Hi Paul (and others)

I'm glad you've had a quick look at TopCAATs, and I'm sure that you'll like what you see when you download it and have a better look!

The focus with TopCAATs is on simplicity and ease of use. We've designed it to be as simple to use as possible, utilizing simple input forms and simple language. This is also helped by running in the familiar Excel environment, which dramatically reduces the learning curve compared to products such as IDEA and ACL.

We wanted to create a CAATs/data analysis tool that could be used by the masses, on a day to day basis, without requiring substantial training (it is assumed that users understand the audit/accounting process). As a result we have (deliberatley) cut out some of the more complex options and features found in ACL and IDEA, as these are rarely understood, let alone used, and often just confuse the user!

Being based in Excel, it is of course subject to the same limitations as Excel. I.e. in Excel 2003 and previous versions 65k rows, and Excel 2007 just under 1.1m rows. From a data import point of view, Excel has native support for a wide variety of file/data types including ODBC and .CSV. From experience, the vast majority of accounting packages can now export directly to Excel or at least .CSV so data import is rarely an issue. For those "awkward" file types, such as print reports, there are 3rd party products that can import these into Excel. Processing speed is slightly slower than database based products, but not noticably - we're talking seconds not minutes!

My advice to people considering purchasing CAATs software would very much depend on the exact need, but here's how I'd approach it:

Small audit department / Internal audit / accounts department: Download the 30 day TopCAATs trial and have a play - see if it suits your needs. If it does, great, if not you may want to consider looking at ACL/IDEA

Large audit firm/deparment: Consider deploying TopCAATs across the firm, and purchasing 1 or 2 ACL licenses (per department) and invest in training up a couple of specialists. This allows the whole team to have access to data analysis tools, and for those few occassions where users need a little more power than TopCAATs, they can consult the specialists. This approach can cut the cost of CAATs deployment by 80-90% compared to deploying ACL/IDEA to everyone, whilst still allowing the whole department access to complex data analysis

Fraud investigators/data analysis professionals: The chances are that you'll need the power and advanced features of IDEA/ACL, and so an Excel based product probably isn't suitable. However, you may still find TopCAATs useful, so why not download the trial and have a play!

Hope this information helps, and if anyone has any questions about TopCAATs, please feel free to contact me at charlie.walker@reinventdata.com

Best regards

Charlie

Check out www.topcaats.com - an add in for Excel that can do almost everything ACL can do, for a fraction of the price. Plus it's so simple to use that you don't even need training - just install and start using - it's that simple!

Enjoy!