Accounting Technology articles from April 2005

Accounting Technology archives from April 2005

The Power of One.
April 1, 2005... No, this is not about the companies that have used the slogan "The Power of One" to promote their software line. It is about the convergence of major applications into one desktop package. For the record, companies that have used the slogan...

State of the VAR Market.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... With Tectura outstripping the growth of all other resellers as it buys other VARs and developers, just what kind of market is the accounting software reselling market going to be? Tectura CEO Terry Petrzelka outlines his ambitions, while...

How is the current job market affecting you in adding staff and how have you responded?
April 1, 2005... Finding qualified people has not been an easy process at reasonable salaries, but we have had great success bringing in workers from other countries and getting them visas to work here in the US. In general, the quality of the work has been...

Practice Development News.(Information Technology Alliance)
April 1, 2005... BLYTHECO GOES NATIONAL Blytheco, one of Best Software's largest resellers, has opened offices in several states, marking its first expansion outside of California. The Laguna Hills, Calif.-based company expanded into Arizona, Florida,...

Accounting News.
April 1, 2005... DOLLAR HURTS EXACT TOTALS Revenue for Exact Software's North American operations rose by 1.7 percent for the year ended for 2004, while the weakness in the dollar held the company's worldwide results to a 3 percent rise in both earnings...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
April 1, 2005... INTUIT TAX REVS DROP Revenue for Intuit's professional tax operations, primarily sales of Pro-Series and Lacerte, dropped to $94 million for the second quarter ended January 31, down from $96 million in last year's corresponding quarter....

2005 Show Calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... April 4-5 Information Technology Alliance Spring Members Meeting. The Peninsula, Chicago. www.italliance.com. April 26-29 The 11th XBRL International Conference. Westin Copley Plaza, Boston. www.xbrl.org/boston. May...

May's Coming Attractions.(accounting services practice)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... * Training Time In today's tight labor market, training can be the key to attracting and retaining quality people. Many accounting firms and resellers are taking a proactive approach to training. Found out what's working and what isn't....

The State of the VAR Market: Will Tectura reshape the face of the business?
April 1, 2005... The numbers tell the Tectura story. By 2007, CEO Terry Petrzelka plans that the company will have annual revenue of $500 million and a staff of 2,500 worldwide. That's for a company whose business revolves around financial software. And he...

Measuring Tectura's Fast Pace.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Revenue for Tectura exploded last year with its purchase of several accounting software resellers, including Aston Business Solutions, which by itself had about $64 million in revenue. Tectura, whose name is loosely derived from the Latin...

Buying Binge.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... Company Purchased Revenue Year Aston Business Solutions $64 million 2004 Cosmo Consult $26 million 2004 Options Software and Consulting NA ...

The 2005 VAR 100: The focus shifts as companies consolidate and look overseas.
April 1, 2005... Things have changed in the last year since Accounting Technology published its first VAR 100, ranking accounting software resellers based on their revenue. The top players are far more involved in international markets than a year ago, and they...

The VAR 100: Picking the TOP 100.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Defining an accounting software VAR is as much a part of the process of compiling a list of the 100 largest organizations as determining revenue is. All resellers that handle accounting software also handle other products, such as hardware...

The VAR 100.(accounting software resellers)(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (part 1 of 2) 2004 Rank Company Revenue 1 Tectura, Belmont, Calif. 150PF ...

Knowing what you spend can increase what you keep.
April 1, 2005... What should your firm spend annually on technology? Whatever it takes. Between 5 percent and 8 percent of a firm's revenue is the longstanding range often used. But a firm's investment will vary considerably depending upon numerous factors...

Getting a Handle on IT Costs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... After years of preaching the need for firms to understand how much they are spending on technology, L. Gary Boomer believes that many accounting firms are still victims of their own approach to accounting for costs. "I feel they are still...

Driving a Nail into the Construction Market: Construction companies are demanding more from their software.
April 1, 2005... Low-interest rates have fueled a construction boom for several years, especially for homebuilders. As the buildings continue to go up, accounting resellers and vendors are trying to meet the changing needs of the industry. At both the...

Construction Software Vendors.(Brief Article)(Directory)
April 1, 2005... Best Software, Timberline Beaverton, Ore (800) 628-6583 www.timberline.com BuilderMT Lakewood, Colo. (888) 757-1991 www.buildermt.com BuildTopia Rockville, Md. (866) 209-3724 www.buildtopia.com Intuit...

The Construction Landscape: Growth Ahead.
April 1, 2005... A study conducted by Decipher for Intuit predicts the construction industry will continue to grow over the next three years. In fact, over the next five years, the 500 contractors surveyed expect the construction industry to grow by 12 percent....

Webbed Accounts: Web-based accounting systems can do a lot more these days.
April 1, 2005... Web-based accounting software didn't used to be amazing stuff-but it's getting to be that way. The first versions of Web-based accounting software were fairly primitive. Most looked okay, but they were expensive compared to their disk...

Software levels the playing field for small advisors.
April 1, 2005... Donald Duncan says he can create a comparable financial plan and portfolio management for one-tenth of what Northern Trust, a Chicago-based custodian and asset manager, charged when he was the institutional assets manager there. "With the...

Sticking with the Old School.
April 1, 2005... Those new fangled, integrated, full-of-bells-and-whistles wealth management packages aren't for some advisors. Bradley R. Teets, president of KDT Investments, prefers to do his own research when devising a client's portfolio. "A packaged...

Financial Software Providers.(Brief Article)(Directory)
April 1, 2005... Ibbotson Associates Chicago (312) 616-1620 www.ibbotson.com Morningstar Chicago (312) 696-6000 www.morningstar.com National Datamax San Diego (858) 673-3300 www.nationaldatamax.com Schwab Performance...

New Products.(accounting software)
April 1, 2005... NetSuite ERP NetSuite has introduced revenue recognition, allocations, advanced budgeting, and multi-currency capabilities for its NetSuite ERP. Users can allocate costs by GL account, class, department, or location, and can set up a...

Softrak: Providing Guidance.
April 1, 2005... Softrak Systems has spent most of the last 20 years living off a product from another company. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company gets much of its business from end users who are transitioning from Accpac Plus, the DOS-based...

Advertisers' Index 4/05.
April 1, 2005... Ad Appears Advertiser on page Best Software Inc. 7 Blackbaud 39 CCH C4 Creative Solutions C2 Positive Systems 5 RIA ...

Robert Bogue: IT MVP.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... What does it take to be a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional? Outside of the extensive writing that Robert Bogue does, it's engagements like the one in which he led a team of Crowe Chizek employees to create an e-commerce site for Nursing...

Inside the Top 100.
April 1, 2005... For those readers who have been with us since the beginning, believe it or not, this is our 18th edition of the Top 100 firms project, which, as some of you may recall, was initially launched as a ranking of the country's top 60 firms. ...

The Year of Merging Vigorously: Mergers (and SOX!) spur growth, spark reshuffle among Top 100 Firms.
April 1, 2005... For many of Accounting Today's Top 100 Firms, 2004 was a year for handshakes. Of course, accounting firms don't tie their fates together with just a handshake anymore (we doubt they ever did), but clasping hands as a symbol of partnership...

2005 Top 100 Firms Databank: Overview.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (part 1 of 2) % Firms over % Top Five chg. $100 mn chg. Revenue ($ mn) 25,799.87 7.00 4,397.23 13.01 Partners ...

Beyond the Top 100: Firms to Watch.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... Membership in the Top 100 is a fluid thing - a good year, a bad one, a small merger, a lost client or a brand-new engagement can make all the difference. Here are the firms that are treading on the heels of the Top 100, some no more than a few...

SOX, Staff Still Top Top 100 Concerns.
April 1, 2005... Nearly three years after its passage into law, Sarbanes-Oxley continues to shape the future of the accounting landscape, as its effects have guided many of the Top 100 firms into new practice niches, or prompted them to fortify existing client...

SOX Aside, Firms Get Back To Basics.
April 1, 2005... There is no denying that the regulatory - and, to some degree, the economic - environment of the past two years has caused this country's top firms to experience a near explosion of growth in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work. But despite...

Flexibility Key in Meeting Shifting Client Demands.
April 1, 2005... As the confluence of regulatory, technological and financial factors continues to evolve the traditional business model, CPA firms looking to grow their books of business are striving to keep pace in an effort to satisfy client service demands....

Country's Continued Economic Upturn Spurs Growth at Most Top 100 Firms.
April 1, 2005... A rebounding economy throughout the year, both at the national and regional levels, helped fuel the growth of the year-end figures reported by Accounting Today's 2005 Top 100 regional firms. Nationwide, Accounting Today's Top 100 Firms,...

The Top 100 local firms by region.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (excluding the Big Four and national firms) (part 1 of 2) Central Midwest (18 firms) Headquarters Crowe Group South Bend, Ind. Plante & Moran ...

The 2005 Accounting Today Top 100 Firms.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (part 1 of 4) Rank Revenue 5 4 Firm 1 1 Deloitte & Touche 1 2 2 Ernst & Young 3 3 PricewaterhouseCoopers 4 4 KPMG 1,2 5 5 H&R Block s. 6 7 Grant Thornton ...

Top 100 Firm Highlights.
April 1, 2005... * American Express Tax & Business Services: In August, unveiled three-office Private Client Group to serve high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs. In February 2005, sold 11 small offices to H&R Block Small Business Resources. *...

Charity Begins Where?(financial planners)(Column)
April 1, 2005... My first job out of college was working as an assistant to a very powerful literary agent. I studied both history and journalism in my undergraduate and graduate schools, and this first job was a feast for me because the office door was...

New Online Resource.(from American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The AICPA has introduced a new online resource for its CPA financial planning community that offers CPAs access to a comprehensive library of tools and educational materials on a full range of financial planning areas, from disaster recovery...

Another Award for CFP.(Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... For the second straight year, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has received a Special Award of Excellence from CPA Wealth Provider, as selected by the chief editors of Accounting Today, Practical Accountant, CPA Wealth...

Expanding Practice.(Singapore Post Private Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Insurance with Stamps Postal services provider Singapore Post is continuing its diversification into financial products and services. It has just signed an agreement to establish an exclusive life insurance distribution partnership with...

Managed Account Assets Up.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... According to the Money Management Institute, the separately managed account industry saw strong growth last year with assets under management growing by 15.9 percent to $576.1 billion. The Institute predicts that the number will reach $1.3...

Fidelity Introduces Market Index Pool.(Total Market Pool Index)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... For those donors who prefer a custom approach, the Gift Fund is pleased has announced the addition of the Total Market Pool Index that provides another way to diversify the equity portion of the asset allocation mix recommended, and that may be...

Women Smarter?(investment management)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... When women decide to invest, they are often shrewder, have lower expectations, and are more receptive to advice about financial matters than men, says a TD Waterhouse investor survey out of Toronto. According to poll results, women appear to be...

A Marketing Force.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New Clients, Inc., (NCI) a national marketing and consulting firm to accountants, and Padgett Business Services, one of the largest franchises of accounting services in North America, have announced an agreement whereby NCI will provide...

Merger in China.(accounting firms)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Deloitte plans to merge with top quality Chinese accounting firms this year to further localize itself and strengthen its position in the Chinese market, according to the Xinhua News Agency in Beijing. Peter Bowie, Deloitte China's chief...

High Net Worth Gets Bigger Stage.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... In New York City, Yohalem Gillman & Company and Anchin, Block & Anchin have merged their practices, producing a 300-person firm. The entity will operate under the name Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP. Managing partner James Anchin says that the...

Opening New Opportunities.(Nelkin, Griesel and Graves merges with Grimaldi and Associates )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Grimaldi & Associates and Nelkin, Griesel & Graves have combined to form Grimaldi & Nelkin Certified Public Accountants, PLLC, in Syracuse, N.Y. The two firms decided to merge to take advantage of business opportunities available to larger...

National Growth Envisioned.(Reznick Group, Friduss, Lukee, Schiff and Co. )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Reznick Group, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and Friduss, Lukee, Schiff & Co. of Chicago, will merge, with the combined firm operating under the Reznick Group name. Reznick's strategic plan was to become a top 10 firm with 10 offices in...

Increasing Fee-Based Revenues.(Stavis, Margolis Advisory Services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Compass Bancshares of Birmingham has acquired Houston-based Stavis, Margolis Advisory Services, a financial planning and investment advisory firm. SMA specializes in investment, estate, retirement, and business succession planning for high net...

Wealth Management Sub Formed.(Catalyst Financial Planning and Investment Management)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... MCF Corporation, the parent company of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co, a securities broker-dealer and investment bank, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management, a fee-only registered investment...

Merger in New Jersey.(Gershon, Pierce, Lissak & Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Regional CPA and business advisory firm WithumSmith+Brown has merged with Morristown N.J.-based Gershon, Pierce, Lissak & Co. Gershon provides financial planning and tax compliance services, estate and trust administration, litigation support,...

Comparing Financial Data.(Creative Solutions' Financial Analysis Solution)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Creative Solutions' Financial Analysis Solution enables accountants to compare the financial data of two or more of their clients' businesses. Accountants can benchmark their clients' financial position in relation to other similar companies...

Estate-Planning Features.(Profiles+ Professional 7.5)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Profiles+ Professional version 7.5 boasts advanced estate-planning features. It gives providers the ability to calculate multifaceted estate modeling scenarios.The analysis and concepts are also presented in a format that customers can...

Practice Builder.(Practice Builder Financial)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A complete client relationship management package, Practice Builder Financial incorporates a contact manager, automated marketing, practice management tools, financial planning aids, and Text Library Systems' Resource Library of letters,...

Allocation Flexibility.(Advent Partner 4.2)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Advent Partner version 4.2 creates efficiencies in partnership accounting process by automating several tasks. These include the reallocation of profit for the performance incentive fee, and allocation of realized gains and losses for tax...

Portfolio Tracking.(online calculators and portfolio-tracker from MyStockOption.com )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... MyStockOption.com has built online calculators and portfolio-tracker for employees whose compensation includes restricted stock and restricted stock units. MyRecords has its own presentation alongside the record-keeper for stock options,...

Andersen Into Supreme Court.(Arthur Andersen LLP.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Arthur Andersen LLP will get a U.S. Supreme Court hearing as it looks to overturn its conviction for obstructing the government's Enron investigation. The justices agreed to review an appeals court decision upholding the conviction, which...

Warning Raised.(Financial Services Authority warns)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... In London, the Financial Services Authority has warned British financial groups that it could face significant risks from the volume of regulation by international bodies, particularly the European Union. It says that firms failing to apply...

Options Expensing Guidance Coming?(from Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The SEC's chief accountant says that while he fully supports the FASB decision to require stock option expensing, the agency may have to issue guidance to aid compliance. Speaking to reporters at a recent internal controls conference, Don...

More Time for Audit Rule Proposed.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SEC Chairman William Donaldson says that the agency may give non-U.S. companies more time to certify that their internal financial controls are in order. He notes that foreign companies and their U.S. counterparts, have complained the...

Cutting Tax on Share Transactions.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Financial Times in Shanghai reports that the government has announced a new cut on share transactions tax to try and boost investor sentiment. Analysts say that market's performance is hampering efforts to build a strong domestic capital...

Rule on Gifts and Gratuities.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has proposed to the SEC a rule to amend regulations regarding gifts and gratuities, with the goal of having them conform to the National Association of Securities Dealers standards. The MSRB...

Uniform Regulations Nationwide.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Financial Planning Association is pushing to have more uniform regulations for advisors and their branches throughout the country. At least five states have introduced versions of the Uniform Securities Act, a law to keep intermediary...

Real-Time Price Transparency.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SEC Chairman William Donaldson has commended the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for its implementation of real-time price transparency. He says that for the first time, "investors will have ready access to real-time price data for...

"Practice Made Perfect".(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... That's the title of the new book by Mark Tibergien and Rebecca Pomering (Bloomberg Press) that answers some of the biggest practice-management challenges including not making enough money for their effort, not having enough time to manage and...

Wooing Planners.(MLC Advice Solutions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The National Australia Bank's financial planning arm, MLC Advice Solutions, has targeted independent advisors with the intention of bringing them into the MLC camp. The bank is offering transition packages giving advisors access to marketing...

Strategic Priorities for 2005.(Financial Planning Association )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Financial Planning Association has revealed its strategic priorities for this year that includes helping its members improve their professionalism, increasing the awareness of the CFP certification, strengthening chapter structure, and...

IRA Beneficiaries Guide.(individual retirement accounts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... T. Rowe Price has developed a new guide to help beneficiaries better understand their distribution options, legal obligations, and deadlines when inheriting assets from a traditional IRA, SEP-IRA, Simple IRA, or 403(b) account. It is free and...

Practice Management Needed.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... More than 90 percent of advisors in Australia view practice management as very important, with 44 percent spending at least 10 hours per month on practice management development. The results are revealed from a MLC national survey of 600...

New Firm Using CPAs.(H and R Block Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... H&R Block says that it is launching a nationwide business employing CPAs to meet the tax, financial, and business services needs of small business owners in the U.S. It will be known as H&R Block Small Business Resources and over the next five...

Two in a Row for Vest.(H.D. Vest Financial Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... H.D. Vest Financial Services picked up its second straight CPA Wealth Provider Financial Planning Award of Excellence for its support of tax professionals who have added financial planning to their practices. Vest was the company cited for...

Next-Generation Investment Research from Morningstar.(Morningstar DirectSM)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Morningstar, Inc., has introduced Morningstar DirectSM, a Web-based global research platform that connects institutional investment professionals throughout the world with Morningstar's database and research. It is being rolled out through...

TA Platform Gives CPAs Independence.(Trust Advisory Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Trust Advisors has a platform that allows CPAs to maintain their independence. The model is composed of comprehensive financial planning so that localized financial professionals are available nationwide to partner with CPAs. Trusted Advisors,...

Building Partnerships to Grow Business.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Linsco/Private Ledger (LPL) has a partners program that offers CPAs the ability to transform their practices into full-service financial firms. By forming a strategic alliance with LPL and an experienced LPL investment representative, the firm...

Taking Financial Planning to New Heights.(Bernard M. Kiely, owner of Kiely Capital Management Inc.)
April 1, 2005... Bernard M. Kiely is the founder and owner of Kiely Capital Management, Inc. in Morristown, N.J., a fee-only investment management and financial planning firm. However, go to any financial planning conference and mention the name and you will be...

Adding Financial Services to Your Practice.
April 1, 2005... Either you have decided to offer financial services to your clients or you want to grow the talent pool of your existing financial services practice. Should you acquire a firm that already offers those services to accomplish that goal? ...

How Successful are CPAs Offering Investments?
April 1, 2005... Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a market research and strategy-consulting firm based in Tiburon, Calif., and serving the brokerage and investment management industry, has recently released a new research report on the CPA industry. According...

About Tiburon.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The company was formed in 1998 to offer market research and strategy consulting services to all types of financial institutions and investment managers. It has served more than 250 corporate clients and completed more than 600 projects since...

Gift Now or Pay Later.
April 1, 2005... Inviting your clients to consider a gifting program means more than generating additional revenues for your firm. A gifting program takes you beyond serving clients more fully. At its core, the development and fulfillment of a comprehensive...

Weighing Your Options in Foreign Stocks.
April 1, 2005... A lack of enthusiasm for domestic investments in the current economic situation may force some to search abroad for higher returns. But foreign stock purchases can be complicated due to currency conversions, the lack of financial reports from...

Putting It All Together.(document management software)
April 1, 2005... Paper could be cluttering, confusing, and costing your business more than you think, says Jeffrey Green, national director of compliance solutions for financial services at Long Beach, Calif.-based Laserfiche, the document management company....

Athletes vs. Investment Managers.
April 1, 2005... Most sporting events, or other forms of competition (e.g., a chess match, a game of checkers or bridge), are what are known as zero sum games-for every winner, there is a loser. In addition, in most forms of competition, even small advantages...