. An organization might choose to have a firmwide dashboard, client dashboards or limit these in any fashion. Activity Pulse extends functionality in the company's applications, Working Papers and CaseWare Time to smartphones and tablets.

Functions can be extended by writing HTML code, which is the way mobile support is provided. Wainman indicated that CaseWare may support mobile devices for its TimeSheet application natively, instead of via writing HTML-based gadgets.

CCH moved into the online workflow application world last year with Workstream, which incorporates functionality such as due-date tracking, project status notification and reporting. Workstream integrates with CCH's Time Capture, Billing and Accounts Receivable modules.

Workstream has been a bit low key since its introduction. But it likely will be more visible over the next year. Mike Sabbatis, CEO and president of CCH, says the company is extending integration of the product across the company's cloud-based applications.

It's not just about tax. "It can apply to any workflow you have," Sabbatis says. That means Workstream can help track all kinds of projects, including audit, cross an organization. The company also plans mobile support in a future release.

Intuit doesn't have a separate workflow product, although like most companies with tax preparation applications, it has some workflow capabilities in the tax products. And while it isn't preparing a separate workflow package, many of the functions will be included in the practice management product that is still in test phase.

There is no date set for introduction of the web-based ProLine Practice Management and the details of how workflow functions will be handled do not appear to have been completely decided.

There will be engagement tracking with a single dashboard providing views into all practice areas, including tax, bookkeeping and audit, says Luis Sanchez, group marketing manager.

"The plan is to have a template for adding and setting up new engagements and due dates," says Sanchez. The workflow functions would also be tied in to time tracking and time and billing.

Plans for the practice management introduction sound less firm than they did at the beginning of the year.  Intuit says it expected its original test, planned for 1,000 firms, to more than 2,000. However, the timeframe for a complete introduction does not sound as firm.

Office Tools Professional is another company that has the classic workflow tools, but not a separate workflow package.

"Our package is not just practice management," says Mike Giardina, president of the Palmdale, Calif.-based company. And he notes his philosophy that workflow isn't something apart from practice management. "Workflow should be tied to billing."

For example, features provided within the company's Practice Management brand software include full due-date monitoring. And the system lets almost any task be defined as a project, whether a tax return, an IRS notice or an audit. A predefined list can be setup and the user can set up due dates and the workflow.

That enables the manager to track which person has what which tasks and how much time has been spent on each. "Those alerts and reports can identify that there is a bottleneck," Giardina says.

Giardina believes that having a number of different products, such as calendar, a workflow management, time and billing and document management programs, harm a practice.