Blog Archives
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Podcast on Windows 7, Snow Leopard and Other Topics
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Wednesday October 14, 2009Just a friendly reminder that the latest Tech2Go podcast is up at Intersection Live. Listen as Darren Root and Randy Johnston discuss the new Windows 7 and Snow Leopard operating systems, Intuit's acquisition of Mint.com and the new technologies from CCH. You can also check out recent podcasts in the DMA2Go series(Document Management for Accountants), and SBC2Go series(Small Business Consulting). And don't forget to register for our upcoming webcasts, where you can get one hour of FREE CPE for attending a live, interactive event from the comfort of your own office. The next webcast is on Oct. 20th: The Next Generation of the Paperless Office -
CRM - Shelfware or Dynamic Lead Generator?
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Monday October 12, 2009Are you using a CRM program? If you are, is it effective, or it is just sitting on a shelf gathering dust? CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is all about using a software program to identify and source leads for potential business or even potential referrals. I am most familiar with SageCRM because I have more clients using it than any other program, but there are several other programs that I'm sure work equally as well. Just a few short years ago, CRM was only for large companies because they were the only ones that could afford ERP systems - but that's all changed. Thanks to the needs of medium- to large-size CPA firms, software providers now have affordable CRM solutions designed to integrate with a suite of software to... -
Accountants Must be Technology Consultants, Too
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Monday October 5, 2009Accountants are their clients’ most trusted business advisors, but what accounting professionals often don’t expect is how many of their clients will also turn to them for technology advice. For clients, it makes sense: Since clients ask their accountant which bookkeeping and other programs to use, they’ll also turn to him or her for advice on how to use it, and how to implement the infrastructure and business processes that surround the bookkeeping software. So if you’re an accountant, guess what? You’re also a small business technology consultant. And if you don’t feel up to the task of providing technology consulting, you have two choices. A) You can develop the knowledge and resources in your firm to deliver technology... -
5 Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Friday October 2, 2009Everyone's an expert in something - and accountants, by rote, are experts in a number of areas depending on your focus and services you offer. Clients ask me how they can become more well known for what they do or what they offer. It's not for vanity sake - it's to develop this notoriety to retain clients and turn prospects into clients. Try these five tactics: Blog. If you haven't started one, now is a great time to begin. Tools are free and pages function much like MS Word docs. You probably have a great deal to say, but may not know how to say it. I tell bloggers to make believe they are having a conversation with a friend or someone they just met. In a conversational tone, how would you convey your expertise? Tweet. Whether you... -
Congrats to Our 2009 "40 Under 40"
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Thursday September 24, 2009The CPA Technology Advisor has just announced its annual 40 Under 40 honorees. Each year, we recognize up-and-coming professionals who show the leadership and technological savvy that will help guide the profession into the future. The honorees come from across the country (even one from Hawaii). A list of this year's 40 is below- you can also read a little more about it here: www.cpatechadvisor.com/go/2589 40 Under 40 Honorees – 2009 Chadwick Bordeaux, CPA, CFE | Bordeaux & Bordeaux CPAs PA | Lake Wylie, SC Donna Bordeaux, CPA, PFS | Bordeaux & Bordeaux CPAs PA | Lake Wylie, SC Dawn Brolin | Premier Business Services P.C. | East Lyme, CT Ronald Burg, CPA | Lillian & Burg | Minneapolis, MN Michael A. Bush, CPA.CITP | Microsoft | Denver... -
Why SaaS Makes Sense For End Users
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Saturday September 12, 2009One of the benefits of being a dinosaur is that you've seen enough change to know when change is real. I've been tapping on the keyboards of personal computing devices since the days when we hand-built our own motherboards, loaded programs from cassette and lived with a whopping 4K of RAM. The point isn't that I am old, but rather that I have some sense of when the light in the sky is a massive asteroid coming to wipe out the world as we know it...and when it is just a reflection off a piece of micah. Software as a Service is a world-changing flash of light. I've only recently come to this conclusion, because I have only recently understood why it makes sense for end users to trade their relative security, flexibility and freedom... -
Making Retirement a Reality Even in this Economy
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Thursday September 10, 2009An interesting article by Bill Losey, a CFP and CSA, offers some pointers for those who may be retiring in the next few years. According to the AICPA, more than half of the profession is likely to do so within the next 12-15 years, so not only is this information potential good advice for your clients, but it might also hit a little closer to home. Even for those of us with 20 or more years of work ahead of us, there are some good longer-range thoughts. According to a recent report from The Hartford Financial Services Group, nearly 75% of American's don't fully understand their retirement plan and as many as a third have almost no understanding of it. Well, the Retirement Fairy isn't magically managing your... -
Transparency Transcends Print, Social Media
By Scott Cytron, ABC; President, Cytron and Co. - Monday August 31, 2009If you publish content for your firm, company, or even blog, Facebook, Tweet or have a LinkedIn profile - and don't think people are listening and watching to what you do or say - you need to wake up! Microsoft pulled a fast one when it took a photo of an African-American man and changed the person's color to White. Plain and simple, this was a huge no-n0, and did not go unnoticed by the bloggers who pounced on Microsoft for inappropriate ethical behavior. Advertising Age was one of new news media to report the story; the altered photos are included in the story. Although the fact that Photoshop can change skin color is a huge, separate discussion in itself, I think the larger story is whether Microsoft thought the stunt might go... -
Intuit to Announce Something Big? - My Prediction: Online Professional Tax Prep
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Sunday August 23, 2009Intuit's corporate communications guy Rich Walker used his Facebook page to tease the accounting community on Sunday night with a post that said: "Intuit innovates again with a new, web-based application for accounting and tax pros. Details coming soon!" While I have no confirmation for this, I'm pretty confident that it is related to my July prediction that Intuit was working on a web-based professional tax prep system www.cpata.com/go/2403). There are a few other providers out there, but only the hosted version of UltraTax CS by Thomson Reuters and the Global fx-enabled version of CCH's ProSystem fx Tax have notable followings in the mid-sized and larger markets (the Thomson Reuters GoSystem RS/ES system dominates web-based pro prep... -
Reading the Fine Print
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Friday August 21, 2009People often scoff at others who find themselves in a predicament because they didn't read "the fine print." But almost all of us are guilty of this error in judgement, and not just occasionally... we do it every day. I'm talking about EULAs (End-User License Agreement), Terms of Use Policies, Privacy Policies and other contractual agreements we consent to, either with a cursory glance or not at all. Only a few years ago, when most of our interaction with technology was through disc-based software installed on a home computer, workstation or network server, the EULAs were at least easier to manage. And even if we didn't fully read the legalese then, either, at least the information was static- once you installed a program, the agreement...
