OAKLAND, Calif., April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - As tax season wraps up and tax firms begin searching for new tools to make their year easier, Monsoon, a leading software company based out of Oakland, Ca., is excited to announce the launch of the newest phase of SmartCenter, an innovative customer relationship and practice management software tool designed specifically with tax professionals in mind.
SmartCenter lets tax and accounting offices manage their workflow in one single application, instead of relying on a patchwork of solutions. By putting all of a firm's client data, documents and workflow online, SmartCenter helps its users keep up with their clients and get more done, faster. That leaves more time for them to work on growing their business and keep up with the mid-April tax rush.
SmartCenter's co-founders, Chris Basom, & William Hamilton approached Monsoon with a specific vision for the features and functionality they wanted their application to offer. They based their design on their co-founder Chris Basom's 30+ years' experience running a small tax firm, and the challenges he encountered managing his workflow on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis. They wanted to create a responsive web app that was simple to navigate and easy-to-use, without or unnecessary clutter or complexity. In his words, "We designed SmartCenter to have a simple feature set that anyone can use, and we left out everything else."
Monsoon worked closely with the SmartCenter team to make this vision a reality. Starting in the Fall of 2014, they custom-built the SmartCenter application from scratch, working on both the front- and back- end of the software, the user experience and design of the application. An early version of SmartCenter was in consumer's hands by January of this year.
Before launching, Chris & William did extensive work to prepare and support their users, releasing a range of webinars, teasers and educational tools to make sure people were ready for SmartCenter in terms of software and best practices. Since then, Monsoon has kept up its collaboration with the SmartCenter team, working to adjust SmartCenter in response to customer feedback. The latest phase of this process of iterative development and release was launched this week, full of new features and tools to help tax professionals through the busiest time of the year.
Both sides of the product equation - client and Monsoon– are thrilled with the way SmartCenter has turned out.
Sandeep Sood, Monsoon's CEO, says of the collaboration, "Chris & William have been amazing partners with us - product-savvy, really knowledgeable about their space, and great at understanding their users' need. But it's the users who are benefiting most. Their testimonials speak to the tremendous enthusiasm SmartCenter has inspired in a few short months.
Sundhara Linton writes, "I was able to import my 500 clients in minutes. I could not believe how easy it was. If I can figure this out, anyone can. I love how simple and clean the whole software is." Marcellano Dodge says he loves "how simple everything is. I'm so excited to finally have everything in one place." And Allison Archer gushes, "I felt like I was buying tickets for a rock concert! I was so excited to sign up and I can't wait to get started." To find out more about SmartCenter visit: (http://www.getsmartcenter.com)
About Monsoon
Monsoon is a development firm that conceptualizes, designs, and markets mobile and web applications that make businesses thrive. Self-proclaimed 'product people', Monsoon is a close group of strategists, developers and designers committed to taking ideas from the whiteboard and into the hands of consumers across the globe. Specializing in strategy and execution, Monsoon also holds it's own marketing division, RainFactory, which focuses on customer acquisition and online engagement.
Monsoon was founded in 2001 by software visionary Sandeep Sood. Popular on the speaking circuit, Sood has worked with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies to create and develop products that are applicable to a variety of industries. Sandeep has worked with companies such as HP, Cisco, Novartis, the Academy Awards and the NBA to help bring their visions to life and onto people's devices.
For more information about Monsoon, please visit: http://www.monsoonco.com
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