Bridge to an updated automation guide.

In May 1991, the AICPA Tax Division published the practice guide, Automation of the Tax Practice of the '90s. The rapid rise in the importance of computer technology in a tax practice, driven by ever-changing technology, made the guide a useful tool for practitioners to identify and understand the overall automation issues as they related to a tax practice.

The same rapid rate of change in technology that created the need for such a guide has now conspired to change the technological arena in which a tax practice operates. While most of the concepts are just as relevant now as they were then, the way those concepts translate into practice has changed dramatically. Nowhere is this more evident than in hardware recommendations. In 1991, an 80386-based machine with 4MB of RAM (the minimum recommended in the guide for new users) was state of the art; six years later, the only way to get a machine with those specifications is to buy one on the used computer market.

Because of these changes, the Tax Division's Tax Technology Committee has undertaken to update the "Automation Guide," taking into account the changes in technology since the original guide was written. The committee is also considering how to develop a resource that will be dynamically updated for significant changes that are certain to develop over the next few years.

Many of the drafters of the original guide recognized that, by interacting with colleagues and discussing their experiences, they gained immediate insights into implementing new technology. This participatory process had its drawbacks; it was hampered by the practical limit on the number of participants, the difficulty in scheduling a time when all participants could meet and the differences in time zones when teleconferencing. Acknowledging the overall benefits of a collaborative process, the committee has decided to open up the drafting of the new guide to all Tax Division members via the WorldWideWeb and the Internet. The knowledge to be tapped from (potentially) the entire Tax Division membership is one of the greatest resources available. The Internet offers the means to do so without the constraints faced by the traditional process. Tax Division members will be able to participate whenever they want, and "nominate" themselves to be part of the development team.

The Bridges Concept

The Bridges site on the World Wide Web (http://www.c2.com:8000) allows for this participatory process. John DeBruyn, chairman of the American Bar Association Tax Section's Technology Committee, who was instrumental in putting together this interactive site for attorneys and CPAs involved in tax practice, has invited participation by the Tax Technology Committee.

For the most part, information flows from the Website holding the information to the individual's computer. This update project requires information to flow in both directions. To accomplish this, the site uses WikiWikiWeb technology (developed by Ward Cunningham), which allows for fully editable Web pages to be created and posted in real time on the Web. Individuals accessing the Bridges site will be able to read what has been previously posted and add their own comments in response. This two-way communication will enable the committee to develop the guide with input from a much broader constituent base than would be possible using traditional means.

Using the Bridges Site

The Bridges site has been tested to work with various versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as other Web browsers. The site even works with the pure text mode Lynx browser running on UNIX terminals.

Depending on the browser, one problem that users may run into is the cache feature. In order to speed up access to various sites on the Internet, most browsers offer the option to store the pages on a local hard drive once they have been visited. While this speeds up access, it can cause the user to miss changes made to a page since the last time the system saved them. If the changes were made but do not seem apparent, a Reload option in the browser forces it to actually load the most recent page from the Bridges site.

The Automation Guide's main page (http://www.c2.com:8000/ AutomationGuide) describes the guide and lists the topics it will address. Several Tax Technology Committee members have already posted an initial draft of the revised text for some of the sections; these sections will be underlined or otherwise highlighted on the browser screen. By following the link, the draft can be read as it currently exists.

Due to the limits of a computer display, many of the sections are further subdivided when the user jumps from the main screen. Breaking the document into smaller pieces allows very specific issues to be considered, and ensures that the amount of text on any single page is small enough to be easily navigated on screen.

Each draft page includes a comments page link, on which the actual discussion of the issues takes place. Members should feel free to add their opinions to the discussion on the comments page, suggesting, e.g., changes to the text or topics to be covered or deleted. All opinions are encouraged on the discussion page; full agreement with everything that has been written or posted is not expected.

Feedback from visitors who relate issues to their own experiences, and from firms (of all sizes) that are encountering problems in implementing technology in their tax practices, will be especially helpful in making the guide a valuable reference tool.

To contribute to the appropriate comments page at the Bridges site, simply click on the edit link that appears at the bottom of each page. A special page will come up with the entire text of the page in an editing box. The simplest way to add comments is to scroll to the bottom of the editing box and type in a message.

The editing box allows for very simple editing under the control of the browser. With Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, users can move around the editing box with the mouse and arrow keys; remove characters with the delete and backspace keys; and paste in text from the Windows clipboard that was created elsewhere. Some limited formatting (e.g., boldface, italics, simple rules) can be added to the text by using the features described at http://www.c2.com:8000/ EditAndCreatePages. Although the editing box does not offer all the options available on a full-blown word processor, it does have the advantage of providing a standard interface to all users who access the site; by pressing the "submit" button, the text will be available to everyone on the WorldWideWeb.

Links to other Websites can be included by typing the address into the document. For instance, to link to the main AICPA Website, add http://www.aicpa.org to the message. The WikiWiki Web language will convert the AICPA address into a link to the site in question, allowing someone reading the message to immediately jump (hypertext) to the AICPA Web page. (This feature is already used on some pages to refer readers to outside sources that may be relevant to the topic under discussion.)

A convention that has been adopted at the site is for each author to "sign" his comments, inputting his first and last names as one word (e.g., EdZollars); by doing so, it becomes easier to follow the discussion. In addition, this convention triggers another feature of the Bridges site. Whenever the software sees a word in that form, it offers to create a totally new page based on that name, which will be linked to the first page. To approve this option, the author clicks an underlined question mark that appears after his name (e.g., EdZollars?) on the new page. The Tax Technology Committee suggests that participants use this page to provide some information about themselves and their practices. This will make it easier for the committee to put contributors' comments into context and gauge the appeal of an issue.

The Ultimate Goal

The committee hopes that by using a totally open collaborative technology, an improved and updated Automation Guide will be created more quickly and with input from a larger pool of contributors.

Tax Division members are invited to drop by http://www.c2.com:8000/ AutomationGuide to keep up with the developments on this project and partake in this creative process.