Stout Causey Consulting Selects Chesapeake System Solutions; UPCS System Supports New Unclaimed Property Compliance Service.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Chesapeake System Solutions, a leading provider of compliance, reconciliation, treasury and account analysis software, announced today that Stout Causey Consulting has chosen Chesapeake's UPCS solution to manage the unclaimed property function for its clients.

As an international CPA and management consulting firm, Stout Causey was seeking a solution that would allow them to offer their clients one-stop outsourcing of the tracking, documentation, and especially the regulatory compliance aspects of a wide range of unclaimed property. "We've been consulting in this area for some time, but our clients have increasingly requested that we not only make recommendations, but also assume responsibility for carrying them out," said D. Patrick Healy, senior manager for the National Unclaimed Property Compliance Division of Stout Causey Consulting. Implementing the Chesapeake solution will enable Stout Causey to perform state-mandated unclaimed property due diligence and regulatory reporting on behalf of its clients.

The biggest challenge in managing unclaimed property is ensuring that a company is in compliance with the complicated, disparate, and ever-changing nature of the unclaimed property laws in the 54 reporting jurisdictions. Chesapeake's solution includes the latest reporting requirements for all states, and also automates the required but time-consuming process of property owner searching, letter generation, and follow-up.

Healy pointed out that companies are increasingly concerned about compliance because states are stepping up the targeting of unclaimed property - there are more than 100 types, including uncashed checks to employees, vendors, and stockholders, and unclaimed life insurance - in order to generate revenue. A survey by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators showed a 44% increase in state collections between 2000 and 2003. At the same time, companies are understandably anxious to ensure that payments represent only actual unclaimed property and do not include amounts attributable to bookkeeping errors.

Peter Vogelberger, president of Chesapeake, agreed. "States view unclaimed property as an easy way to boost revenue without tax increases," said Vogelberger. "The UPCS solution is designed to help companies strike the right balance between correct compliance and overpayment."

Stout Causey selected Chesapeake to provide the tool for their practice expansion because of Chesapeake's excellent reputation in the marketplace. "The system's ease of use and Chesapeake's top notch customer support were very important, since we're performing this work on behalf of clients, but the real deciding factor was the glowing reports we got from their references," said Healy.

About Stout Causey

Stout Causey is an internationally acclaimed CPA and management consulting firm, with service lines specializing in financial and internal control consulting (including Sarbanes Oxley and IT audit services), unclaimed property services, procure-to-pay consulting, technology implementations, and tax consulting. Stout Causey serves a large client base ranging from emerging businesses to the largest Fortune 500 companies.

About Chesapeake Systems Solutions

Chesapeake System Solutions, Inc. offers the total end-to-end treasury solution, seamlessly integrating cash management with reconciliation, account analysis and compliance. Chesapeake shares information across all applications, allowing customers to better manage treasury operations. Chesapeake's success is based on its powerful combination of customer/industry-driven software, personalized customer support and advanced technology. Chesapeake's single-vendor solution includes Total Reconciliation Solution (T-Recs(R)), a comprehensive reconciliation and deposit verification system, SmartTreasury(R), modular desktop and web-based treasury workstation software, Chesapeake IDM(TM) (Internet Data Manager), the one-step bank information gathering solution, SmartAnalysis(R), for analyzing trends and comparing services across banks, SmartAnalysis(R) RM for recording, organizing and documenting a company's bank account criteria for its different banking relationships, and the Unclaimed Property Compliance System (UPCS(TM)), which automates unclaimed property reporting for all 54 jurisdictions.