accountants must define categories of expenditures.
by donny c. shimamoto, cpa.citp
intraprisetechknowlogies
if you think the brainiacs in the it department are going to tell you how to divvy up their budget into capital and operating expenditures, you’re in for a surprise, and not necessarily a good one. it people are smart, but they aren’t accounting smart, which, as we all know, is a very special kind of smart.
where laptops rule at cpa firms today.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
getting the right mix of mobility is critical for firms today. today’s rule of thumb is that everyone who works out of the office one day or more per week should have a laptop as their only machine.
more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | the 3 reasons firms are migrating to digital timesheets | digital tools streamline audit production | going paperless means convincing clients first | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | making digital tax process easier is all about the workflow | in a pinch, use your phone as a scanner | do you have 3 computer monitors? why not?
laptops should be scheduled for replacement every three years, whereas desktops are often functional for a fourth year. in firms that utilize workstations only as “dumb terminals” via tools such as citrix, windows terminal server and workstation virtualization (vdi) in the future, the functioning life of a desktop computer can be five or more years.
here are the questions you need to ask.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
“say it with me now: i am a change agent.”
before you consider adopting the cloud or any of the “new firm” mindset, you have to ask yourself if you are willing to be the change.
more on radicalism: why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice
once you decide, first things, first. own it! you have to commit. if you teeter it will be harder. jump in feet first and feel the shock of the cold water. i’m not saying it won’t work if you wade in, i’m just saying it’ll be more of a challenge.
your competition can come from anywhere now.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
i’ve been in the cloud for eight years so it’s old news to me.
the biggest thing to do is to look around and look at the competition. you can probably leave your firm and start your own firm with less than $400 a month in software and without or very limited overhead. isn’t that terrifying for you old-timers!
more on radicalism: going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice
that’s what the next generation of accountants has at their disposal. and they are doing it whether it’s good or bad, whether they have the experience or not. they are opening their own accounting firms. the times they are a-changin’. read more →
one question leads to another.
by donny c. shimamoto
intraprisetechknowlogies
budget talks between accounting and information technology departments can get pretty complicated. accountants know budgets; it folks know it. not many people know both.
related: it hardware gets even more complex (great!) | how accounting geeks and techie nerds can play nicely together
but you don’t have to know both if you know the right questions. one area of special concern is budgeting for subscriptions to software.
with upfront scanning, 78 percent leverage on-screen review.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
one of the keys to optimizing accounting firm production processes is capturing information at its “root” source – the moment data enters your firm, regardless of the format – mail, fax, email or on a flash drive.
more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | how to ‘go digital’ when partners demand monthly p&ls on paper | digital tools streamline audit production | tech tools for today’s properly equipped field audit teams | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | why firms need document retention standards | intranet is the best place for firm knowledge
ideally, documents would be delivered already in a digital format such as email attachments or preferably through a portal, but the reality today is that a significant portion of accounting firm source documents arrive from clients in a physical paper format. your firm will need to develop processes to efficiently scan, name and store these documents. read more →
there are 4 keys, but they come down to meeting needs.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
people often ask me: what makes a firm a “new firm?” there are four fundamental tenets.
more on radicalism: why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice
these four tenets, although adopted differently within each firm, compromise a new set of values that most of the “movement” firms embrace. ready? here we go:
read more →
some questions for both accountants and it.
by donny c. shimamoto
intraprisetechknowlogies
budget season is a good time for accountants and it wonks to get together for a heart-to-heart about hardware. computers and peripherals aren’t like the hardware of yore. they’re omnipresent in the organization. they have strings attached. they have special issues in obsolescence. sometimes it’s hard to draw a line between hardware and software.
related: how accounting geeks and techie nerds can play nicely together
here is a suggested a series of questions that accountants and it wonks should address as they make budget decisions. here are a few of the ones that relate to hardware: read more →
it’s the new norm.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
the best place to start a conversation on computer hardware is with monitors – the easiest place to see an immediate return on your it investment.
more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | the 3 reasons firms are migrating to digital timesheets | digital tools streamline audit production | accounting firms run on more than checklists alone | going paperless means convincing clients first | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | making digital tax process easier is all about the workflow | why firms need document retention standards
your computer 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. read more →
the alternative is complacency. we all know where that leads.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
cpas must be “radicalized” so they cannot be lulled into complacency and driven by reaction to their current firm or livelihood. the changes that are happening in today’s fast-paced world need to be addressed.
more on getting radical: the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice
you and your team have already felt the changes. the silent majority of many employees are hurt, suspicious and feeling unheard. they see and experience the changes happening around them and don’t understand the complacency or the resistance to change from firm management. you may even be feeling this yourself within your firm of one.
the budget demands it.
by donny c. shimamoto
intraprisetechknowlogies
accounting geeks and it nerds are folks from different countries, different cultures, different ways of life.
they speak different languages and they have different objectives within their organization. the accountants will never fathom – nor should they have to fathom – the hardware and software needs of the it department. likewise, it has more important things to do than deal with the intricacies of accounting. read more →
how the ‘new firm’ was born.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
i started to use this newfangled payroll software that worked through the internet. back then they didn’t call it the cloud. it was just payroll software that used an internet browser. it solved my business problems of preparing paychecks, paying taxes and filing tax returns for my customers. the technology was paycycle, a cloud-based payroll software.
more radical cpa: the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice
paycycle (which has since been acquired by intuit) fundamentally changed my firm and my life. all of a sudden payroll became one of the most profitable areas of our firm. it also became a catalyst to selling and packaging our other core services.
it was the beginning of something bigger.
and the 3 questions you should be asking yourself today.
by jody padar
the radical cpa
i had just come off a really bad tax season.
this was about eight years ago now, and i knew there had to be a better way. i left a mid-sized firm, with seven partners and about 50 other employees and i joined my dad’s firm — literally and figuratively. figuratively, because many of his technology and processes were “old school.” read more →