it’s the best time to learn the tough lessons to apply next year.
with busy season a frenzy, most professionals keep their heads down and their noses to the grindstone.
but if you’re in management, you can’t afford to waste the once-a-year opportunity to take notes on what’s working, what’s not and what to do about it before the next busy season.
with that in mind, roman h. kepczyk, cpa.citp, lists seven tech tends to watch: read more →
technology isn’t new. but the pace of change is.
and it’s adding new stresses to cpa firms every day, according to l. gary boomer of boomer consulting.
the impact can be seen — and felt — in how firms attract, retain, nurture and leverage talent, he tells the cpa leadership institute. staffing takes on a whole new meaning when it’s done within a firm-wide culture of continuous learning and improvement.
here’s how: read more →
leaving the recession behind with new hiring.
software company ceos and cfos say in a new survey that cloud computing and software-as-a-service will drive spending in their industry over the next 12 months.
the survey also finds most expect their company’s business will grow by at least 20 percent in 2011 and that hiring will increase significantly. the software ceo/cfo outlook 2011 study was conducted by sand hill group and underwritten by adaptive planning and intacct.
other key findings include: read more →
principles of accounting remain unchanged, but…
by dustin lubertazzi,
senior consultant, sageworks, inc.
luca pacioli, an italian mathematician and franciscan friar, is widely known as the “father of accounting” for publishing 36 chapters on the double-entry accounting method used by venetian merchants during the italian renaissance. his book, summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita (which translates, “everything about arithmetic, geometry and proportion”), was written as a textbook for students in northern italy at the end of the 15th century. pacioli’s documentation of double-entry accounting and ledgers taught entrepreneurs of the day how to conduct business using timely and accurate financial information, and it established the fundamentals of accounting still practiced today.
pacioli’s fundamentals were only feasible thanks to the written numeral system and the abacus developed before that. and since then, the industry has seen further and more ground-breaking developments including the introduction of the typewriter, then computers, and later the internet. with each of these milestones, technology not only impacted how accountants handle financial information but also how they interact with their clients.
with the changing technological landscape, what must accountants do to stay competitive in the future, and how will technology change the future role of the accountant?
“cross-functional business processes” bedevil finance managers.
a survey of over 800 finance professionals attending an introductory webinar on software-as-a-service staged by netsuite and the institute of management accountants shows that the chief drivers to the cloud are both efficiency and effectiveness.
one-third of all cpa firms don’t.
that’s just one of the surprising findings from the latest aicpa national practice management survey.
granted, 66% of firms have a website. but 33% don’t. who thinks their clients are still using the yellow pages?
technology industry hiring and finance salaries on the mend.
via bdo
nearly half, or 46% of top u.s. technology companies — an important bellweather for the u.s. and the accounting profession — plan to increase employee headcount this year, marking a significant sign of confidence in the sector, according to bdo usa llp. just 7 percent expect headcount to decrease.
study by bay street group finds significant opportunities for performance improvement in client service and staff productivity
via businesswire
sunnyvale, calif. & laguna hills, calif. & braintree, mass. — cpas in the nation’s largest firms agree that adopting software-as-a-service (saas), portable document scanners and workflow management technologies provides a competitive edge over low-performing firms. however, the top firms also agree they need to adapt to these solutions at a faster rate to provide even greater client service and maintain a more productive staff.
“highly focused on client needs and expectations.”
these and other findings on profit margins, competition between firms and getting up-to-date with technology are the result of a new study conducted by bay street group, and sponsored by the cloudsolutions alliance. managing partners, partners, senior executives and senior staff from top 100 accounting firms participated in the survey, which shows that the best-managed, most successful firms are aggressively adopting cloud, saas and document management solutions. the survey results show that firms are adopting these technologies in order to become more competitive, provider better client service, and improve client retention.
in annual aicpa survey, cpas advise companies to manage risk of mobile devices.
via aicpa
smartphones, tablets, laptops and flash drives in the workplace emerged for the first time as the top business technology concern for cpas and financial executives in the aicpa’s annual top technology initiatives survey.
the 22nd annual aicpa top technology initiative survey shows control and use of mobile devices was the no. 1 challenge for it professionals. the finding was based on responses from nearly 1,400 cpas nationwide specializing in information technology. in addition to mobile devices, the survey signaled future it issues will revolve around implementation of touch-screen technology, deployment of faster networks and voice recognition technology.
top tech 2011 ranking:
- control and use of mobile devices
- information security
- data retention policies and structure
- remote access
- staff and management training
- process documentation and improvements
- saving and making money with technology
- technology cost controls
- budget processes
- project management & deployment of new technology
how vulnerable are cfo.com and cfozone.com? idg enterprise, a division of idg communications, which publishes pc world and computer world, is rolling out a new website targeting cfos — cfoworld.com. the move marks an expansion of idg enterprise beyond its … continued
the all-digital firm comes into view.
the 2011 association for accounting administration’s 2011 paperless benchmarking survey shows digitalization accelerating at cpa firms.
the survey, conducted biannually by cpa tech consultant roman kepczyk since 2003, this year included 196 firms, each averaging about 55 persons.
“the latest iteration of this survey expanded the number of questions to encompass evolving technologies in scanning and archival, as well as to identify changes in tools and applications impacting administrative workflows,” kepczyk says. “while there was a stronger focus on tax and administrative topics, audit, practice management, communications, and technology topics were also addressed for their paperless impact.”
the survey shows at least nine big advances in:
.
details:
in the debate over software-as-a-service, or “cloud” computing, many accountants and finance managers harbor doubts about security, privacy, access and uptime. the next time a vendor suggests the cloud, see how well they can answer these seven questions. 1. what … continued
say goodbye to your servers and file cabinets. saas is coming. kimberly hogan, business development manager for scansnap sales at fujitsu, and taylor macdonald, vice president of channels at intacct corp., make a compelling — and maybe a little controversial … continued
