GruntWorx - Copanion

Best Fit

Small to mid-size firms in tax practice.

Strengths

Brief Product Description and Pricing

GruntWorx automatically scans, identifies, and bookmarks client tax documents and delivers them in a single, well-organized electronic PDF file, allowing you to:

GruntWorx is priced in a 50-Pack for $99,  100-Pack for $195, and 250-Pack for $395. There is also a 500-Pack for $495.  GruntWorx was running a free trial of 25 returns at the time of this review.

Technical Specifications

WorkSite is typically hosted by the firm itself and requires only the firm’s internal LAN to operate, however WorkSite can and does work over a WAN and the Internet. WorkSite can also be hosted in a third-party datacenter, but the software is still licensed to the firm.  i.e. it is not a pay-as-you-go ASP type solution.

Integration with Accounting and Ease of Setup

Web-based solution.

For the 2008 tax season, the first release of GruntWorx Pro is available for Thomson Reuters GoSystem Tax ES™.

GruntWorx Pro support for other leading tax preparation software packages will be announced later in the 2008 tax year.

Interwoven WorkSite includes client portal functionality allowing accounting firms to offer clients secure access to information—such as tax returns and financial statements via the Internet. WorkSite frees accounting professionals’ time and increasing overall productivity. Moreover, clients have 24x7 access to information. WorkSite client portals also comply with new privacy laws requiring client information be protected. Unlike email, portals automatically encrypt content transmitted across the Internet.

Representative Client List (if available)

Company History and Contact Information

Copanion's GruntWorx is the first web-based application to "read" and classify data from paper-based forms and PDF files. GruntWorx uses a combination of biometric pattern recognition technology and machine learning to achieve better than 97% accuracy across thousands of variations of tax documents. Headquartered in Andover, MA, Copanion is a privately held company with financing from Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Pilot House Ventures. The company may be reached at:

Commentary (The following is provided by the Editor with notes and comments from others.)

“GruntWorx Pro will save tax professionals up to one hour per return by automating the time-consuming process of organizing and entering client data. Our proven technology delivers best-in-class accuracy that identifies data in the largest breadth of tax forms available. And we’ve designed GruntWorx Pro to be easy-to-use and seamlessly integrated with the leading tax software packages so tax professionals can quickly be productive.” said Steven Ladd, president and CEO, Copanion.

The GruntWorx family of products is based on patent-pending technology that identifies information in scanned and electronic documents with the highest levels of accuracy. Since GruntWorx was introduced in November 2007, the solution rapidly achieved unprecedented levels of adoption with more than 2000 tax professionals signed up to use the product. GruntWorx also achieved widespread industry recognition and was recently awarded CPA Technology Advisor’s 2008 Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Award. GruntWorx Pro builds upon this technology to help tax firms dramatically increase productivity by automating the time-consuming tasks of organizing and entering tax data.

GruntWorx Pro is an affordable web-based application that is easy to use and deploy so tax professionals can quickly achieve productivity gains. It automates and standardizes data entry for even the most complex tax returns. The complete GruntWorx product line is compliant with Internal Revenue Code section 7216 so tax professionals can increase productivity without requiring additional client disclosure agreements.

GruntWorx Pro is built on industry standards to be seamlessly integrated with the leading tax software packages. Tight integration delivers client data to the right locations in tax software so tax professionals can prepare returns without having to learn how to use a new set of tools and workflows. For GoSystem Tax ES, GruntWorx Pro imports data directly into the GoSystem Tax ES tax organizer letting users review client data using the same tax software interface that they’re used to working with.

GruntWorx Pro identifies data in the widest breadth of tax forms available including thousands of variations of the following tax forms:

Table Caption

W-2 W-2G 1099-A 1099-B 1099-INT 1099-DIV 1099-C	1099-G 1099-H 1099-LTC 1099-MISC 1099-OID 1098 1098-C	1098-T 1098-E 5498 1099-PATR 1099-R 1099-SA Brokerage Statements	1099-CAP 2439 5498 5498SA 5498ESA 1024-S	K-1 FORM 1065 K-1 FORM 1041 State K1 Grantor Letters RRB-1099 RRB-1099-R