Press Releases New Products and Conferences

CPA2Biz and Copanion Announce Strategic Alliance to Help CPA Firms Increase Tax Preparation Workflow Efficiency

Web-Based Technology Helps Firms Improve Tax Preparation Realization Rates
October 26, 2009
Washington, D.C.

CPA2Biz, a leading provider of products and services to CPA firms, has added tax document automation technology from Copanion to its Trusted Business AdvisorSM Solutions platform (ClientSolutions.cpa2biz.com).  The announcement came at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants National Tax Conference, which began today.

 “The process by which firms collect and organize client tax documents, receipts and other source material necessary to complete a return is both labor-intensive and costly,” said Erik Asgeirsson, CEO of CPA2Biz.  “Our Trusted Business Advisor Solutions platform is about bringing web-based technology to firms to increase efficiency and enable more strategic client relationships. Copanion’s GruntWorx® software allows firms to standardize tax preparation workflows, freeing up partners and staff to focus more time on client consultation, a higher-value service for the firms and clients.”

Copanion is a leader in tax document automation, and the company’s advanced Software as a Service technology makes it easy for firms of all sizes to improve productivity. 

“We’re very excited to be part of the CPA2Biz platform and enhance our reach into the profession,” said Ed Jennings, Copanion CEO.  “Existing firm customers are reporting a reduction in tax preparation time of up to four hours per return, helping to accelerate efficiency and profitability significantly. CPA2Biz recognizes the value of our solution and the positive impact it has on a firm’s workflow, which is why Copanion was selected as the exclusive provider of tax document automation technology.”

Copanion’s software suite consists of three core products:

  • GruntWorx Organize, which bookmarks and labels scanned tax documents for easy review and reference, and outputs a standard PDF file
  • GruntWorx Trades, which automatically transforms trade details on scanned consolidated brokerage statements into a standard Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet.
  • GruntWorx Pro, a program that includes the capabilities of Organize and Trades and additionally extracts data from bookmarked documents and imports the data into a firm’s tax preparation software.

The GruntWorx applications have completed a SAS 70 Type II Audit and are IRC 7216 Compliant.  The GruntWorx products will be available to CPA firms exclusively through CPA2Biz, which will play a leading role in helping the profession understand the value of the technology and how to incorporate it into practice.

“CPA2Biz is playing a critical role helping firms across the country adopt web-based technology,” said Jim Bourke, CPA.CITP, a partner at WithumSmith&Brown in Red Bank, NJ, and chair of the AICPA’s CITP Credential Committee. “We evaluated GruntWorx for our own firm this past year and will be rolling it out firm-wide for all individual returns this tax season. This alliance is a great match.”

CPA2Biz will host a series of web seminars to educate firms on how to use GruntWorx for this tax season.  To register for a web seminar or to sign up for a free trial, visit www.cpa2biz.com/gruntworx.

About Copanion

Copanion is a leading innovator in tax document automation. The company saves tax professionals hundreds of hours during tax season with accurate and secure web-based applications for automating client tax document organization, data entry and review. For more information about Copanion, visit Copanion.com.

The Copanion and GruntWorx names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Copanion in the United States and in other countries. All other companies and products referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

About CPA2Biz

CPA2Biz is a subsidiary of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the national association of CPAs.  The company is the exclusive marketing arm for AICPA products and services—including publications, webcasts, conferences, member benefits programs and continuing professional education. www.cpa2biz.com is the leading e-commerce site for the accounting profession and is ranked by Internet Retailer as one of the top five hundred e-commerce sites in the US.

CPA2Biz also enables small and mid-size public accounting firms nationwide through its Trusted Business Advisor Solutions Program—a suite of web-based tools, resources and programs transforming how practitioners deliver client accounting services.  Today, more than half of the CPA firms in the U.S. are leveraging one or more of these programs or solutions to build more collaborative and strategic client relationships.

CPA2Biz is headquartered in New York, NY with its technology and engineering offices located in Santa Clara, CA.

# # #

™ Copanion is a trademark of Copanion
® CPA2Biz is a registered trademark of CPA2Biz, Inc.
SM Trusted Business Advisor is a service mark of CPA2Biz, Inc.
® GruntWorx is a registered trademark of Copanion.
® Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Contact:

Joel Allegretti
CPA2Biz/AICPA
212-596-6111
jallegretti@aicpa.org

Kristy Short, Ed.D
Copanion
734-481-0186
kristy@sascommunications360.com