jessica401(k) Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 Our firm is currently using Datair and we are not especially happy with the functionality. We have gone through a demo of the ftWilliams admin software and it seems pretty slick. Does anyone currently use the ftWilliams admin software and if so, what are the pros/cons? Thank you.
A Shot in the Dark Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 We use FT William's other software products, 1099, 5500 and plan document. We find all of it to work really well. We have looked at converting to their admin sofware from our current vendor. Our practice completes a great deal of share accounting (ESOP's, etc.) and FT William has not implemented a share accounting module as yet. When they do and if works as well as we hope, we will convert to their softare.
DMcGovern Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 Agree with Shot in the Dark on all the other systems with ft williams! We also use Datair admin and are waiting for ft williams to add DB administration. One other thing to note on the ft williams admin, it is my understanding that their billing is somehow based on the number of participants. We have a plan with over 33,000 participants so they mentioned that this particular client would probably not be economically suitable for their admin services. Just something to keep in mind.
pmacduff Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 just curious - why would a software vendor bill based on the number of participants? Is it because they are web based and that would be some type of data storage fee?
Guest hussac Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 Our firm is currently using Datair and we are not especially happy with the functionality. We have gone through a demo of the ftWilliams admin software and it seems pretty slick. Does anyone currently use the ftWilliams admin software and if so, what are the pros/cons? Thank you. My husband, who is not very computer-savvy, uses ftwilliam for his Form 5500, 1099-R and other compliance/reporting work in his small TPA/pension consulting business, and he has nothing but praise for its ease of use. But he absolutely raves about the customer support. If he has a problem or question, the assistance is fast, very clear, and friendly.
DMcGovern Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 just curious - why would a software vendor bill based on the number of participants? Is it because they are web based and that would be some type of data storage fee? Sorry, I may not have the most current information on their billing method (hopefully someone else can confirm this). We only briefly discussed this with them quite some time ago, so it may be different now. If you look at their website in the information about how they charge for the various modules, it does not mention the participant fee. Only by number of plans. I guess if you are interested, that would be something to clarify. However, I will agree that when they say they don't have any hidden fees - it has proven to be true for us!
chc93 Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 My husband, who is not very computer-savvy, uses ftwilliam for his Form 5500, 1099-R and other compliance/reporting work in his small TPA/pension consulting business, and he has nothing but praise for its ease of use. But he absolutely raves about the customer support. If he has a problem or question, the assistance is fast, very clear, and friendly. We use the ftwilliam 5500, 1099, and plan document software (no admin software). And I totally agree with the bolded statements above. Their technical support has been (and I hope continues to be) excellent. Very quick and direct responses to technical support emails (usually within an hour). Kinda amazing, really. Almost seems like they don't have very many clients, with the speed with which they respond.
Bird Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Ft. William has the best customer support and their 5500, 1099 and doc software is great. If I were starting from scratch I would use their admin software too. I tried it last year and it had some quirks that I didn't like, but they were fantastic in helping me try to work through it...but at the end of the day, I couldn't just scrap the years and years of historical data on our old system and decided to stay with what we had. You think of all the people who had 862 hours one year, 1015 the next, and of course the cumulative 401(k) contributions for hardship purposes, and the manual work needed to make sure that stuff gets converted properly, and it's just too much time and an invitation for errors, at least for me. Ed Snyder
Gadgetfreak Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Ft. William has the best customer support and their 5500, 1099 and doc software is great. If I were starting from scratch I would use their admin software too. I tried it last year and it had some quirks that I didn't like, but they were fantastic in helping me try to work through it...but at the end of the day, I couldn't just scrap the years and years of historical data on our old system and decided to stay with what we had. You think of all the people who had 862 hours one year, 1015 the next, and of course the cumulative 401(k) contributions for hardship purposes, and the manual work needed to make sure that stuff gets converted properly, and it's just too much time and an invitation for errors, at least for me. I must echo Bird's comments EXACTLY. We switched to FTW first for their 5500 in 2009 when online submissions were required. We liked it so much, we switched to them for 1099 that same year. Then came our conversion to their Doc software for which we are thrilled. Switching admin has been researched and we hope there will be a time for that too but it is just too difficult to leave our current system now. Their support is phenomenal. So far, their acquisition by WK has not negatively impacted their service at all. ERPA, QPA, QKA
austin3515 Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 I have to say though Relius's admin and documents have been fantastic, and their responses are similarly successful and timely. I'm the first to throw em under the bus on the 5500 nonsense they sent out (we switched to FT for 5500's and 1099s), but their documents and admin products AND support are absolutely top-notch. With respect to documents, I submit a question and a fairly high percentage of the time I get a call from a "pension celebrity" to discuss/answser my question. Maybe the others have similar quality of service, but I doubt I will ever find out! Austin Powers, CPA, QPA, ERPA
Guest TBick Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 We switched to their 5500 & 1099 systems a while back, and are currently converting to their document and admin system. After 30 years with Corbel in their various forms it has been a bit of a challenge to teach the old dogs new tricks. But we have found their customer service to be top notch and very patient with us during our changeover.
Bird Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 BTW it is Ft. William (no "s). Pet peeve #323. Ed Snyder
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