SECURITY
Security and privacy of our customers' data is our number one priority. That's why we incorporate the same mission-critical security and privacy protections as those employed in online banking-a level of security far beyond what the majority of accountants and small to midsize enterprises can afford to implement on their own.

• Physical Security

Our applications and data are hosted by IBM, the world's leader in complex Internet hosting. IBM's Internet Data Centers provide the physical environment necessary to keep data secure 24 hours a day through a full suite of intelligence-grade physical security measures, including 24x7 secured access, video camera surveillance, motion sensors, security breach alarms, and state-of-the-art smoke detection and fire suppression systems.


• Data Security

We store our customers' data exclusively on Oracle 8i database servers, the world's leading mission-critical database. Oracle 8i, designed expressly for Internet-based operations, includes the industry's most advanced security and data integrity protections. We also employ Cisco secure firewalls with advanced encryption and the virus-resistant UNIX operating system in order to prevent unauthorized access to applications and data.


• Network Security

We strictly safeguard customer data and transactions while they are in transit. The system employs 128-bit RSA Secured-Socket Layer (SSL) data encryption-the same level of encryption used in online banking. Such 128-bit SSL encryption has never been broken, and would require a trillion-trillion years to crack using current and foreseeable technology, according to RSA Laboratories.


• Digital Certificate

Our SSL-based network security is supplemented by a VeriSign Server ID, also known as a "digital certificate." The certificate verifies that all data claimed to have originated from a customer or partner web site did, in fact, originate from that site, and that it has not been tampered with along the way. Based on 128-bit encryption, a VeriSign digital certificate is the industry standard and can be neither forged nor decoded with current or foreseeable technology.


• Privacy
  Data stored within the online financial solution is the sole property of our customers and is not accessible to our data center employees. Customers define and control their own passwords within a secure, three-tier password infrastructure. Moreover, once a user has been authorized to access the system, more than 40 levels of discrete, user-defined permissions determine which functions and data are available to specified users. We have also promulgated a strict privacy policy, which is viewable here and which has won the endorsement of both the Better Business Bureau and TRUSTe, the top Internet privacy watchdog.
  

SCALABILITY
Why spend your time and money on an accounting system that will be obsolete in six months or a year? With us, you get the first online professional financial solution that grows right along with your company's needs-no matter how great those needs become.

• Capacity

Our highly scalable Internet architecture is designed to accommodate literally millions of users. And because our system is completely web-based, we can add any number of users, customers, vendors, or transactions without having to purchase new hardware, software, or network capacity.


• Geography

An online financial solution is the ideal choice for organizations with multiple offices or locations. Because every location uses the same accounting system and enters data into the same secure, centralized database, the accounting system functions as efficiently as it would if everyone were at the same location. As a result, you can bring new departments, offices, branches, or locations onto the system in minutes-without having to add hardware, purchase a new accounting system, or create a new accounting department.


• Depth

Many accounting systems arbitrarily restrict the number and nesting of accounts. By contrast, our online financial solution allows you to dynamically create any number of accounts, journals, and subsidiary journals, making it possible to organize transactions in whatever way you require.


• Enhancements

With packaged or client/server software, you're continually installing patches, bug fixes, and new versions on every computer on which the accounting application resides-a major administrative headache. Our online financial solution eliminates all of this. As a web-based system, our system enhancements are automatically available whenever you log on, so that you always have the current version of the system. And because the system is completely web-based, you'll receive powerful new enhancements every few weeks.

ACCESSIBILITY
Your headquarters is in New York. Your accountants are in Houston. Your customers are spread out among 16 different states. And you're on the road every other week. Even if you can't all be in the same place, your accounting data can be.

• Data Entry

With our online financial solution, your data is stored in a centralized database-no matter when or where the data is entered. This enables authorized employees, customers, vendors, and others to enter data and transactions directly into the appropriate areas of the financial system, reducing the delays and inaccuracies caused by re-keying data and the security risks associated with transporting computer disks or paper documents.


• Financial Intelligence

Because data within the system is always current, you're as connected to your business as you would be if you were sitting in the corner office. You can generate up-to-date reports from wherever you are, run real-time financial analyses, or orchestrate multi-office conference calls in which all parties can observe account adjustments in real-time.


• Global Access

Chained to a desk? With our online financial solution, your office is wherever you happen to be-at home, in a hotel, at the airport, or at a customer site halfway around the world. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection, and you can work as easily as if you were in your own office.


• Performance

To ensure speedy performance, the online financial system is written in custom-developed PHP-based software and employs only minimal JavaScript and lightweight HTML. As a result, while high-speed business-class Internet connections (DSL, cable modem, or T1) are recommended, the system nevertheless performs acceptably on a standard telephone line and 56K modem.


• Synchronization

The system's components are integrated at the application level-a significant advance over applications that are merely "glued together" as part of a software bundle or an Internet portal. This enables the system's components to communicate directly with one another, as seamlessly as if they were part of the same application, so that data entered into one integrated application is automatically propagated to all relevant applications and accounts within the system. The result: the data you see is always current, and always synchronized with data maintained elsewhere within the system.

CUSTOMIZATION
Small to midsize enterprises demand flexibility in their accounting systems. There's no other choice: in the real world, customers, vendors, payment arrangements, and other financial matters are anything but standard. That's why we offer the most flexible and customizable online financial solution available.

• Account Setup
  With our online financial solution, you can easily configure account groups in the ways that best match your needs. Choose from a variety of standard templates, or define custom accounting relationships, approval chains, and department, location, and territory rollups. In addition, we support a wide range of custom reporting periods, including calendar and fiscal years, bi-months, 4-4-5 week quarters, and thirteen 4-week months, each closeable on its own schedule.
  
  
• Reporting

The system includes, out of the box, all of the reports that many small to midsize enterprises need for their day-to-day operations. In addition, the system includes a powerful point-and-click reporting and graphing wizard that allows you to create an infinite variety of customized reports-without having to export data or learn third-party software. And because these reports are live and online, you can interact with them in real-time, drilling down to the precise data you need.


• Financial Analysis

The integrated financial analysis application allows us to identify and analyze your company's financial strengths and weakness based on real-time corporate data and according to a variety of customizable parameters. The financial analysis application delivers analysis results using customized, drill-down graphics and financial charts, enabling you to isolate performance trends and run the sophisticated "what if" forecasting scenarios.


• Dashboard

The Dashboard gives you the ability to monitor those aspects of the business that concern you. Easily customizable, your dashboard can include a variety of components, such as calendars, lists of records, shortcuts, reports, graphs, smart links, and even news feeds from a variety of sources. Components that you want to monitor on an infrequent basis can be collapsed and later expanded. You can have any number of dashboards, if you tend to change roles or just want to try ever more detailed versions.


• System Access

The system enables you to precisely designate which system users should have access to which information, as well as their degree of access (e.g., view only, create, edit). The core service supports more than 40 user-customizable security levels, and more can be added depending upon your needs. The multiple permission levels further enable you to implement and enforce fully customized internal controls and workflow processes, such as check authorization procedures and order-placement approvals.

RELIABILITY
Our online financial solution has been built from the ground up to deliver the mission-critical reliability you would expect from an enterprise-class business solution. Employing sophisticated hosting, replication, and backups, the system is designed to result in zero downtime and zero data loss so that you can do your work without interruption.

• Hosting

The applications and data are hosted by IBM, the world's leader in complex Internet hosting and managed services. IBM's state-of-the-art network connects its Internet data centers directly to the Internet backbone with multiple, ultra-high-speed OC-3 and OC-12 lines that ensure maximum feasible performance and virtually eliminate the risk of a single point of failure.


• Availability

Engineered to deliver maximum feasible availability to our customers, we maintain replicated versions of the application and data on multiple servers in order to protect against unscheduled server interruptions. Automatic failover capability further ensures the seamless transfer of operations to backup servers in the unlikely event of a main server failure.


• Power Protection

The system incorporates redundant network connections and a 72-hour backup diesel generator that permits the system's continued operation even in cases of prolonged electric power outages. This arrangement has been so successful that, despite California's power crisis during early 2005, users suffered no outages due to a power loss.


• Disaster Protection

The IBM data center at which our application and data are hosted features continuous video monitoring, sophisticated climate controls, early-warning smoke detection and fire suppression systems, and seismically braced server racks to protect against the possibility of earthquakes. Teams of systems administrators further monitor the facility on a 24/7 basis, minimizing the potential effects of any natural disaster.


• Automatic Data Backups

Customer data is automatically backed up every night, with backups stored on non-degradable media in a fireproof, offsite location. This makes it possible for quick restorations of service should online data ever become damaged in a natural disaster or similarly unlikely occurrence.

THE BOTTOM LINE

With traditional client/server accounting, you can pay tens of thousands of dollars upfront-and then endure weeks or more of costly software, hardware, and networking installations. Or, with our online financial solution, you can get the same accounting power with no huge upfront fee, one affordable monthly subscription, and no new IT costs or headaches-ever. It's your choice.