Intuit has introduced a free beta version of an Internet-based practice management system that the company says will tie together client management, engagement management and time and billing. The beta program will run through tax season with the company planning to have determined the product's price by the time of the full launch on May 1.
ProLine Practice Management initially will integrate with Lacerte and ProSeries, but that will be extended to other Intuit applications, says product manager Aaron Brady. Pricing has not been determined, but Bailey says it will be competitive with other products. About 1,000 firms will be allowed to participate in the beta program.
The client management piece is designed to centralize contact and other information. "It helps bring all your clients’ information in one place," he says. There will be a dashboard for each client and the system will track not only contact information, but will store notes and provide a snapshot of the billing history with clients. The latter includes invoices, WIP and time spent on each client.
Engagement tracking provides access to a firm's open and completed engagements by employee and by client. It also tracks engagement status and due date and provides employees with individual dashboards.
The time and billing element gives all employes "a single place to enter time," Brady says. This can be tied together to run productivity reports.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
