Blog Archives
-
Bing? (Yawn)
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Thursday July 23, 2009Fellow CPATechViews blogger Dave McClure recently wrote about Google’s new foray into the land of operating systems (See: Killing Microsoft: www.cpatechviews.com/2009/07/killing-microsoft). He also notes Microsoft’s latest entry in the search engine field with Bing.com. Just as I don’t think Microsoft has much to worry about (yet) from a Google cloud-based operation system, I also don’t think Google really has anything to fear from Microsoft’s latest search strategy. Bing isn’t Microsoft’s first attempt at a mainstream search engine, of course. It debuted its first serious system in 1998 with MSN Search, which offered traditional indexing, web crawling and search results from various partners, including Inktomi, Looksmart and... -
Should you Give Employees Access to Facebook, Twitter?
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Thursday July 16, 2009When I talk with clients and present to groups about social media, one of the most often-asked questions I get it whether an organization ought to give its employees access to social media while they are at work. Firms, companies and organizations of all kinds and sizes are concerned that their staff is going to waste time on Facebook, Twitter and other social media rather than concentrate on work. No doubt, this is a subject for debate. The rule of thumb I use is to first, ask several questions: Do you have Millennial and Gen-Y employees? This would be anyone age 22-30ish. Do you trust your employees, and do they feel they trust you - as their employer? Are they already using the Internet for their daily tasks? Do they have... -
My Wish List for AICPA Leadership Academy Candidates
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Tuesday July 7, 2009Today, AICPA is launching its first-ever Leadership Academy in Chicago - a three-day gathering designed to train young CPAs on issues related to the profession so they can be more effective leaders It is the brainchild of AICPA's Chair Ernie Almonte. What a great idea! It not only helps young CPAs realize their potential; it most likely will create some leaders who will rise up in their firms, companies and within Institute ranks. Best of all, it will help promote the accounting profession. Now that you have the background, here's my plea to Mr. Almonte. Please educate tomorrow's leaders on the importance of marketing and communications. I know there's a social media component to the workshop, but that only scratches the... -
Four Ways to Use Twitter for the Accounting Profession
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Monday June 29, 2009If "I don't get it" adequately describes your thoughts about Twitter and its uses for the accounting profession, then listen up: You CAN use Twitter to build your practice, increase business and grow your bottom line. I get this question all the time from my clients who want to know how they can build their business through social media, and specifically, Twitter - the hot trend of the day. What I advise is that you want to be considered a "Thought Leader" when you tweet (the term for posting messages on Twitter), so instead of tweeting about what you had for dinner or what meeting you attended, tweet about impactful topics that will position you as an expert: Make an observation about a recent accounting news story, and provide a... -
PayCycle - My Wish List
By Doug Sleeter, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday June 18, 2009Now that PayCycle is becoming part of Intuit (see announcement earlier this month), I'm hoping to see even tighter integration between the PayCycle software and QuickBooks. I'm an avid PayCycle user, and I love what it does already, but here are my top wishes and hopes for the future: Provide for full paycheck transactions to be imported into QuickBooks. At this point, it's impossible for developers to access the PAYCHK transactions in QuickBooks because the SDK doesn't provide any support for that. But now that Intuit will own PayCycle, maybe they'll find a way to get that done. Timesheet integration: Provide a link between QuickBooks timesheets (desktop), and the QuickBooks online time tracker to feed timesheet information directly... -
The 3 "P" Approach to More Creative Marketing
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Thursday June 11, 2009When was the last time you looked at something differently? I was in San Francisco June 7-10 for the International Association of Business Communicators' (IABC) Conference, and had the pleasure of hearing Sam Harrison of Zing Zone speak on creative marketing and its three components: Passion, Performance and Pitch. His talk was well worth my time because it provided some really great inspirational ideas on how to be more creative at doing what I do. It also lit a fire under me to "think" differently - not out-of-the-box thinking, but looking at something in another light or perhaps from the inside out. An example. I am a New York Times crossword puzzle fanatic. Most everyone works the puzzle from Clue 1 Across, then proceeds to work... -
How is Susan Boyle Like an Accounting Firm?
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Thursday June 4, 2009You'd have to be living under a rock not to know who Susan Boyle is, but in case you don't, she's came in second place in "Britain's Got Talent," a competition that propelled this no-name singer to instant stardom, thanks to a mix of kudos from Simon Cowell and a bit of viral marketing. How is Susan Boyle like an accounting firm? Unfortunately, Susan's in rehab, not for substance abuse (according to reports), but for exhaustion. She's just plain tired of being in the spotlight and must regroup in order to move on. Accounting firms are like Susan Boyle in that they, too, are tired after busy season and must regroup. This is typically the time of year when firms hold retreats, partner meetings and similar gatherings. Isn't is about time... -
Intuit Acquiring PayCycle
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Tuesday June 2, 2009Intuit has reached an agreement to acquire PayCycle for $170 million. The company will be integrated into Intuit's Payroll division. PayCycle's simple-but-thorough online payroll compliance system, geared generally toward smaller small businesses (although they claim to be able to support up to 150 employees). The system offers automated reminders on federal and state tax payments and other liabilities, providing electronic filing where available. A version of PayCycle is also available for public accountants managing multiple clients, providing them with wholesale pricing and firm-branded interfaces, and the ability to allow clients to handle all, part or none of their own payroll data entry functions. Direct deposit is included and... -
Should CPA Firms Spend Money on Advertising?
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Monday May 11, 2009In a very crowded marketplace, CPA firms are doing what they can to differentiate themselves from their competition. As a result, CPAs and financial professionals are always asking my opinion whether they should advertise in their local newspapers and business journals. My stock answer is usually "no," unless you're going to advertise on a very regular basis so you could convey your messages all the time. What's considered "regular?" Probably every issue of a weekly publication if that's possible, but even then there are other considerations. For example, I work with one CPA firm that advertises in its city business journal every week. The ad is mostly the same in order to draw attention and keep messaging consistent. However, the firm... -
Social Media Example Supports the CPA Firm "Me" Problem
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Wednesday May 6, 2009I love social media because it brings people together in ways never before imagined. Just last week, I read an article about how one woman, Rhonda Surman, a postmistress in Scotland, was able to locate the owner of a missing camera. Based on some 600 photos, Ms. Surman and her friends located the owner by posting some of the photos on Flickr. As a result, Ms. Surman now holds the newly deemed title, "Digital Samaritan." How is this an example of social media? By asking the Flickr community to help locate the owner, she brought people together for the greater good. Most professionals only think of social media in terms of what it can do directly for them, instead of what it can do for others. As a result, I think there are direct...
