May 20, 2002 (Los Gatos, Calif.)— Intacct® Corporation, provider of the leading online professional accounting and financial management system for small and medium sized enterprises, and the Principal Financial Group®, the nation's 401(k) leader, today announced that integrated 401(k) and retirement services from The Principal® are now available live to users of the Intacct system. The Principal and Intacct announced a business alliance in Dec. 2001 to create the integrated solution for CPAs and other financial professionals nationwide.
The new solution allows Intacct's channel partners, many of which are CPA firms, to expand client service offerings. For Intacct channel partners' clients, the integration offers secure access to The Principal's online 401(k) and retirement services directly from the Intacct platform—without the need for multiple browser windows or password entries.
With the launch of the new service, users of the Intacct system can now establish, manage, and provide full-service 401(k) and retirement plans from The Principal to their clients with features including: complete online 401(k) plan administration and testing, daily valuation record keeping, investment assistance through licensed financial professionals, online plan design assistance, and 24/7 access to plan status, along with a dedicated client service consultant—accessible through any Internet connected computer.
"Integrating the Intacct system with retirement services from The Principal greatly impacts the way our channel partners do business with their clients," said Intacct CEO David C. Thomas. "By leveraging the Internet, we're providing a way for them to cost efficiently present to their clients premier service offerings once only attainable to larger companies with greater financial resources."
The seamless system provides users with multiple benefits, such as eliminating manual routing and data entry of payroll contributions from different financial systems to The Principal platform. The Intacct system automatically updates data into The Principal record keeping system, eliminating hours of manual data entry and allowing financial professionals to focus on building and maintaining their relationships.
"Our business alliance with Intacct provides online capabilities that were once thought inconceivable," said Tom Donnelly, regional vice president, the Principal Financial Group. "By integrating with a professional online accounting system, we are extending yet another tool to the small and midsize businesses that makes their jobs easier."
Advanced Features
The integration with retirement solutions from The Principal provides Intacct users with advanced features including: single sign-on access—permitting users to access the 401(k) offering from within the Intacct system without using multiple browser screens or password requests; automated synchronization of employee plan participants between the Intacct system and The Principal; and automated posting of contributor data from Intacct's payroll applications into the 401(k) plan—eliminating hours of tedious manual data entry and reconciliation. Additionally, the integration introduces Intacct users to a full spectrum of retirement products from The Principal. Future versions of the integrated offering will include annual compliance reporting.
"This integration automates a once time consuming task," said Antoine Guillaud, President of Chicago-based International Management Solutions (IMS). "Because payroll contributions are automatically updated from the Intacct system into The Principal's system, the amount of time spent manually keying in payroll contribution data is now better spent managing clients' financials—not keying them in."
Intacct's Alliance Strategy
Facilitated by eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Intacct's strategic alliance with The Principal Financial Group illustrates how key business services can now be securely integrated and cost-efficiently delivered through the Internet, whenever and wherever the client needs them.
By providing integrated online access to top financial management and business services, Intacct has successfully eliminated the need for software downloads or hardware upgrades and maintenance—that often require substantial financial and staff resources—for clients to take advantage of professional business applications including: 401(k)/retirement planning, online auditing, professional billing, expense reporting, payroll, CRM, and human resource services.
About Intacct Corporation www.intacct.com
Intacct Corporation is the leading provider of online professional accounting solutions. The Intacct accounting system is designed for companies that need more than an entry-level PC-based accounting package but want an alternative to complex, IT-intensive client/server solutions. In addition to its core accounting functionality, the Intacct accounting system also includes Intacct Audit, co-developed with Deloitte & Touche. Offered on a monthly subscription basis, the Intacct accounting system can be accessed via any current web browser and is both PC and Mac compatible.
About the Principal Financial Group www.principal.com
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®) is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and mortgage banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. More employers choose the Principal Financial Group for their 401(k) plans than any other bank, mutual fund, or insurance company in the United States . A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $120.2 billion in assets under management and serves some 13 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
