Blog Archives
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How Green is Your Office?
By M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP; Executive Editor - Thursday May 7, 2009We’re all doing our part to help the planet last longer, but are we doing enough? A recent article on GreenerWorking.com reminded me of the “hardware” side of the equation. In addition to paperless processes, document management and virtual office/SaaS solutions, “sustainable computing” involves extending the lifecycles of desktop and laptop computers. According to the article, holding on to a PC for three years generates savings of $325 for every $1,000 of original cost. Keeping a PC four years yields nearly $500 in savings. Pretty impressive. Who couldn’t use an extra $500? For more ideas, a complete IDC white paper is available for download. What are some of your ideas to make our practice’s greener? Send me an e-mail... -
Recent Computer Theft is a Wake-up Call for SaaS Solutions
By M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP; Executive Editor - Wednesday May 6, 2009In late April, an Los Angeles office building was hit by burglars who stole computers from 60 of the 80 businesses in the building, including a CPA whose computer had the tax documents of 800 clients. What would you do if this happened to you? Panic? Sure. Rely on the backups you should have had? Hopefully. Apologize and try to reconstruct the data? Of course. While incidents like this one are really awful, they reinforce what I talk about in my presentations and in previous blog entries: You just can’t underestimate the importance of the virtual office and SaaS solutions. Why not let someone else host your applications and maintain your data? Security is no longer an issue thanks to encryption, so why burden yourself with a... -
Is Print Dead or is it Just in Transition?
By M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP; Executive Editor - Saturday April 25, 2009Many of you know that Source Media will soon roll Practical Accountant and Accounting Technology into Accounting Today. I am saddened by the loss of the publication’s two editors and colleagues, Jeff Stimpson (Practical Accountant) and Bob Scott (Accounting Technology), and wish them well in their new endeavors. The loss of these two niche publications begs the question: Is print dead? Just recently, print editions of the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased publication, and many other publications and newspapers have abandoned their print products to ultimately take up residence in an online-only world. A Time magazine article, in fact, discussed the 10 most endangered newspapers in America. My belief is that... -
Change is Upon Us…
By M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP; Executive Editor - Tuesday April 14, 2009From the April/May 2009 Issue Change is all around us — a new president, a changing banking system, and an onslaught of new tax codes represent only a few of the notable changes that have occurred over the past year. In line with this theme, even The CPA Technology Advisor is changing. This is the first edition of 2009, and my first column as the new Executive Editor. So allow me to provide you with a little background. I’m the managing partner of Root & Associates, a small CPA firm in Bloomington, Indiana, where, like you, I practice tax and accounting every day. I am also the CEO of RootWorks, LLC, which offers consulting and training services to accounting firms all over the country. So as you can see, I am aware firsthand of how...
