Accounting Technology articles from April 2008

Accounting Technology archives from April 2008

Backup Follies.
April 1, 2008... Its not often that the message in this space repeats a column that appeared on our Web site, WebCPA.com. But there are special circumstances here. I should known better, as they say. After attending all sorts of disaster recovery seminars...

VAR 100.
April 1, 2008... Its time again to rank the biggest members of the midmarket accounting reselling business. This years annual VAR 100 selection measures the top resellers purely by revenue size. But its a selection that is generating an increasing interest...

Show Calendar.
April 1, 2008... APRIL 6-8 ITA Spring Members Meeting. Westin Buckhead Atlanta, Atlanta. www.italliance.com APRIL 6-9 Engage 2008. Exact Software user and reseller conference, Las Vegas Hilton. www. Exactamerica.com MAY 7-9 CounterPoint...

Accounting Technology May Coming Attractions.
April 1, 2008... Social Networking Its all the buzz. But just how useful are social networking tools in the business environment? T&B Review As long as firms bill by the hour, time and billing software holds a crucial role in the accounting and...

Practice Development News.
April 1, 2008... LBMC TECH HIRES TWO LBMC Technologies has added two people to the staff of its Brentwood, Tenn. office. Joining the firm as a senior business systems consultant is Jim Taylor, formerly senior consulting with Axis Accounting Systems, a...

Accounting News.
April 1, 2008... MBS FILLS RELLERS SPOT Microsoft Business Solutions has named Chris Caren to fill the position left open when former corporate VP Tami Reller became CFO of Microsofts Windows division in November. Caren was named as a general manager,...

2007: Sage Sought HR and Payroll.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Company, country Purchase price Business Segment KCS (U.K.) $39.7M HR/payroll Creative Singapore (Malaysia) $7.18M HR/payroll Xperts (France) $4.56M Accountancy ...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
April 1, 2008... CBIZ BUYS PAYROLL COMPANY CBiz has acquired certain assets of Computer Payroll Co., a payroll processing company based in Palm Desert, Calif. CPC had about $2.5 million in revenue in 2007. It employed 18 and served about 800 clients,...

The State of the VAR Market: The essence of what resellers and consultants do is changing.(MIS Group )(Company overview)
April 1, 2008... Robert Muirs secret plan for building the MIS Group is not a big secret. Its really Business 1010. What a lot of companies have is people who are first and foremost either sales people or technical, says Muir, who founded the Houston-based...

Recruiting Stations Open.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The last few months have been good ones for resellers who are looking for new opportunities. Programs have been introduced both by companies relatively new to the reselling game, like Deltek and Intuit, to old hands, such as Epicor and Exact...

Var 100 Jockeying for Position: Market forces have reshaped the software reselling channel.
April 1, 2008... Theres a fight in the middle of the pack of Accounting Technologys VAR 100 list to reach a size that makes survival more likely. Tectura and Columbus IT Partner still rank 1 and 2, as they have since this ranking began in 2004. But RSM...

The Var 100.(List)
April 1, 2008... Rank Company 07 Revenue (M) Employees Accounting Software 1 Tectura, Redwood City, Calif.1 280 1,900 Dynamics AX, GP, NAV, SL 2 Columbus IT Partner, Copenhagen2 187.7 1,100 Dynamics AX, NAV 3 RSM McGladrey, Minneapolis...

Write-up Rules!: Turn yearly tax clients into monthly money streams.
April 1, 2008... Handling write-up work for McDonalds franchises proved to be a super-sized hassle for Shirlene Small. The fast-food restaurant chain mandates its stores turn in monthly financial statements in a specifically structured format. The complex...

How to Build a Write-up Practice.
April 1, 2008... A 2007 survey of Accounting Technology readers showed 30 percent of respondents anticipate buying client write-up software within the year and a handful of them are interested in growing their write-up and small business advisory services. ...

Is the Price Right?: Payroll systems offer income, but face competition. by Dave McClure.
April 1, 2008... In 2008, payroll is a more challenging service than ever before. Theres more competition in the marketplace, falling prices among some vendors, and a possible recession thats spelling leaner times for the core market for these products, small...

Tax Research on the Cheap: Can inexpensive also be good?
April 1, 2008... Staying abreast of the latest in tax law changes is obviously critical for any tax professional. But for CPA David W. Ristau the need to keep current is especially important as he serves clients in 28 states and, during the tax season, finds...

Two Markets.(CCH )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... CCH has two research linesthe other is the Kleinrock platform that was acquired more than a year ago, along with the sister ATX tax applications. Product manager Tina Rajski says the two platforms will remain, as they really serve two...

New Products.
April 1, 2008... ALERE V. 5.2 Alere Accounting v5.2 can utilize customer numbers to enter sales orders or invoices, while enabling users to apply three traits to a single item number for items that have the same cost but differ in characteristics. ...

Size Matters at Exact Software.(Company overview)
April 1, 2008... Size matters when it comes to Exact Software resellers. Its a point the vendor made clear about five years ago when it started charging more than $10,000 to be part of its channel, a move encouraging consolidation and dropouts so only the...

Advertisers' Index 4/08.
April 1, 2008... Ad Appears Advertiser on page ADP Small Business Services 3 AT&T Wired 5 ATX 1 CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business C4 ...

Paul Farrell: Dynamics Wizard.
April 1, 2008... Paul Farrell doesnt need magic to practice wizardry. His software waves the wand behind the computer screen. Wizard Productivity Systems, a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, serves as a Web-based implementer and consultant so that smaller...

Follow the Money.
April 1, 2008... In another lifetime, I spent some time with two of this countrys foremost comedians, both different in their own regard. Groucho Marx has said, Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is...

RAND Report Under Review: FPA calls for roundtable to discuss.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The text of RAND Corporations final report, Investor and Industry Perspectives on Investment Advisers and Broker/Dealers, on practices in the investment adviser and broker-dealer industries and the fact that investors have failed to distinguish...

Wealth Preservation Remains Top Concern: Risk management of high importance.
April 1, 2008... Loss of principal, comfortable retirement, and market volatility topped the list of concerns and reasons for seeking professional money management, according to findings by Rochdale Investment Management of its 2007 Private Client Survey. The...

Living to Work: Net worth has little to do with it.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Wealthy business owners enjoy their work so much that 43 percent want to continue being employed until age 70 or later, according to a survey by PNC Wealth Management. But while the fire burns from within to keep working, the report shows that...

Revised Ethical Standards Going Into Effect: Client comes first at all times.
April 1, 2008... The CFP Board of Standards has adopted a revised version of its Standards of Professional conduct, which sets forth the ethical standards for CFP professionals. It becomes effective on July 1, 2008. The revised standards require a CFP...

Aiding Broker/Dealers with Anti-Money Laundering Rule.
April 1, 2008... Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has announced that its content management tool, CCH Policies and Procedures Written Supervisory Procedures (WSP) Online, which helps both large and small broker/dealers assemble and update policies and...

Earning Service Excellence.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... For the fifth year in a row, 1st Global has earned the prestigious Dalbar Service Award in recognition of the companys ongoing commitment to operations and sales support service excellence to its affiliated financial advisors. The company...

Portfolio Management Software for Home Use.
April 1, 2008... Manage Invest has come up with a new investment management software that contains features that it says users need to keep accurate and complete records while managing them quickly and correctly from one simple program. The company claims it...

Partnership Renewed.
April 1, 2008... The Financial Planning Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) have announced their continuous joint effort to help emergency physicians discover the value of financial planning by incorporating financial literacy...

Boomers Living Contradictions?
April 1, 2008... 51% Say financial planning goals set. 67% Believe they could run out of money in their lifetime. (c) 2008 Accounting Technology and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.webcpa.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Retirement Savings Heads List.
April 1, 2008... The results of a new survey from the American Institute of Cetrified Public Accountants conclude that retirement savings is a key concern for Americans and that life decisions are in limbo because of finances. According to the survey, having...

Packaged Solutions from Oppenheimer: Multi-manager approach taken.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... OppenheimerFunds has launched the Oppenheimer Portfolio Series Fixed Income Active Allocation Fund, the newest addition to its Portfolio Series. The Fund employs a multi-manager approach, taking advantage of several of Oppenheimer managers...

Retire Retirement.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Workforce expert Tamar Erickson says she is tired of the gloomy stories that depict retirement as several years of inactivity, followed by illness and death. On the contrary, as life expectancies rise, she feels that people who retire may well...

SWS Doubles Private Client Advisor Network.
April 1, 2008... SWS Group says that it has signed an agreement to acquire M.L. Stern and its wholly owned subsidiary, Tower Asset Management. Stern has 112 financial advisors serving high-net-worth clients and approximately $4 billion in customer assets under...

Getting an Early Jump.
April 1, 2008... Eight in 10 working Americans say theyve begun to prepare for retirement starting on average at age 30, according to a global retirement survey by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. However, they do not anticipate being able to retire until...

New Internet Platform for Clients.
April 1, 2008... BNY Mellon Wealth Management has launched an Internet platform, Private Workbench, for family offices and wealthy individuals that provides a comprehensive view of a clients entire relationship with the company while still offering various...

Gen Xers Have Different Priorities.
April 1, 2008... 78% Put meeting Daily Expenses first. 27% Consider saving a top priority. (c) 2008 Accounting Technology and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.webcpa.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Plain English Narrative: Disclosure by investment advisors to investors.
April 1, 2008... The SEC has voted unanimously to propose rule amendments requiring investment advisors to prepare and deliver to clients and prospective clients a narrative brochure that is written in plain English. These would be made available to the general...

Star Ratings for Hedge Funds.
April 1, 2008... Morningstar has launched the Morningstar Rating for hedge funds as well as the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index and 17 indexes based on the companys hedge fund categories; the new rating system uses a scale of one-to-five stars so that similar...

On the Book Shelves.(book reviews)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Unlock Your Money Type Breaking free of old patterns Its Not About The Money by Brent Kessel shows that it is possible to gain financial security and peace of mind no matter what the resources. Contains ready-to-go investment strategies....

A New Alternative to Stock Options: A NQDC plan can offer significant benefits to both the company and the executive.
April 1, 2008... The challenges for creating an effective executive compensation package are many: the executive wants more pay but less taxation, while the company wants incentive based benefits that bind the executive to the company. The traditional solution...

Do High-Yield Junk Bonds Translate Into High Returns?: It is risk adjusted-returns we should care about, not just returns.
April 1, 2008... There seems to be a very high correlation between the demand for high-yield (junk) bonds and the level of interest rates. The fall in Treasury bond rates during the second half of 2007 has once again led many investors to search for higher...

Finding Ways To Lighten the Tuition Load.
April 1, 2008... As college costs increase with no end in sight, more and more of your clients are struggling to find ways to lighten the tuition load. Luckily, there exist several beneficial tax deductions, credits, and scholarships that can help your clients...

Family Businesses Facing Challenges.
April 1, 2008... Its been frequently said that small business is the engine of the American economy. If so, family businesses are of the high performance, whisper quiet, finely tuned kind, humming along at an impressive clipeven if there might be a few bumps...

What You Need to Know About Municipal Bonds.
April 1, 2008... If youre in a higher tax bracket and are looking for a way to help diversify your portfolio and potentially save money in the process, municipal bonds may be worth some consideration. Municipal bonds (or munis, for short) are IOUs issued by...

A Workforce That Doesn't Retire: Baby Boomers are no dummies. They know their value.
April 1, 2008... In the next few years, the oldest of the Baby Boomers, now 61, are going to start retiring by the millions, and thoughtful executives are wondering how businesses can replace all these people. If most of them do retire, then some economists...

Show Your True Colors.
April 1, 2008... For CPAs with a financial planning practice, making a name for yourself can be a tricky proposition. The accounting industry has a reputation for a tailored, professional look, so how do you create a unique brand identity that highlights your...

Don't Be Left Out.
April 1, 2008... Its rather unusual that the same person, in this case me, would write both the Editors Note at the front of this magazine and now the Closing Thoughts known as the end paper. But this is a special case. Last year, we published for the first...

Inside the Top 100.
April 1, 2008... During the course of the year, we at Accounting Today are queried by dozens of CPA practices as to the criteria for qualifying for our annual Top 100 Firms listing. No doubt many of these queries emanate from outstanding and well-respected...

The 2008 Top 100 Firms: A glowing review.
April 1, 2008... Mortgage lenders in trouble, bank loan officers and underwriters paralyzed with fear, TV screenwriters on strike, Britney Spears skipping out on yet another court date with so many players in the economy having finished last year on sour...

2008 Top 100 Firms Databank.
April 1, 2008... OVERVIEW Top 6 % Firms over % Firms under % Total Top % firms chg. $100 mn chg. $100 mn chg. 100 Firms chg. Revenue (in $mn) $32,695.61 10.49 $4,631.76 14.49 $3,527.28 15.02 $40,854.65...

Beyond the Top 100: Firms to Watch.
April 1, 2008... This year, we surveyed over 200 firms, which means that more than half of our respondents didnt make the list. What it doesnt mean, however, is that those firms arent worth paying attention to, as many of those just below our T100 threshold of...

The Top 100 Firms get creative in the face of perennial concerns.
April 1, 2008... The more things change in the accounting profession, the more they seem to remain the same. Or at least the critical issues do. The struggle for firms to successfully reach par staffing levels, particularly in luring aboard those with...

The Top tax firms.
April 1, 2008... Tax work remains profitable (not that anyone doubted it would), but in 2007 it came in for some of the regulatory and legal scrutiny that used to be reserved for audit work. Refund anticipation loans were once again the cause of lawsuits,...

T100 niches net a wealth of opportunity.
April 1, 2008... Estate, trust and gift tax planning bumped litigation support to tie with business valuations for second-fastest-growing client niche among the 2008 Top 100 Firms, while attest services remained at No. 1. With the aging of the Baby Boomers,...

T100 regional firms still going strong.
April 1, 2008... The nations Top 100 regional firms reflected continued strong economic growth during 2007, despite signs of an economic downturn just before years end. Nationwide, Top 100 Firm revenue grew at a combined rate of 11.31 percent, just...

The Top 100 Local Firms By Region.
April 1, 2008... (by revenue, excluding the Big Four and national firms) Rev. Headquarters ($mn) % chg. CENTRAL MIDWEST (18 firms) Crowe Group Oak Brook Terrace, Ill. 457.43 8.14 Plante & Moran Southfield, Mich. 271.24 11.82 ...

The 2008 Top 100 Firms.(Company rankings)
April 1, 2008... Rank Revenue Personnel Fee Split Year $ % Offices Partners % Professionals % Total % (in percent) 08 07 Firm Headquarters Chief executive end mn. chg. chg. chg. emps. chg. A&A Tax MAS Other 1...