Once in a while we have a pretty exciting week in the vendor/service provider world. At such times, I’m happy to provide a roundup of announcements and relevant news.
SmartVault Integrates with Intuit ProConnect
SmartVault, a provider of a cloud-based document management system (DMS) and client portal for accounting professionals, has expanded its strategic partnership with Intuit by integrating with ProConnect™ Tax. This jointly developed integration enables document workflows between ProConnect and SmartVault, offering efficiency improvements over standard print-to-PDF or mapped drive solutions.
While not quite in time for “busy season,” the SmartVault and Intuit ProConnect integration is scheduled to release in early summer 2025. You can join the wait list and be notified immediately when the release is available to customers at www.SmartVault.com/ProConnect
TaxDome Experiences Potential Data Breach
Late last week, TaxDome, a practice management solution for tax professionals, bookkeepers, and accountants, confirmed that it suffered a “brief” data breach threat, but that no sensitive data was actually leaked and the situation was contained shortly after the incident was discovered. All users that used TaxDome’s Tags feature had their data temporarily accessible to every other user on the platform via the Reporting feature. This incident came not long after the platform’s Signature requests apparently allowed anyone with that link to view social security numbers on a document.
Accounting, finance, HR and payroll company Sage announced a partnership with conversational AI technology company Boost.AI. The deployment of Boost.ai’s conversational AI allows Sage 50 Accounting users to access a highly responsive and automated customer support channel. This helps resolve accounting inquiries and troubleshoot technical issues quickly.
The AI agent went live with nearly double the originally projected number of topics. Additionally, the project exceeded its resolution rate targets within the first week of operation, underscoring the effectiveness of boost.ai’s solution in streamlining customer support. With the success of the initial implementation for Sage 50 Accounting in Canada, boost.ai and Sage have already started working to expand coverage in other markets.
In somewhat related news…
Sage Group plc has confirmed it temporarily suspended its Sage Copilot, an AI assistant for the UK-based business software maker’s accounting tools, this month after it blurted customer information to other users. More details were available in a report from The Register.
Intuit Rolls Out Test of New QBO Interface
Intuit has started testing a new QuickBooks interface that creates a combined QuickBooks and Mailchimp platform experience to help businesses accelerate productivity and profitability. Currently, the target audience for the test is new QuickBooks Online customers not yet connected to accountants.
With the QuickBooks Online interface being tested, business clients will see a carousel that shows key applications they use every day to complete the jobs that need to be done Customers choose to opt in or out of the test, and if participating businesses decide to opt out of the test,. QuickBooks will automatically revert to its standard user interface. Businesses that choose to take part in the test may add an accountant during the test period. As a result, accountants will see the new experience when they access their client’s books through QuickBooks Online Accountant. However, accountants can choose to opt their client out of the test on their behalf.