Blog Archives
-
Sage On A Thumb Drive
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Tuesday November 16, 2010Though the folks at CPA Technology Advisor kindly allow me to drift into tech subjects that are not always accounting related, I nonetheless do write review of accounting software and services. And I have been holding my breath waiting for the day that software companies would make the shift from the Eighties technology of CDs into something more modern. For those who are spring-loaded to the "Cloud" position, I am not talking about the ability to download from the Internet, or to use a SaaS service. Both are useful technologies, and have their place in current technology. But what I am really getting at is putting software on an SD card or thumb drive. Why? There are times that you suffer a crash. Hard drive shot, or worse... -
Troubled Non-Profits
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Wednesday November 10, 2010One of the few joys of attending tech conferences and trade shows is the chance to catch up with old friends and compare notes about how things are changing. That happened in Dallas last week at the Broadband Expo, where I spent some time with Don Kent, one of the founders of Net Literacy and a champion of efforts to bring more Americans online. What Don told me, though, was sobering. That more than 1/3 of the non-profit organizations in the US stand to lose their non-profit status over failure to file a Form 990 this year. I did a little research, and what he said appears to be true. Some 450,000 non-profits did not file or did not provide sufficient information and may in fact lose their non-profit status. The problems occur... -
Cell Phones No Longer A Taxable Benefit
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday September 30, 2010President Barack Obama removed cell phones from the Internal Revenue Service listed property rule with the signing of the Small Business Jobs Act this week. As a result, cell phones provided by employers for personal use are no longer a taxable benefit under IRS rules. The Mobile Cell Phone Act (HR 690) was first introduced in January 2009 and was sponsored by Rep. Samuel Johnson (R-TX) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in the House and Senate, respectively. I can understand why the IRS would wish to tax personal use of a company cell phone, in the same way they can tax other equipment for personal use. But unlike computers and automobiles, cell phones are something that few people can comfortably carry two or three of. You carry one... -
"This Operation Has Been Canceled..."
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Monday September 6, 2010Sigh! It is back again. That phantom error message that occurs when you...well, frankly do almost anything related to hyperlinks. It has been hanging around since Windows Server 2000, has affected every installation of Windows or Office since, and is frankly a major pain in the you-know-what. This time, it got me when I upgraded to MS Office 2010, and drove me nuts for about three weeks. It occurs when you update to a new operating system. Or install a new version of MS Office. Or try Chrome or Firefox as your browser and then uninstall them. Or wish upon a star. You try to click on a hyperlink in an email, or in MS Word, or somewhere else, and get the message "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in... -
Accounting for the Stimulus Package
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Monday June 28, 2010I've been out of touch the last month or two, a fact that has made my editors here and at the magazine a little nervous. But it has all been for a good cause -- a major national conference to discuss the Omnibus Broadband Initiative (government-speak for the National Broadband Plan) and the Broadband technology Opporunity Program (BTOP) grants issued or in process by the US Department of Commerce. The conference was jointly hosted by the US Internet Industry Association, Net Literacy and Broadband for America, with the support of Verizon. It featured such speakers as Blair Levin, architect of the national broadband plan; John Horvath, the consumer research guru from the Federal Communications Commission; Brian David, who worked on... -
A strange week in the tech world...
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Monday June 28, 2010This has been one of the stranger weeks in the tech world, and it promises to get both better and worse by fall. Let's recount some of the wins and losses: Apple released the new iPhone 4 to amazingly strong sales, which (coupled with the growing use of the iPad among corporations) gives the Apple franchises a much stronger life. Microsoft should be paying attention... Which they apparently are, as the leaked previews of Windows 8 hit the wires and (gasp! awe!) look remarkably like and Apple interface. I, for one, and very happy with Windows 7 and will hold judgment on the new version until we see actual working screen shots. The US Supreme Court either tore apart Sarbannes Oxley (on the one hand), or mostly upheld that law... -
I Want FrontPage Back!
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Tuesday April 20, 2010In the Nineties, a nifty little web site design tool called FrontPage Express brought a whole generation of small businesses on to the web. It was strictlyWYSIWYG -- What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get -- and there was not a lot of elegance to it. But it worked, it was easy, and it made the development and updating of a web site simple for accounting firms that didn't want to spend mega-bucks on a custom design. Microsoft followed this with a spectacular little tool called FrontPage, which for several years expanded on this platform. Then they killed it dead as a doorknob and told small businesses to take a hike. I've spent the better part of two years looking at the various "replacement" technologies, and for me it comes down to... -
The Spammers Are Coming!
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday November 19, 2009Here's an unanticipated consequence of the recession: the level of junk e-mail I get is rising rapidly. And its not from the Viagra sites, the scammers, the enlarge some part of your body, or reduce some part of your body spammers. These are from legitimate retail companies, including some of the best known brands in the world. Companies that last year or the year before would never have dreamed of sending mass emails are now sending them almost daily. When Congress passed the Can-Spam Act in 1998, they left a small loophole that allows a company to send you unsolicited commercial email -- SPAM -- if you have ever done busines of any kind with them. So the company I bought a light bulb from five years ago now sends me weekly lists... -
Cellular Vs. Satellite
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday November 5, 2009Three years ago, I left the big city (Alexandria, VA) to move to the tiny mountain valley town of Luray, Virginia. It was a return to my roots as a small-town boy...a bit of a culture shock after decades in the city...and a place literally bereft of broadband. There was DSL available...only not where I live. Cable stops about 300 feet from my house, and Comcast killed the project before it reached me. So I weighed the options of optical wireless or satellite, and elected to go with Hughes.net. Understand, I appreciate the fact that Hughes Satellite even provides service to rural customers. But between the service outages, the constant modem reboots, and the ridiculous service caps, I was not happy. I once spent 24 hours with... -
The Spirit Of Accounting
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Friday August 7, 2009Of all of the professions in this world, few donate as much time to charities and non-profits as accountants. They serve on boards of directors, as treasurers, and as volunteers. They are highly sought after because of their familiarity with standards, with audit procedures, and with internal controls necessary to make non-profits strong and effective in their pursuit of their missions. I know this, even though I must confess I am not a CPA. For all of the years I have spent in and around the accounting profession, I am a geek, not a green-shade guy. Nonetheless, I spend an amazing amount of time working with causes of every kind and description. And everywhere I turn there are accountants in service. That is how I know that the...
