The Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards sponsored by magazine The CPA Technology Advisor were announced June 4 at the California Accounting and Business Show & Conference in Los Angeles. The awards recognize developers of software, hardware, services and other technologies geared toward professional accountants and tax preparers.

Two products in particular reflected the increased movement toward paperless processes that increase the efficiency of tax preparation. SurePrep received an award for its 1040Scan system, and Intuit Lacerte was awarded one for its SmartMap application.

1040Scan was first to market with a system that allows professionals to utilize scanning, form recognition and optical character recognition technology (OCR) to scan client documents like W2s, 1099s and brokerage statements and have the data automatically flow directly into the client's tax return in the professional's tax preparation system. Intuit's SmartMap utility simplifies and automates the movement of data between QuickBooks and the Lacerte professional tax application.

"The integration of scanning, OCR and forms recognition is a trifecta that will have significant and immediate positive effects for virtually every tax professional," said Gregory L. LaFollette, executive editor of The CPA Technology Advisor.  "Tax professionals will be able to save considerable time by using these systems, which then allows them to either service additional clients or to focus on other more profitable services."

LaFollette predicted the demand for this technology "will be so great that by next tax season we will see almost all other professional tax preparation systems offering their own versions of these tools. And within a few years, it will be nearly universal."

Innovation Awards were also presented to:

• Microsoft for Microsoft Office Accounting Express, a free small business accounting system included with the Office productivity suite;
• Thomson Tax & Accounting for Practice CS, an advanced practice management system for accounting firms that includes integrated time and billing, project management, client management and data sharing functions; and
• BankServ for DepositNow A/R, a system that integrates with small business accounting software and allows businesses to scan customer check payments and then matches checks to invoices, verifies check value, and then can make bank deposits electronically.

Honorable Mentions were presented to:

• Acct1st Technology Group for Best of Breed Innovator (BOBI);
• BizActions for BizActions Dashboard;
• CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business for Tax Research Consultant;
• RIM for the BlackBerry 8800; and
• Thomson Tax & Accounting-PPC for SMART e-Practice Aids.

Winners are selected by the magazine's editorial advisory board, contributing writers and editorial staff for their innovation as well as for the potential benefits their products or services are likely to deliver to the profession. The advisory board is comprised of accounting and tax professionals from across the country who are engaged in public practice in firms ranging from sole practitioners to major, multi-office regional practices.

"Increasing efficiency, productivity and profitability for the tax and accounting professions is the definition of the Innovation Awards, and this year's award winners exemplify these goals," LaFollette said.