Citrix Online Helps CPAs Speed Up Tax Returns with Real-time Access and Collaboration

During the busy days leading up to the tax deadline, many accountants wish they could be in at least two places at once. That’s easy for Penny Breslin, thanks to real-time collaboration software-as-a-service (SaaS) from Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS).

Without leaving her desk in Massachusetts, Breslin, who is director of professional services for XPI TAX, an industry leader in providing tax and bookkeeping services to the accounting industry, routinely meets with clients and employees from India to Indianapolis for training, sales presentations and more. Her secret? Citrix® GoToMeeting® web conferencing and collaboration.

“With GoToMeeting, everybody’s working better and faster,” said Breslin. “It takes the anonymity out of outsourcing. People become real, no matter where they are and everything just zooms.”

Throughout the accounting industry, the story is much the same: Too many clients to meet with and too little time for training and business development. Increasingly, firms are turning to Citrix Online solutions – GoToMeeting Web conferencing and online meeting service, Citrix® GoToWebinar™ web events made easy, Citrix® GoToMyPC® remote access and Citrix® GoToAssist™ remote support – to solve the dilemmas of time and distance. Those firms, which routinely handle sensitive information, appreciate that all of these solutions that feature advanced secure communication architectures with industry-standard SSL and U.S. government-standard 128-bit AES end-to-end encryption. Customers also appreciate GoToMeeting’s All You Can Meet™ flat-fee pricing, which means there’s no limit on the number or duration of meetings.

Secure, Fast and Easy Access Anytime, Anywhere with GoToMyPC
Another productivity strategy CPAs employ during the tax season is to use GoToMyPC for fast, easy and secure access to office PCs from any Web browser or wireless device. This enables CPAs and accountants to work from home, a boon to efficiency and morale.

“GoToMyPC gives us the secure 24/7 access to everything we need,” said Kyle Brengel, principal, at a leading New York State accounting firm of Gentile Pismeny & Brengel. “We’re working better and smarter. It’s also great for employee morale. If somebody can see their daughter or son’s baseball game and still be productive, they love it. People sometimes work 12 or more hours a day this time of year. With GoToMyPC we can do it all.”

GoToAssist – Technical Support Becomes A Competitive Advantage
For CPAs that need help desk and technical support on the fly, Citrix GoToAssist remote support enables a firm to empower their IT staff to deliver an instant fix over the Web. GoToAssist allows help-desk experts to chat online and with permission, take remote control of the accountant’s PC to see the problem first hand, and resolve the issue in real time. This eliminates costly downtime and enhances productivity.

“If you can increase your efficiency in this business you’re saving money and delivering even better value to your clients,” said James E. Wood, partner at Eubank and Betts, a leading Mississippi accounting firm that uses GoToMyPC to work on files at a moment’s notice. “GoToMyPC gives us the capability and the flexibility to easily and securely work from home or in the field anytime we need to increase capacity and productivity. And when we eliminate travel and get more done faster, our clients love us. In a very real sense, Citrix Online has manufactured additional time for us during tax season.”

“Delivering greater capacity for our customers with greater simplicity is central to our unique approach to real-time access and collaboration,” said Mike Mansbach, vice president of enterprise marketing and business development at Citrix Online. “Accountants understand the value and enjoy the simplicity of these on-demand services that help accelerate their business.”

For free trials and further information on GoToMyPC remote desktop access, please visit, at: http://www.gotomypc.com; remote support solution, GoToAssist: http://www.gotoassist.com; online meeting service, GoToMeeting: http://www.gotomeeting.com; and online event service, GoToWebinar: http://www.gotowebinar.com.

About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CTXS) is the global leader and the most trusted name in application delivery infrastructure. More than 180,000 organizations worldwide rely on Citrix to deliver any application to users anywhere with the best performance, highest security and lowest cost. Citrix customers include 100% of the Fortune 100 companies and 98% of the Fortune Global 500, as well as hundreds of thousands of small businesses and prosumers. Citrix has approximately 6,200 channel and alliance partners in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2006 was $1.1 billion.