Last month in my "Bleeding Edge" column of the CPA Practice Advisor Magazine, I wrote about the growing war between Microsoft, Apple and Google over the newest tech frontier -- voice control of your computing devices. If you don't subscribe to the magazine, shame on you! But here is a link to the column: www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/10601880 . All three companies want to have the winning system...

SmartVault’s latest service enhancement is a biggie—the SmartVault Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook . The plug-in allows users to leverage the convenience of email and SmartVault’s compliant solution for sharing documents. What this means for accounting professionals is an integrated solution for sending, receiving, and managing documents securely inside of Outlook without having to change the...

How much is that little bundle of joy worth? Junior or your Princess may be priceless to you, but when it comes to taxes, there can be several very tangible monetary benefits. Here are 10 things the IRS wants parents to consider when filing their taxes this year. 1. Dependents In most cases, a child can be claimed as a dependent in the year they were born. For more information see IRS...

I know a lot of professionals who are frequently mobile, whether it's accountants like Jason Blumer, CPA, who prefer to sit in a coffee shop all day, those who are audit experts like Tim Gavin, CPA, and are more likely at a client's than their own office, or those like Joyce Washington, CPA, who work from everywhere with a laptop. One of their biggest productivity challenges comes from growing...

I was reading my Dallas Morning News a few weeks ago when I stumbled on an article in the Business section called, "Whistle-blowing to IRS Can Pay Off." Based on the kind of work I do, it caught my attention, of course. Here's the link - you may need to register with the online site before viewing the article. I was stunned to think that reporting tax abnormalities to the IRS could result in...

In the profession of public accounting, we use our knowledge, skills and experience to perform services for our clients. Whether we use a fixed fee arrangement or we use billable hours, it is important for us to know where our time goes and how we spend it as we work on behalf of our clients. Sometimes we don’t record small things like a five- or 10-minute phone call with a client or an email we...

By Guest Blogger, Gary Parker If someone asked you “Did you backup today?”, your reaction might include: Getting a little personal, aren’t you? No problem – the reverse in my car’s transmission works fine. I’m macho, dude – I don’t back up or down for nobody! Do you mean my computer system? Well, I’ve been meaning to get around to it, but I don’t...