Financial Document Exchange for Private Companies Honored by CPA Practice Advisor

NEW YORK (June 2, 2016) – RIVIO Clearinghouse, a financial document exchange for private companies, was the recipient last night of a 2016 Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award from CPA Practice Advisor, a leading publication for the accounting profession.

RIVIO was developed by CPA.com and Confirmation.com as a secure, online platform to control the flow of financial documents between private companies, CPA firms and lenders and investors. It helps prevent fraud and provides more sophisticated controls than existing delivery methods.

The Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award is meant to recognize “outside-the-box thinking in product development, breakthrough technologies, state of the art design and implementation, and cutting edge concepts that help accounting professionals and their clients be more productive and profitable,” according to CPA Practice Advisor.’

“We're delighted that our judges selected RIVIO Clearinghouse as one of the winners of the 2016 Innovation Awards,” said Gail Perry, the publication’s editor-in-chief. “This particular product is going to have a significant and positive ripple effect throughout the accounting profession.”

The award was presented at the California Accounting & Business Show & Conference in Los Angeles.

“We appreciate the leadership CPA Practice Advisor has shown in identifying technology trends in the accounting space,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “We think RIVIO Clearinghouse addresses a pressing marketplace need for source-validated private company financial information, and it’s gratifying when respected voices in the profession endorse that view.”

“We’re excited about the award,” said Brian Fox, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s a great testament to the value of RIVIO to CPAs and their clients.”

RIVIO Clearinghouse Addresses Key Need of Bankers and Investors for Validated Data Sources

NEW YORK (May 3, 2016) – CPA.com and Confirmation.com today announced the launch of RIVIO Clearinghouse, which delivers CPA source-validated financial documents such as audited financial statements to bankers, shareholders and other investors. These documents are available through a secure, cloud-based platform that offers stronger fraud prevention and more sophisticated controls than existing delivery methods.

Private companies are the backbone of the U.S. economy, making up the overwhelming majority of the nation’s 28 million businesses. Unlike with public companies, whose key data is accessible through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR system, there is no central repository for private company financial information. As a result, many private businesses still rely on outdated methods to distribute financial statements, tax forms and other key documents, such as mailing or hand delivering paper copies or emailing unsecure files. Banks, private equity firms and other users of this information have little way of knowing if the data they receive has been altered.

The RIVIO Clearinghouse transforms how private company financial information is exchanged by:

• Validating that a financial document has been uploaded by a licensed CPA firm
• Eliminating the possibility that company management can change data once it is uploaded by the CPA firm
• Allowing companies complete control over who can view the information, so financial data remains private and protected
• Providing anytime, anywhere access to the information, which can speed lending decisions and other business transactions
• Protecting private company information with encryption and an IT architecture tested by rigorous security audits

“In today’s digital world, bankers and investors are expecting authenticated sources of data,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “The RIVIO Clearinghouse uniquely provides a system where only licensed CPA firms can upload audited and reviewed financial statements used by lenders, private equity firms and others.”

The online clearinghouse was developed jointly by CPA.com and Confirmation.com, a company that offers a market-leading solution for electronic audit confirmations and is well known in both the accounting profession and the banking industry. RIVIO—an acronym for Repository of Intelligent Validated Inputs and Outputs—has been in a pilot phase with leading firms for the past year and was named a 2016 Top New Product by Accounting Today. The clearinghouse does not replace or compete with firm or bank portals, since it was designed specifically for transferring information between three distinct user groups with features relevant to each. In time, the RIVIO Clearinghouse can be integrated into these portals.

“One of the key benefits of the new clearinghouse is fraud prevention,” said Brian Fox, CPA, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s easy to alter a paper financial document or create a bogus PDF, but the RIVIO Clearinghouse prevents changes once a CPA firm uploads a financial statement. That provides piece of mind for lenders and other interested parties.”

For more information about the clearinghouse, please visit RIVIO.com

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the AICPA, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession. The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Confirmation.com

Confirmation.com is the world's leading provider of secure online audit confirmations. Today, 13,000 audit firms confirm over $1 trillion annually for 700,000 clients worldwide. Confirmation.com is used in over 125 countries by banks, companies, and law firm to respond to audit confirmation requests. For more information, visit Confirmation.com.

Rivio Clearinghouse to Transform Private Company Financial Information Exchange

NEW YORK (Feb. 8, 2016) – Rivio, the online financial document clearinghouse developed by CPA.com and Confirmation.com, has been named a 2016 Top New Product by Accounting Today, a leading trade publication for the accounting profession.

Rivio was selected as a winner in the “data transfer” category. “CPA.com and Confirmation.com’s mission for the platform is to eliminate outdated and unsecure methods of exchanging sensitive information such as e-mail,” the magazine’s editors wrote, “and Rivio provides the controls and collaboration to modernize the process.”

“This kind of recognition speaks to the value proposition of Rivio,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “Lenders and investors have a strong interest in obtaining the most relevant, authenticated financial information about private companies, but that mechanism didn’t really exist until now. The clearinghouse solves that market problem.”

Rivio is currently in pilot phase, with a full commercial launch scheduled later this year.

“Rivio ensures that banks, shareholders and other authorized parties can get access to CPA-reviewed financial data without fear that the information has been altered in any way,” said Brian Fox, CPA, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s an important, effective tool to minimize risk and fraud.”

To learn more about the clearinghouse, visit Rivio.com.

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession, and operates such leading websites as the AICPA Store, AICPA.org and IFRS.com.

The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Confirmation.com

Confirmation.com is the world’s leading provider of secure online audit confirmations. Today, 13,000 audit firms confirm over $1 trillion annually with over 3,000 banks for 700,000 clients worldwide. Confirmation.com is used in over 125 countries by banks, companies and law firms to respond to audit confirmation requests. For more information, visit Confirmation.com.

CPA.com CEO Talks about Shared Purpose in Supporting Greater Diversification of Services

NEW YORK (Jan. 22, 2016) – Accounting technology leaders gave a progress report on how innovation is transforming services throughout the profession and boosting business productivity for CPA firms at the 7^th Annual AICPA/CPA.com Executive Roundtable, an invitation-only event for technology executives, entrepreneurs and key influencers.

The roundtable, held Jan. 21-22 at AICPA headquarters, was established as a showcase for new technology and a forum for collaboration, networking and the free exchange of ideas between vendors and thought leaders. The agenda included rapid-fire product reviews from more than three dozen companies and professional updates from leaders in the profession, including American Institute of CPAs President and CEO Barry C. Melancon, CPA, CGMA, and CPA.com President and CEO Erik Asgeirsson. The roundtable also featured panel sessions from members of the media, as well as leaders of major and emerging firms.

“We have a shared purpose in promoting technology and change management,” Asgeirsson said. “This event has fostered an invaluable dialogue about the role innovation can play in advancing the profession, and it’s inspiring to see how much energy there is in this room and how much progress we’ve made since last year.”

Asgeirsson updated attendees on CPA.com’s activities, including Rivio, an online financial information clearinghouse developed in partnership with Confirmation.com that’s designed to speed lending decisions for private companies and minimize the risk of fraud for banks and investors. He also talked about other areas that client advisory services are expanding into, such as sales and local use tax compliance.

Attendees included executives from Bill.com, Biz2Credit, Confirmation.com, Expensify, Gusto, Intacct, Intuit, Paychex, Sage, Tallie, Thomson Reuters, Vertex SMB, Wolters Kluwer, Xero, XCM Solutions, and more.

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession, and operates such leading websites as the AICPA Store, AICPA.org and IFRS.com.

The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.