卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

how to take the first big step to improve productivity at your accounting firm

monitors, monitors, monitors.

by roman kepczyk

adding additional monitors is the easiest place to see an immediate return on your it investment.

your monitors are your windows into all digitally stored information and are the foundation for improving every aspect of firm production.

transitioning tax production processes from physical to digital requires that all input screens and source documents be simultaneously viewable in a convenient format, which today means more screens per workstation.

dual monitors is already the standard in over 90% of firms today and 37% of firms have personnel with three or more monitors.

before firms can transition to front end scanning or use digital workflow processes, they must have the additional screens for tax personnel working in these applications. often times, firms ask why they just don’t buy one huge 30” or 40” screen and open multiple windows, and the simple answer is cost. it is significantly less expensive to add one or two standard monitors at a time than to jump to an oversize screen.

to help firms effectively manage the information on each of the screens, many use applications such as ultramon™ within their offices and splitview™ for those working remotely.

to begin, not all monitors are created equal. today’s standard is at least 20” and should be flex or pivot capable. this enables viewing in a vertical or “portrait” mode and horizontal or “landscape” mode. seeing an entire scanned source document without scrolling or having to shrink the image into a smaller space, increases productivity immediately.

while it is easy to get users to dual screens by plugging an external monitor into the workstation’s vga port, getting to three or more screens requires specialized hardware, known as screen splitters.

many firms utilize screen splitters such as the matrox™ dual or triple head2go which splits the signal to multiple monitors emulating one very wide screen. this solution works very well for firms with very standardized monitors in the same landscape or portrait format. however, if your screens come from different vendors, are different sizes, and want to be viewed in different formats, displaylink™ and evga™ have products that would be more appropriate.

what to do now: identify all tax professionals and document the number of monitors that will be needed to bring them up to three monitors. get a quote for these monitors, in addition to the screen splitter device and the cost of installation, testing and training.

roman h. kepczyk, cpa.citp is president of infotech partners north america, inc. and works exclusively with cpa firms to understand and implement today’s digital best practices within their tax, audit, client service and administrative departments.

adapted from “quantum of paperless: partner’s guide to accounting firm optimization” which outlines how accounting firms can make quantum leaps in improving technology utilization.

outlook & analysis

five things to keep you awake at night, from the incoming aicpa chairman [video]

change is coming hard and fast.

paul stahlin, regional president at skylands community bank in somerville, n.j., takes over the top spot of the aicpa in october from bob harris, a florida cpa firm owner.

in this impromptu 12-minute video, stahlin outlines his views of the profession’s — and the institute’s — biggest challenges and opportunities.

he starts with five hot topics:

some 120 countries are already on ifrs, he notes, suggesting that it’s “critical” u.s. cpas get up to speed.
private company financial reporting standards (don’t call it “little gaap”) could pose a whole new set of complexities for accountants at 29 million u.s. companies.
amidst all the changes of the last decade, it’s time, he says, for the aicpa to revisit the “vision” for the profession.
the cpa exam gets its biggest refresh in january since going online, and will include international standards.
last, but not least, he’ll be doing a lot of explaining to members about the new ifrs certificate the aicpa is launching.

he covers a lot more ground in this q&a. but if he has one overall message for cpas it’s: you ignore global forces at your peril. the world is simply too small, too interconnected, to rapidly changing, and too inter-dependent to stick “your head in the sand.”

and, yes, he sees foreign accountants raring to compete for the rich markets served by u.s.-bound cpas.

if you’re not worried yet about competition at the china price, you should be.

outlook & analysis

five top tech trends in 60 seconds [video]

number 1: “everybody wants to be able to work from anywhere, all the time.”

we’ve been asking leading experts in the profession: what do you see as the top tech trends for accounting firms?

byron patrick, a leading edge cpa.citp, weighs in:

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he lists a quick five:

mobile computing.
the ipad.
windows 7.
bringing your mac to work.
office 2010 — in the cloud.

outlook & analysis

survey results: accounting firms re-accelerate technology spending

vast majority of firms investing heavily.

clearly, the accounting business is in recovery, if tech spending is any indicator. roughly seven in ten cpas are reporting that they will be stepping up their it investments this year.

here are additional topline results for the cpa tech savvy survey 2010:

you are generally on the leading edge of adopting new technologies, with the best software and equipment available.
but you admit that you may lag in follow-up training and long-term planning.
improving current systems is tops on your strategic wish lists, with “going paperless” and “improved efficiency” leading the agenda.
and you’re looking to upgrade critical hardware and apps: laptops, notebooks, printers and tax and accounting software.

the 2010 study remains open. join the survey; keep up with new results.

.

what’s on your wish list?

here’s one of our favorite comments so far:

if i could change anything about my company’s technology setup it would be management’s recognition of the value dual monitors, laptops, and faster response times with systems. we are consistently told by management we are in “high performance positions”; however, there is nothing high performance about the equipment in our offices. (most of us have better computer setups in our own homes than we do on our office desk). since many senior managers are not hands-on when it comes to computers they don’t recognize the time and money loss that goes with less than “high performance” computers and systems.

here’s another:

i would like to see our firm develop an ongoing strategic plan, with the commitment to continual maintenance and replacements. we tend to love the technology and are fine with making initial financial investments, but we need to realize that technology requires attention beyond that.

and:

paperflow from clients to be more paperless, my own company’s ftp portal.

of course, some people are never satisfied:

we have two monitors for everyone now. let’s make it three a piece.

leadership

three keys to transforming your accounting firm

clients pay for understanding, not just reports.

by jason m. blumer, cpa, cfe

the tagline of our firm is “numbers tell stories…” it’s a constant reminder of the purpose behind our industry and our firm.

the numbers we deal with everyday are outcomes of (1) relationships, (2) processes and (3) knowledge that run deeply throughout every client’s business. numbers are simply depictions of the good and bad interactions of these three core concepts. as cpas, we often get caught up in the creation of a sheet of numbers, but this is not where our strengths as an industry lie. our strengths are found in our ability to use and interpret numbers to help our clients make better business decisions. i know you’ve heard that before. we never seem to offer our clients what we are actually best at. let’s dive deeper into the end result of our great work, which is to help our clients make better business decisions, not give them a big sheet full of numbers.

1. relationships

when i talk about relationships, i’m talking about the relationships inside of the client’s business. these are the interactions that are causing transparency and accountability that lead to dollars, or the loss of dollars, in your client’s pockets. these relationships can also be known as the culture of the company. truly, the culture of a company has a life of it’s own and is separate and distinct in each and every client you serve (no matter how big they are). be aware of this fact so you can address their numbers from the standpoint of their culture.

2. processes

the understanding of processes should be foundational to your client before they spend money in any way (and before you offer any counseling and consulting services). cpas have a seat at the client’s table to help them understand this. whether its purchasing a new computer system, or hiring a new staff member, understanding how the process will be improved or hindered by this cash outlay is an educational opportunity for you, the cpa practitioner. when i talk about processes, i’m talking about the intangible flow of information through your client’s business. we, as our client’s trusted advisors, can help our clients identify these processes, make them tangible, document them, visual them, delegate them, monitor them, and ultimately improve them.

unless we help our clients identify these processes, our clients are outlaying cash for so many “solutions” that can actually cause more problems than they solve. addressing your client’s processes as the core foundation of their business can bring them greater awareness to the ultimate numbers that show up on their profit and loss statement at the end of the month. if you build a home, you will begin with the unseen foundation first. if you don’t get that right, then the beautiful columns on the front of your home will eventually crack or fall down. and if your foundation is not put in correctly, then no matter how much money you spend on those beautiful columns, they will continue to break and crack. address the foundation of your client’s business just like you would your own home.

3. knowledge

knowledge is another intangible asset we fail to focus on (in our own firms and with our clients). lead your clients to capture the “relationship intelligence” floating around in their companies by helping them understand the value of the collective knowledge of their staff, their processes, their history, their patents, their education, their contacts, and anything else that brings value to their business and work. ultimately, these intangible assets can turn into goodwill if their business is ever purchased. when i talk about knowledge, i’m talking about the knowledge of the organization as a whole, not an individual owner or a department.

possibly, a “knowledge audit” could be done to capture the knowledge of the organization. the creation of this “knowledge audit” will hopefully lead to an improvement of the best practices of the company, and how to improve over their competitors. one way to harness the knowledge of your client’s businesses is to help them install a crm (customer relationship management) system. this could be a cloud-based software system that tracks all customers and contacts, interactions with them throughout the whole company and how these interactions could have been achieved more effectively and efficiently. and knowledge is best leveraged when it is accessible at the right time. tools such as a crm system that are maintained properly will provide this knowledge proactively instead of making you look for it when you need it.

we often do the same things we’ve always done (to our detriment) because we have not harnessed the innate knowledge deep within our companies.

transforming our firms

so how do we actually make money focusing on the (1) relationships, (2) processes, and (3) knowledge that we are truly supposed to be delivering to our clients? after all, it seems like we get a check from a client every time we deliver a compilation or an audit report or a tax return. but i believe our clients want to pay for the understanding that comes from those deliverables, not the reports themselves. they just don’t know how to tell us this. and, truly, i don’t believe we know the difference either. i believe we can transform our firms into practices that create new and productive services that drive heavy value to our clients. but how? we have to know what they need first (study their relationships, processes and knowledge). then we have to create a service to extract this information for our clients. then give that new service a name (and maybe a logo), and a price tag. then begin your “beta testing” with your clients. some new services will work, and others will not. document what you’ve learned and continue this innovation firm-wide. everyone should be involved, and every staff member should have a seat at the table of making your firm’s offerings better.

you will not always like what you discover about yourself or your firm. but this stretching will make you a better firm owner and it will improve the transparency you have with your staff and your clients. i believe you will ultimately learn that numbers tell stories, and that you can bring these stories to life for your firm and your clients!

copyright, jason m. blumer, cpa. all rights reserved.

outlook & analysis

four tips for investing in an accounting firm marketing system

accounting firms can no longer be content with doing business on the golf course.

by hugh duffy

in order to retain clients, recruit prospects and capture as many referrals as possible, firms must invest in a solid marketing system.

easier said than done, but thanks to increased optimism over the last six to 12 months, accounting firms are becoming more interested in business development and new client acquisition. in fact, given the duration of the economic downturn, combined with the severity in certain industries and regions of the country, we have seen a dramatic increase in accounting firms learning how to use marketing for lead generation, how to capitalize on businesses using quickbooks, more demand for irs problem resolution-type work and a genuine interest in learning how to sell accounting services.

1. targeted marketing

this economy has severely damaged certain industries far more than others. for example, the real estate and construction industry experienced a downturn more dramatic than healthcare, professional services and information technology. logic says, therefore, accounting firms should still steer clear of the real estate and construction sectors and use targeted marketing techniques to target stronger industry sectors that are in better economic shape.

2. inbound marketing

over the past 10 years, marketing shifted from “outbound” to “inbound,” as the effectiveness of certain techniques gradually declined over time and more efficient technologies enabled greater reach.

for example, outbound marketing, including telemarketing, e-mail blasts, trade shows, and radio and newspaper advertising, are less effective because prospects have become immune to these techniques. some even block them out with screening on caller id, listing on the do not call registry and acquiring email spam filtering programs.

inbound marketing, on the other hand, is much more efficient and effective because it initiates a response from the prospect instead of asking the prospect to react. inbound marketing refers electronic marketing efforts using e-mail newsletters and website marketing on google, yahoo and bing, all in conjunction with social media marketing on linkedin, facebook, twitter and youtube.

to reinforce the strength of inbound marketing, there’s a natural correlation between the way business owners shop and learn about things on the internet and the way in which accountants can educate their prospects and clients about their services. electronic marketing methods, combined with referral marketing, yields a higher return on investment (roi).

for example, an accountant’s website needs to be easy to find using google, along with other supporting information about the accounting firm owners. if a business owner in a local community uses linkedin or facebook to ask his or her network of friends who they recommend as an accountant, will any of those local business owners recommend you?

in other words, what is the brand awareness of the firm within the local business community?

inbound marketing is important because of “trust.” people trust the information they find and read on the internet, whether it’s a recommendation from a linkedin friend, a negative review in yelp or angie’s list, a past lawsuit, or industry honors for a job well done. the accumulation of positive press posted on the internet establishes trusts with prospects, and helps them overcome their fear and skepticism of working with a new firm.

we highly recommend accountants capitalize on the opportunity to market on the internet using e-mail newsletters, having a search engine-optimized website that is easy to locate on google and yahoo, and proactively using social media marketing.

we do not recommend cold call telemarketing, yellow page advertising and other advertising that is not very targeted. yellow page advertising has become too fragmented and seldom provides leads from business clients. similarly, overused cold call telemarketing has made it less effective than it used to be. the trust established from this process is very low; client retention rates are significantly below industry average and the selling process is much more “price focused.”

3. where should they invest? what has the best roi?

accountants should invest their money in venues where they are spending their time, on the internet and electronically:

search engine-optimized website.
pay-per-click advertising.
e-mail newsletters – educate clients by writing with a strong voice.
social media – write frequently and post weekly to facebook/twitter/linkedin using an educational tone, similar to a well-known journalist.

the cost for these methods is not significant; instead, it takes time, knowledge and effort.

4. learning how to sell

inbound marketing works, but really soars when accountants understand know how to “sell.” most accountants do not know how to sell accounting services. they struggle with the pricing, positioning, what to present and how to overcome objections. spending lots of money on marketing and lead generation makes little sense if the accountant does not know how to close the deal.

to avoid this pitfall, we recommend all accountants attend one accounting marketing workshop each year. this is an investment accountants must make to survive for the long term.

about the author

hugh duffy is co-founder and chief marketing officer of build your firm, a practice development and marketing company that focuses on small accounting firms. hugh teaches a series of accounting marketing workshops; writes an e-mail newsletter reaching thousands of accountants; and is frequently published in various publications, including the cpa technology advisor, progressive accountant and state cpa society newsletters and magazines. he can be reached at 888-999-9800 x151, or at hugh@buildyourfirm.com.

outlook & analysis

the case for the forensic accountant

an accountant looks at ponzi schemes

by sareena sawhney

suddenly, ponzi schemes seem to be everywhere.

credit for the renewed attention to this classic financial fraud is of course due in large measure to bernard madoff, the now-convicted financier who defrauded investors of an estimated $65 billion. madoff’s widely publicized crime was a classic ponzi – he took on investor funds, diverted them to finance his own lifestyle, falsified his clients’ financial statements to show investment positions when there weren’t any, then used new investments to pay “dividends” and “interest” to past investors. it was the largest and most dramatic example of a ponzi scheme to date.

ponzi schemes are widespread in financial downturns

but it’s not the only one garnering attention. in fact, ponzi schemes are gaining more widespread attention and being investigated by the fbi. read more →

leadership

21 questions: how to start thinking about the future of your accounting firm

ric payne has a lot of answers. but, importantly, he also knows the right questions.

the ceo and chairman of principa, which provides management services to accounting firms worldwide, payne is famous for launching results accountants systems, the accountants’ bootcamp and the results accountants’ network.

today, the big question accountants should be asking themselves is: what is the vision i have for our firm 10 years from now?

in framing that vision, he says you need ask: read more →

management

are you already obsolete?

according to one of the profession’s most revered figures, the answer is yes.

get changing, or get left behind, says charlie larson.

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larson practically invented the concept of “map” – management of an accounting practice — and he wrote the profession’s first book on “value billing,” in addition to a seminal work on managing receivables and collections for accounting firms. he’s always taken a critical look at the future of the profession and been blunt about what he sees. no exception here. we caught up with him at the missouri state society’s annual executive meeting. but he’s no pessimist: don’t miss his light-hearted take on some serious issues in “time.”

outlook & analysis

cpas’ top tech question: is my data safe?

this year’s aicpa top technology initiatives survey is the first to ask aicpa members to rank a list of questions heard most often from audit committees, chief financial officers and chief information officers.

top 10 most frequently asked questions:

1. are we ensuring that our data and technology resources are protected against hacking, viruses, or other compromises?

2. are we considering or implementing organizational security precautions even though we haven’t had a data breach or loss?

3. are our current internal controls and it governance policies and procedures effective?

leadership

three views into leadership for today’s multi-generational firm

firms are facing big challenges in understanding and inspiring staffers in today’s accounting offices. how do you it?

here are three views… from three leading figures in the profession.

1. bill pirollo: new leadership challenges at today’s cpa firms
with multiple generations working side by side in today’s accounting firm, new leadership strategies are required to management and motivate, according to bill pirollo of disanto priest & co., warwick, r.i. pirollo, says today’s generation is more team-oriented, and less individualistic than the generation of partners who built today’s firms. that only makes the challenge for today’s partners more difficult. he asks, in effect: how do you plan to sell your firm and retire, if you aren’t already grooming the right people to buy you out?
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2. donny shimamoto: leadership for the multi-generation firm
thirty-four-year-old donny shimamoto started his own firm, intraprise technologies llc, when he was 26. today, he is a veteran entrepreneurial cpa and widely-respected for his views on emerging technologies, as well as managing across generations. his first piece of advice for young cpas: listen. his advice for older cpas: the same.
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3. mark koziel: sure signs you’re in a winning firm
if you don’t feel the energy when you walk into a cpa firm for the first time, you’re probably in the wrong firm. as the aicpa’s director of specialized communities and pcps/firm practice management, mark koziel feels the energy all the time. he visits some of the best firms in the nation to divine their secrets of success. here, he tells you what he looks for.
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management

twin aicpa confabs buzzing with tech talk

with almost 800 cpas converging on the bellagio in las vegas for the co-located 2010 practitioners symposium and tech+ conferences, technology issues are taking center stage.

tech+ chairman peyton burch says cpas are taking a serious look at software as a service, apple ipads, iphones and macbooks, and technology as a “competitive differentiator.”

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technology is overshadowing staffing as the central practice management issue this year at the aicpa practitioners symposium in las vegas, according to conference chairman mike shost.

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the conferences run through wednesday.

here’s what you’re looking for: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

copyright, jason m. blumer, cpa. all rights reserved.