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mergers & acquisitions

big firms exit hawaii market

locals gain strength.

grant thornton is selling its hawaii practice to two partners who are taking the new firm into the pkf network.

it’s the latest news from hawaii. a couple weeks ago we reported hawaii mandates peer review for out-of-state firms.

now, according to pacific business news:

grant thornton’s departure from the hawaii market mirrors that of pricewaterhousecoopers, a big four accounting firm that left hawaii in 2006 after 55 years and sold its local practice to three partners in the firm’s honolulu office, who formed a new firm called accuity llp. accuity, also locally owned, has been a member since 2007 of the baker tilly international network of accounting and consultancy firms. another local firm, kmh llp, was formed by former arthur andersen employees after the big five accounting firm collapsed during the enron accounting scandal.

outlook & analysis

smartphone? smart choice! but with these four tips

blackberry, iphone and droid, oh my!

as a visit to any electronics or wireless phone store makes clear, you’ve got a large—sometimes overwhelming—range of smart phone choices, priced from around $100 to $600, according to this month’s illinois cpa society magazine, insight.

this includes the highly visible blackberries and apple iphones, along with a plethora of makes and models from vendors like htc, motorola, nokia, palm and samsung. and there’s quite a choice of potential carriers as well, including at&t, sprint, t-mobile, verizon, and sundry smaller players and resellers.

factors that should drive your smart phone decision include,

  1. which phones and carriers will support the apps you need?
  2. which phones include the functional features you’ll need to deal with business outside of the office, for instance camera, video, keyboard, minimum display size, battery run-time?
  3. which carriers offer coverage where you need it? for instance, do you expect to travel outside the united states, and if so, do you want to use a single phone?
  4. will you need to “tether”—in other words, let your notebook or netbook (or other smart-phone users) access and use the smart phone’s broadband data connection, via a cable, bluetooth and/or wifi? (not all carriers offer plans that allow this.)

more at the illinois cpa society’s insight magazine article:  smart phone iq – insight – may june 2010.
free download: get the bay street group white paper cited by insight here (pdf, 17 pages).
related: four safety tips for smart smartphone use

busy season management

hoisted from comments: u.s. economy burns; accountants toast marshmallows

“i don’t get it.”

says cpa conrad geidt of newport beach, calif., about the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season 2010 survey, here: economy tops busy season problems.

he’s struck by the irony of a sputtering economy and a surging profession:

57% say the general economic situation is affecting their business. (one would assume this to be a negative factor!!) but, 54% (19+35%) say their business is better off!!!

i wish i could say that cpas are eternal optimists, but reality teaches me this is the profession that brought us the failure of arthur andersen and enron. we just don’t seem to really understand micro and macro economic issues. it appears to me that we are headed into more uncertainty and challenges for all business. heck, all you have to say is health care to know that business has big challenges ahead.

i suppose cpas have gained a new “right to work act.” unfortunately, this will not be good for business in general.

outlook & analysis

four safety tips for smart smartphone use

how’s your smart phone iq?

smart phones pose the same security risks as any other mobile device, so be sure to:

  1. password-protect the device.
  2. encrypt any sensitive data
  3. encrypt confidential data stored on removable media.
  4. use vpns or other secure connections to access company networks or related websites.

more at the illinois cpa society’s insight magazine article:  smart phone iq – insight – may june 2010.

free download: get the white paper cited by insights here (pdf, 17 pages).

outlook & analysis

looking for bookkeepers? n.y. nonprofit aims to help [video]

the bookkeeping center trains low-income workers for new careers in accounting.

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the bookkeeping center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, seeks to build opportunity for low-income individuals by providing affordable training in bookkeeping. their  20-week training program, discoverbookkeeping, offers instruction in the fundamental tools of bookkeeping and computerized accounting software, as well as career development opportunities. upon successful completion of the program, students are equipped with the basic occupational skill-set to enter into the field of accounting.
read more →

outlook & analysis

how to overcome the fear of tech [video]

thomson reuters’ jack larue says many accountants may be intimidated by the rate of change in technology.

as a result, they do nothing.

here, larue explains a simple first step to get started.

when jack talks, people listen. he has more than 25 years of marketing and sales experience. prior to joining thomson reuters, jack headed business-to-business marketing at ftd, the trail-blazing florist delivery service. jack joined thomson reuters in 1993 when his unit was still creative solutions. eventually he rose to vice president of sales and marketing for the whole tax and accounting business of thomson reuters.

read more →

outlook & analysis

hoisted from comments: are ethics rules making cpas vulnerable in court?

let this be a warning to cpas working in forensics at a risky company.

this comment post is such an amazing and frightening story that we thought it was worth a full post of its own. it comes in response to be a hero, not a chump.

currently i am in year 3 of fighting a chapter 11, now chapter 7 filing. our firm consists of three very experienced practitioners with approximately 80 years of aggregate experience. collectively we have cpa, cfe, jd, ms, and bba degrees. my wife and i are now working on ms degrees in digital forensics. this was brought about by an agreed-upon procedures engagement involving an oil and gas drilling company that we took on in december 2006.

even though we found and documented evidence of:
read more →

outlook & analysis

be a hero, not a chump

troubled companies can leave collateral damage in their wake. don’t let your firm be one of the victims.

by rick telberg

the economy may, indeed, be at fault for many of the latest business failures. but blaming the economy won’t turn around a company in trouble; recognizing the problems and taking swift action could. that’s where cpas can help.

goodman

with over 40,000 business bankruptcies in 2008 and 2009 and little improvement expected this year, the message of turnaround specialist katie s. goodman couldn’t come at a better time.

one of the key opportunities facing cpas today, according to goodman, is to “truly recognize that certain clients are in financial distress and will not make it through the economic cycle.”

read more →

outlook & analysis

hawaii mandates peer review for out-of-state firms

it’s a “peer review law unlike others in the nation.”

it covers any firm doing business in the state, whether or not they have an office there. they are also required to pay taxes in the state, but as many as 70 percent of out-of-state firms may be delinquent.

john w. roberts, m.b.a., cpa, president of the hawaii association of public accountants (not to be confused with the hscpa), reports from the front lines:

read more →

outlook & analysis

bourke warns of state-based privacy laws [video]

be afraid, be very afraid, says jim bourke, cpa.citp.

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recorded at the new york accounting and technology show.

latest map of state privacy regs by aicpa

in addition to federal regulations, forty-five states, the district of columbia, puerto rico and the virgin islands have enacted privacy regulations requiring that companies and/or state agencies disclose to consumers security breaches involving personal information. more here.