outlook & analysis

the five biggest social media mistakes of accounting firms

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by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

social media is all the rage, and there’s lots of pressure on small business owners – from friends, coaches and especially social media vendors – to get you to use social media in your marketing.

in most cases, we like to talk accounting practice owners out of social media marketing (and we’re one of those vendors who will set up and maintain your social media accounts for you, so we turn down an awful lot of business).

here’s why, and here are the five biggest social media mistakes accountants make:

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survey: top 10 ways firms tutor top talent

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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

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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

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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

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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 →

get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things

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we asked, you responded with some great ideas.

by hitendra patil
pransform

a few days back, i wrote create your “not-to-do’s” list. we got some interesting feedback from accountants. here are some tasks that accountants want to stop doing themselves.

  1. stop fixing the ethernet cables into the router. (get the it guy to do it. or move entirely to cloud.)
  2. stop importing bank statements into quickbooks. (get someone else to populate all data.) read more →

cpa firms lag in tech security, controls

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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 →