40 Under 40 Honoree: Ryan McCowan, CPA.CITP – 34

Education – BA Accounting, Univ. Kentucky
Family – Wife Amy; twin 10 year-old daughters Ashely
& Whitney.
Hobbies & Interests – All aspects of technology (how
it relates to our lives, not just our profession). Spending time with my family
and working with the Gideon Ministries.
Professional Affiliations – AICPA; Kentucky Society of
CPAs.

What peers, clients and friends say about Ryan:
Ryan is a proven leader in the tax and accounting profession. His firm represents
one of the most technologically driven in the profession, which has allowed
him to consistently expand his practice without increasing staff or overhead
costs. His innovative and future-forward vision has led his firm to the vanguard
of the industry and made him a recognized leader. His dedication to implementing
advanced technology solutions for both his firm and his clients has led to him
being featured in several professional publications. To date, Ryan’s firm
offers client services that are primarily Internet-based in order to provide
ultimate convenience to clients and significantly reduce manual tasks and cost
for his firm.

What technology or business process does Ryan see affecting the tax
and accounting profession in the next five years?
“Over the next five years, firms and businesses will continue to move
away from housing and supporting their own software and hardware. The Internet
will become the primary ‘server environment’ for firms and businesses.
Lower technology costs and higher labor costs will push some to this environment;
however, the largest push will be the shear growth of the Internet. With the
advent of Wimax, WiFi, and 3g technologies, broadband Internet is virtually
everywhere. Firms and businesses will want the freedom to access their information
at anytime from any location with zero boundaries. In ten years, I believe the
majority of desktops will simply become ‘terminals’ with online
portals, software and operating systems converging into Internet based-systems.
In regard to tax and accounting software, you will continue to see deeper integration,
which will completely do away with ‘separate’ software packages.
Instead, you will see tax, write-up, payroll, research, etc. more as modules
instead of separate applications. This will help increase efficiencies within
the profession. In ten years, the integration and xml capabilities of software
will develop to the extent that the software of various vendors will work in
complete integration with other vendors. Practitioners will have choices in
various ‘modules’ from various vendors but with the same integration.”