julie lubetkin: the tech you need to start a new firm

julie lubetkin, vice president at bill.com, talks to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 about how to start a new firm today – or how to think about what your firm should look like if you were starting fresh.

she covers clients, niches, specialties, services, the cloud, mobility and 24/7 anytime/anywhere access to professional tools.

study: fraud hits smallest companies hardest

many never fully recover.

fraud losses by size of organization (median, 2010-2014)
fraud losses by size of organization (median, 2010-2014)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the typical organization is losing 5% of revenues per year to fraud, costing about $145,000 per company – and smaller businesses are disproportionately victimized, according to a new research report.

the losses translate to $3.7 trillion globally, says the group which has been conducting the research since 1996. pro membersdownload the full report here.

highlights…

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survey results: accountants find power and freedom in mobile tech

how accountants work best when out of the office.
join the survey; get the updates

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

accountants have come to rely on their iphones and tablets as essential tools of the trade, with more than 90% terming the devices “important” or “very important,” according to a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey. join the survey; get the updates.

accountants crave mobility
accountants crave mobility

with the allure of the summer slow-down, accountants say it takes a mix of discipline and technology to stay in touch and work out of the office. but the vast preponderance of accountants say new mobile technologies are helping to solve the pernicious work/life balance issues that have long plagued the profession.

to be sure, about 10% of accountants insist they use neither smartphones nor tablets for work. but they are a distinct and shrinking minority.

otherwise the new technologies are increasing accountants’ personal productivity, improving client service and satisfaction, boosting billable hours, and streamlining coordination with clients and colleagues.

no wonder then that half of all accountants are work at least 11 hours per week out of the office, including 17% who are booking 20 to 40 hours per week away from their desks.

in choosing their mobile devices, the primary consideration is the ability to connect with office applications. but, oh, they love their iphones. accountants prefer apple over android devices by margins of two to one.

and looking into the future beyond phone, voicemail, email and web surfing, a significant number of accountants are planning to add time & billing systems and client relationship management databases to their handhelds.

in off-the-cuff comments, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 respondents gave a bevy of tips and strategies to make the best of working office-less. they go beyond the basics (stay out of the kitchen, go as electronic as possible, and keep to-do lists organized by where work can be done) to give us their hard-won lessons on staying on task, whether it’s at home, on the road or even at the beach.

“have your phone forwarded to your cell to avoid the necessity of returning calls at a later time and playing phone tag,” says solo practitioner michael edson.

“take a break every couple hours to check smart phone for emails from clients that can be dealt with quickly,” says cynthia c. reid, a cpa in peoria, ariz. “helps to come back to work a little fresher and lessens email tasks to handle when back in the office.”

mobile accountants happier, more productive
mobile accountants happier, more productive

howard b. shatz, cpa, of mcguckin, shatz & white, llc, in little silver, n.j., disagrees. “don’t answer the phone – return calls later. it will be much more efficient.”

mcgookey
mcgookey

technology setups often were cited.

“having mirrored setups at home and office with info in the cloud to access data anywhere” helps carl mcgookey of payne nickles & company cpas & business advisors in sandusky, ohio.

“i have a vpn connection to the office network that i can’t live without,” says sheri kagan, cpa, of kagan & associates, ltd., in rolling meadows, ill. “since we scan everything, i can access almost anything i want from home. this setup allows me to work when i want, and to avoid driving to the office in 8″ of snow!!!”

 

half of all accountants work at least 11 hours per week out of the office
half of all accountants work at least 11 hours per week out of the office

 

michael paul murray in shreveport, la., called atom – automated tax office manager – “the must-have technology for managing your business at home or out of the office.”  the software handles employee and appointment scheduling, workflow and document management, customer portals for your customers; appointment scheduling, bulk emails, accounts receivable and other functions, he notes. “it completely changed the way i do business as i am now able to see valuable metrics real-time across all office locations.”

office connectivity tops list of buying criteria
office connectivity tops list of buying criteria

earline la buy, antioch, calif.,  tried using a program that allowed her to use her office computer from home, “but it was too slow and cumbersome,” she says. “when i work at home i am more relaxed and seem to get more done. i transfer my clients’ files to a flash drive, take it and their paperwork home, transfer it to my home computer, do the work and reverse the process to get the info on my office computer.”

accountants favor apple over android by wide margins
accountants favor apple over android by wide margins
allgood
allgood

paula allgood, a partner with beaird harris & co., pc, in dallas, texas, says it is tough to find time for her compliance responsibilities, which are final global review before returns go out the door. keeping one day a week free of meetings helps, but so does working at home: “take one day a week out of the office (usually wednesday) to catch up on email.  also, seeing sunlight, catching up on home laundry and working in shorts is a huge morale boost.”

time & billing and crm top the wish lists for future plans
time & billing and crm top the wish lists for future plans

survey: top 10 ways firms tutor top talent

screen shot 2014-05-21 at 12.52.39 am

no. 1 method: ‘give them challenging assignments.”

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

it may sound harsh to the uninitiated, but the most common way for firms to turn talented staffers into future managers and leaders is to make their lives a little more difficult, according to a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 multi-year study.

the questionnaire for “talent strategies: how to identify and develop professionals for management and leadership responsibilities” remains online and open as 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 continues to collect data and refine its analysis.  read more →

cpa talent: how to identify future leaders early

screen shot 2014-05-20 at 6.58.19 amwho gets promoted and why in accounting: join the survey; get the answers.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax, accounting and finance professionals don’t agree on everything. but they do seem to agree on the key traits needed to succeed in the profession, according to a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 multi-year study.

the questionnaire for “talent strategies: how to identify and develop professionals for management and leadership responsibilities” remains online and open as 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 continues to collect data and refine its analysis.  read more →

how firms are adapting to the new mobile workforce

breakfast and workingnew benchmarks and insights on remote access, the internet and telecommunications.

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

working remotely can occur from home offices and from a client’s location. when individuals have access to the support technology and data they need to do their work, and when they can be held accountable for their performance when working remotely, where they are located when getting work done matters less. read more →

sound off: accountants see opportunity in obamacare

bullhorn

in comments, it gets political.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

call it what you will – the affordable care act or obamacare – accountants are calling it opportunity.

when we asked recently, “what’s the future of the professional tax preparation business?” a number of respondents called out the affordable care act.

“i think as aca takes effect we will be busier than ever before,” said jay d. parks of jay d. parks & associates, cpas in edmond, okla. read more →

cpa firms lag in tech security, controls

computer tech lock istock_000011879042smalltech survey: many firms blithely unaware of vulnerabilities

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

accounting professionals are obligated to maintain the integrity and security of clients’ data. the survey reveals firms seem to install technology and let it run without controls.

additionally, smaller firms perceive less risk and may have incorrectly concluded they are not a target for outside attack. conversely, firms may not have the expertise, budget or desire to manage technology in use. read more →

tech survey: cpas rush to upgrade operating systems

afoats logowindows 8 deployment is led by solo practitioners.

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

the profession is rapidly retiring older operating systems, according to the accounting firm operations and technology survey.

upgrading your network operating system has the potential to be somewhat of a blind spot and growing security threat for practices of all sizes. the accounting profession is showing signs of understanding this threat. read more →