Randy Johnston has been an entrepreneur, technologist, and teacher for most of his career. He has helped start and run many businesses, and founded Network Management Group, Inc. and owns half of K2 Enterprises. He has written for accounting and technology publications for four decades, and for CPA Practice Advisor since 2000.
October 12, 2014
Risk mitigation when your practice is attacked is an economic consideration. What will breach reporting cost? What will recovery cost and time lost be? Although we are not likely to be terminated by our clients or our firm, even this type of loss ...
September 12, 2014
Payroll is not a four letter word. Human Resources (HR) is an additional opportunity to help clients and tie them closer to your firm and services. While many CPA firms use outsourced services for payroll and HR, technology has made providing these services easier and more profitable.
September 5, 2014
There are ample articles trying to convince you of the value of Cloud Computing. There are three primary application approaches for the cloud: 1) Backup, which we have reviewed in prior columns covering products like NetRescue, Gillware and eFolder, 2) Hosting, including companies like CPAASP InsynQ, Awensa, Cloud 9 and Real Time Data Services, Thomson...…
September 5, 2014
Electronically Stored Information (ESI) has become critical to delivering good client service, higher realization, effective procedures or workflow, and better efficiency. Managing ESI is also critical for controlling risk. If your firm tries to work with ESI the same way you worked in paper, you can expect problems, issues and frustration. If you are working...…
September 5, 2014
Giving you practical, leading-edge technical guidance is one of the key reasons for this column’s existence. As you have noted from other columns and features in this issue, there are several topics that affect document and accounting access: Document Management products, SaaS Small Business Accounting products, Small Business Specialty products, and Workflow, which is one...…
September 5, 2014
Is this the year of the Tablet? Has the mobile Internet finally arrived? What business purposes are served by using mobile Internet devices, and how can they help us serve clients better? Whether you are working with products from Apple, Motorola, BlackBerry, HTC, Samsung or a myriad of other providers, access to the Internet, and…
September 5, 2014
Column: From the Trenches From the Dec. 2010 Issue 2010 was a year of significant hardware changes. Our hardware recommendations now include Intel i7 processor chips, USB 3.0, solid state or hybrid drives, and the initial implementation of touch-screen monitors. In fact, we have no hardware recommendation for 2010 that is the same as 2009....…
August 7, 2014
For most accounting firms, choosing a software provider and staying the course is an easy and safe decision. Only when there are traumatic events in pricing changes, software not working and not getting fixed, technology changes or regulatory changes that the software doesn’t keep up with will we even consider a change.
June 6, 2014
This year is the year of delivery for many new hardware and software products. Which are ready for production? Which should be implemented first? You know that every technology does not need to be implemented.
May 12, 2014
Most of the time in this column, discussion of the best or most promising technology tools is a primary source of interest. However, every once in a while a return to fundamentals is needed. One fundamental that has been consistently problematic for all size of firms is training. Frequently the need for training is either…
April 21, 2014
It is impossible to think too much about protecting your data. If you are the business owner, responsible for Information Technology or an IT professional, protecting data has to always be top of mind. Backup and recovery is not an area you can leave to chance. The January installment of this column spoke about alternative…
March 13, 2014
This year is a great year to watch for improvements in procedures and processes supported by maturing technology tools. We can look for revolutionary changes to make in our practices. However, evolutionary change can be taught and assimilated in day to day work.
