CD-ROM and multimedia: the tax professional's hardware planning guide.

• Author: Price, Charles E.

Tax professionals installing new computer systems or updating existing hardware should consider the importance and utility of multimedia (i.e., sound, pictures and graphics) systems. The purpose of this article is to provide the necessary hardware overview for tax professionals to make informed decisions as they upgrade or purchase new multimedia systems. Information will be provided on the many ways to connect compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) to a desktop or laptop personal computer (PC), key decisions to be made before purchasing a CD-ROM drive, and the type of monitor, speakers and data bus needed. Recordable CD-ROMs are becoming more widely available. Even if a practitioner does not want to invest in a full-fledged multimedia system, hardware currently purchased should meet minimum standards so that future upgrades and system expansions can accommodate a multimedia system.

Virtually all the tax research vendors (e.g., CCH, RIA, Matthew Bender) now have CD-ROM products. Today, tax professionals can find on CD-ROM interactive tax planning or training software, Federal, state and local tax forms, the AICPA NAARS database, financial information, U.S. business and residential phone numbers and U.S. street maps. The Bureau of the Census offers population, housing and demographic data.

The State of CD-ROM Software

Today, CD-ROM software includes tax research-based products that require search software; some of the software is user-friendly and may soon be available in Windows interfaces. Most offer the ability to search and save by project or client name, and allow cutting and pasting to a clipboard, saving to a word processor format or printing segments to disk. Most are tied in with an on-line service (either the vendor's own or that of a specialty vendor) for daily update information. This series of products is a prime candidate for multimedia search and retrieval interactions. The following is a preview of a small CPA practice office.

Assume that the practitioner has access to a six-disc reader or is on a network with six drives daisy-chained(1) together at the server. Labeling these drives E-J, the E and F drives have tax preparation, forms and planning software, while drive G has the practitioner's favorite tax research product, and the remaining three drives have the archival discs with cases, rulings, etc. Tax returns are prepared from data taken from the client interview form (or interview floppy disk). As the return is being prepared, a dialog box pops up from the planning CD-ROM and raises points for future discussion with the client. The questions and proposed answers are saved and printed along with the prepared tax return. If, during return preparation, an unfamiliar form is encountered or a question arises as to why the software took a particular approach on a form, a copy of the form and its instructions can be printed. There may also be access to help in the form of video clip and/or sound file explanations.

If further research is needed, the function key brings up the research software and a key word search can be implemented. All search results are saved and printed with the completed tax return. Archival discs allow for the retrieval of "significant authority" (e.g., the Code and regulations) to aid in decisionmaking. An on-line interface (with a modem) covers time periods before and after the stamping of the archival discs. Some of this technology is available right now, while some is imminent.

Archival CD-ROM software primarily contains cases, rulings, procedures, regulations, general counsel memoranda and actions on decisions, and is usually updated quarterly. Most rchival data discs (e.g., Board of Tax Appeals cases) have to be updated only when the search software is updated. These services may also be tied to an on-line service for current updates during the key-word search process. This type of tax CD-ROM product does not seem to be suited to multimedia enhancement.

However, tax planning and preparation software appear to be excellent environments for the use of graphics, animation, sound clips and other multimedia enhancements. Voice, graphics, animation and realtime interaction by the user would make the products much more effortless and fun to use. Voice help files...