Article

 Training Trumps Tools

May 12, 2014 

Training Trumps Tools

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…

Randy Johnston

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April 29, 2014 

The ObamaCare of Computing? Microsoft’s Silly Trick

By now you have discovered the sad and silly trick that Microsoft played on you during the last days of tax season. Windows XP has been killed, and you have to upgrade to Windows 8.1 or leave your accounting computers both unprotected and in violation of federal law.

Dave McClure

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April 21, 2014 

Save It or Lose It – Don’t Let Your Firm’s Data be at Risk

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…

Randy Johnston

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April 21, 2014 

5 Tips for Using Technology as a Strategic Asset

Is your firm leveraging technology as a strategic asset or is it viewed as simply a cost of doing business? Successful firms view it as an asset and build an IT leadership and governance model that helps harness the power of technology as an accelerator toward improved performance, profitability and growth. There are five aspects…

Jim Boomer

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April 21, 2014 

6 Tips for Managing Underperforming Staff

You may have heard it before, or you may have actually uttered these words, “Why did we wait so long to let an underperforming employee go?" In some firms today it may actually be called the underperforming epidemic or the underperformer drag, but no matter what words you are using to describe the problem, the…

Sandra Wiley

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April 21, 2014 

What SMBs Want from Their Accountant – Have You Asked?

We’re in the middle of a fundamental shift – from client-centric accounting, where clients do their own bookkeeping and then send the records (often full of errors) to the tax preparer once a year – to an accountant-centric model, where accountants use cloud-based tools to provide accounting services as well as higher level consulting services.…

Doug Sleeter