Payroll systems have become a focal point for change in the accounting industry, as rapidly escalating requirements for regulatory compliance, management of the Affordable Care Act and other initiatives, and the move to more tightly integrate mobile platforms have converged to substantively alter how payroll is done.

It is difficult to separate tax workflow from accounting workflow in today's accounting firm. Both involve the movement of documents through a formal process, with appropriate reviews and sign-offs at several levels, to accomplish client engagements.

The sleepy little category that used to be computer scanners came awake in the last year, and the impact on the accounting marketplace is impressive. A half dozen vendors offer robust, duplex scanners in both color and grayscale that automatically correct for misfeeds and work transparently with software that can tab, index and bar-code individual documents for better client file management.