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Website
of the Month: AccountingPage
By
Susan B. Anders
JUNE 2006 - AccountingPage,
www.accounting page.com, bills itself as “a comprehensive
index of web-based tax and accounting resources,”
which is an accurate description. While the portal appears
to be targeted to practicing accountants, accounting students
and anyone in need of professional accounting services will
find it extremely helpful. The website is organized in a
simple index format, which will appeal to accounting professionals
and will make the search process fairly efficient. Within
each broad category, the suggested websites are mostly listed
alphabetically, aiding the search process. For categories
with a larger number of resources, subsidiary indexes are
provided. The most popular topics are presented on the right-hand
side of the homepage under “Hot Category.”
Users
should expect to spend time sifting through AccountingPage’s
offerings, as over 9,000 links are provided. A small portion
of the resources either don’t appear to be accounting-related
or are in the wrong category. Most links that were tested,
however, are in good working order, and some are under multiple
categories. Additionally, all of the links tested opened
in a new window, which increases the ease of navigation
as well as the speed of the search process. New searches
are best accomplished by returning to the homepage.
An
outstanding feature is the broad coverage of accounting-related
materials. Various specializations are represented: general
accounting and bookkeeping; financial accounting; tax accounting;
auditing; and forensic accounting. The portal offers links
to international websites and specific state resources.
There are over 22 categories in the center of the homepage,
the largest of which are “By State (U.S.),”
“International,” “Organization,”
and “Software.”
By
State (U.S.) and International
State
resources can be reached by “Click on a State”
at the top of the homepage, or by selecting the “By
State (U.S.)” hyperlink under “Browse by Category,”
also on the homepage. The By State (U.S.) webpage offers
Nationwide; the individual 50 states; Washington, D.C.;
and dependent areas (Guam and Puerto Rico). Within some
topics, featured websites are listed first, then the rest
in alphabetical order. Nationwide offers accounting-service
providers; miscellaneous service providers, including insurance
and loans; professional associations; and specialized job-search
websites. For states with several links, an index groups
the resources by statewide and by county. Statewide resources
include state-oriented tax software and job-search sites.
County resources generally include CPA firms and other service
providers.
International
accounting websites can be reached via the “See International
Accounting Sites” hyperlink or “International,”
both on the homepage. The subsidiary page for International
presents an index of links for Worldwide and 52 countries.
Under Worldwide, AccountingPage offers links to accounting
firms with international practices or located in specific
countries; accounting and tax software; job-search sites;
online courses; practice management services; and software
and other resources. The materials under individual countries
contain accounting-service providers and professional
organizations.
CPA
Firms and Other Service Providers
While
CPA firms are listed under most topics, users who specifically
desire to locate service providers can best approach the
search in a few ways. “Organization,” under
“Browse by Category,” presents an alphabetical
listing under its “Firms” subsidiary page. The
Firms page offer a further grouping by Bookkeeping Firms,
Consulting Firms, CPA Firms, Management Firms, and Small
Business Firms. Service providers are also under “Hot
Category” via Individual and Small Business, Bookkeeping
Services, Firms, and Financial. If a user is searching for
an accountant in a specific state or country, the By State
(U.S.) and International webpages would be good places to
begin.
Other
Resources
“Software”
is one of the best-organized categories on AccountingPage.
The software resources are indexed in 28 categories, including
Check Software, Construction, Management, and Specific Industry.
Many software categories are further indexed to make searching
easier.
“Accounting
Directory” includes links to other accounting portals
and accounting-specific websites; directories of accounting
professionals; and other miscellaneous directories. “Accounting
Jobs” materials are grouped by Career Resource, Executive
Search, Job Boards, Job Listings, Placement, Recruitment,
Resume, and Staffing Services, which are fairly self-explanatory.
“Tax Help” is most useful for nonprofessionals,
except for the Value-Added Tax category, which may benefit
accountants with international clients.
Susan
B. Anders, PhD, CPA, is an associate professor of
accounting at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure,
N.Y. |