Accounting Technology articles from August 2005

Accounting Technology archives from August 2005

Security: The Weakest Link.
August 1, 2005... A recent presentation by California CPA Dave Cieslak bears the title, "IT Security-Are You the Weakest Link?" Most security experts will tell you that you are. Or your staff is. People are easily the biggest problem, and can confound all...

Paper Trail.(document management systems)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Document management systems have caught the market's attention. Associate Editor Carly Lombardo reports on the issues firms face in moving into the paperless area. Meanwhile, Lombardo also explores how resellers are cooperating with...

2005 Show Calendar.(Calendar)
August 1, 2005... AUGUST 11-12 Red Wing Software Reseller Conference. Red Wing, Minn. www.redwingsoftware.com/partnerconference.2005. AUGUST 23-24 Business & Technology Solutions Show, Illinois Society of CPAs. Donald Stephens Convention...

What is the biggest challenge your firm or your clients face in going paperless?
August 1, 2005... I believe the biggest challenge is the psychological change in going from a piece of paper that you can physically touch to one that is stored on the computer. The second biggest challenge is selecting the right software-one that will store...

Practice Development News.(Michael Dickson appointed at Plante & Moran P.L.L.C.)(achievements of TBC International Ltd.)(distribution of Intuit Inc.)
August 1, 2005... DICKSON JOINS PLANTE & MORAN Michael Dickson, who played a major role in promoting the Certified Information Technology Professional credential, has joined Southfield, Mich.-based Plante & Moran as manager of the technology consulting and...

Accounting News.(launch of Microsoft CRM 3.0)(Ed Kraaijenzank appointed at Exact Holding N.V.)(financial results of Serenic)
August 1, 2005... MICROSOFT TO PRICE HOSTED CRM Microsoft is introducing subscription pricing with next year's launch of Microsoft CRM 3.0 for those who use the application in hosted form. We have always supported hosting, says Brad Wilson, the...

Tax & Financial Planning News.(Alex Lintner appointed at Intuit Inc.)(Income Tax School's contract with Orrtax Software Solutions)(Bureau of National Affairs Inc. relocates to Arlington, Virginia)
August 1, 2005... INTUIT NAMES VP Intuit has named Alex Lintner, a former director and vice president for the Boston Consulting Group, to its newly created position as senor vice president of strategy and corporate development. He will be responsible...

Taming Your Firm's Paper: Although the main attraction is less paper, document management systems do so much more.
August 1, 2005... Above all else, Ronald Kranzler wanted consistency throughout Held, Kranzler, McCosker & Pulice. It was something the New York-based firm did not have in its workpapers, which were once set up on a job-to-job basis. "Often this meant, when...

Paperless Strategies.(technology use of O'Sullivan Creel L.L.P. and Soukup, Bush & Associates)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Many firms look to the technology department for developing a paperless strategy. But that's not where the leadership must come from, says Michael Johnson, partner of Pensacola, Fla.-based O'Sullivan Creel. "Document management cannot be...

Paperless Doesn't Mean Effortless.
August 1, 2005... A paperless office may be the promised land. Getting there can take a lot of wandering through the desert before arriving, because there are many challenges ahead. Sole practitioner Robert Liberto is struggling with setting up the system...

Document Management Vendors.(software industry)(Brief Article)(Directory)
August 1, 2005... CaseWare CaseWare International (800) 267-1317 www.caseware.com CCH Tax & Accounting Torrance, Calif. (800) 739-9998 http://tax.cchgroup.com CPASoftware Pensacola, Fla. (800) 272-7123 ...

Practicing for Profits: Practice management software is key to improving productivity and profitability.
August 1, 2005... Good practice management software can increase firm profitability by effectively managing information. By tying together clients, staff, resources, due dates, and schedules, the software presents a more complete picture of the status of your...

Help Wanted (And a Lot of It!): Technology and accounting firms are using imagination to find workers in a tight labor market.
August 1, 2005... Stanley, Stuart, Yoffee & Hendrix projects that its revenue will grow by 20 percent this year. That projection, of course, also depends on how easily the Maitland, Fla.-based firm can find the consultants who install the accounting products it...

Accounting Becomes a Popular Major.(study)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... For years, the number of accounting graduates declined, causing great concern among the profession and the leaders who need to find their next generation of staff from that talent pool. But for this year, no degree is in more demand than...

Burch: 100/100 Pays Dividends.(beliefs of Peyton Burch of Enterprise Resource Group)(distribution of Sage Software Inc. )
August 1, 2005... The most aggressive effort to help resellers hire and develop new talent has been Sage Software's 100/100 program. Now entering its second year, the program provides a pool of $1 million to help 100 VARs hire 100 new sales people, one each. ...

POS and the Giant Vendors: Some familiar names are reshaping the point-of-sale market.
August 1, 2005... Some familiar names are reshaping the point-of-sale market. Rob Carney had no doubt in his mind about the point-of-sale market when he launched EVT Systems just over a year ago to sell Microsoft's entries in that field. A former...

POS: Not for Part-Timers.(point of sale system)(beliefs of Dave Beck)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... If you think accounting software is mission-critical, think about how critical a point-of-sale system is to a retailer. "That's part of the learning curve," says Dave Beck, CEO of SystemLink North America, a Herndon, Va.-based Accpac...

Synchronics Enters the Low End.(launch of Synchronics CounterPoint)
August 1, 2005... It's been a long time since POS specialist Synchronics competed at the low end of the point-of-sale market. But the Memphis, Tenn.-based company is introducing an Express version of its CounterPoint line. Priced at $995 for a single user,...

POS Vendors.(point of sale)(software industry)(Brief Article)(Directory)
August 1, 2005... Accpac Pleasanton, Calif. (800) 945-8007, option 1 www.accpac.com American Express Tax & Business Services New York (866) 836-7940 www.americanexpress.com/tbsalliance Cougar Mountain Software Boise, Idaho...

VAR Partnerships: Many accounting resellers are forming partnerships as a strategy to win new business.(value added reseller)
August 1, 2005... Many accounting resellers are realizing they can't go it alone. The fewer, but bigger, accounting software vendors have large and more technologically sophisticated lines that have broadened beyond accounting into areas such as customer...

Making the Relationship Work.(distribution agreements of software industry)
August 1, 2005... Successful partnering doesn't just happen; it takes plenty of work and a process, according to Jon Donlan. "Partnering has always been a touchy subject-it's like a fox in the hen house. Many companies are afraid to bring in partners...

Sexauer: Going It Alone.(beliefs of Rick Sexauer of Avayle Solutions)
August 1, 2005... Rick Sexauer approaches partnering in a unique way. He has no choice: Sexauer is the only employee of Fremont, Calif.-based Avayle Solutions, an Epicor software reseller. Avayle is a virtual company. "The virtual organization allows me to...

New Products.(WordPerfect Small Biz of Corel Corp.)(Accpac ePOS 5.3 of Sage Software Inc.)(SecureTide of AppRiver)
August 1, 2005... Accpac POS Enhancements to Accpac ePOS 5.3, for small to midsized retailers, include better inventory control and easier handling of returns and exchanges. The improved retail functions consist of multi-lingual capabilities, tracking sales...

SAP Business One: Less Is More.(distribution of SAP AG)
August 1, 2005... SAP believes the fewer VARS it has, the better, when it comes to selling its SAP Business One software. "We'd rather have as few partners as possible to cover a broad geography," says Dan Kraus, vice president SAP Business One. "If you...

AmEx Gives VARs an Option.(value added resellers)(SAP AG's distribution agreement with American Express Tax and Business Services)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... From the moment it launched Business One into the U.S. market three years ago, SAP has been allied with American Express Tax and Business Services. AmEx develops and markets the Business One American Express Edition and has also developed...

Advertisers' Index August 2005.
August 1, 2005... For FREE product information, go to www.AccountingTechnology.com/freeproductinfo Advertiser Ad Appears on page ADP 1 Best Software 8,9 Both Worlds ...

Martin: Using a Credential to Stand Out.(beliefs of Kevin M. Martin of Martin and Associates)
August 1, 2005... For Kevin M. Martin, CPA, having the Certified Information Technology Professional credential associated with his consulting firm speaks for itself. In just the past three months, the $2.6 million Cincinnati-based firm has won more than...

Smart Software Makes Analysis Easier.(Sage CPA Practice Manager and Sage eAnalytics Portal IQ3 of Sage Software Inc.)
August 1, 2005... Sage Software has a successful 30-year history of helping public accountants succeed through an array of CPASoftware products and services. In addition, close to 50 percent of the PAR 100 CPA firms in the U.S. use CPASoftware products. So, when...

An Answer in an Instant!(services of Leimberg and LeClair Inc.)
August 1, 2005... Hate being the last to know about a hot new case or ruling? Tired of wasting time trying to research an important new law or regulation? We offer CPA planners in the estate, financial, retirement, charitable, business, asset protection, and...

Business Plan Pro for Accountants.(Palo Alto Software Business Plan Pro)
August 1, 2005... Business plans have long had a special relationship to accounting and accountants. A business plan normally includes complete pro forma financial statements. Although these are projections rather than actual results, the statements look a lot...

Planning-Oriented Content and Tools.(services of CCH Inc.)(Company Profile)
August 1, 2005... Increasing regulation and a complex business environment make tax planning more important than ever for accounting firms. Whether it's planning that's required in response to a tax law change or planning that helps a client reduce their taxes...

TRUST Intelligence.(services of Renew Group)
August 1, 2005... Dale Carnegie once wrote, "The only way to influence someone is to find out precisely what they need and then show them how to get it." Notice Carnegie did not say it's one out of 10 ways to influence people. He said it's the only way. ...

Putting the Crunch Back.
August 1, 2005... It all started when Kel Hoffmann was providing management consulting services to business owners and managers. Hoffmann realized that few planning processes were more labor-intensive and costly than financial modeling. Spreadsheets such as...

Making Numbers Understandable.(ProfitCents of SageWorks Inc.)
August 1, 2005... Financial professionals live in a world of numbers. At root, we love them. In fact, we think and talk in numbers. The challenge is that our clients don't always think this way. They don't think in numbers and, many times, they find numbers...

Dashboards Delivering Results.
August 1, 2005... In a world where information is power and management of risk is paramount, finance professionals and CFOs are increasingly turning to dashboards, analytics and business intelligence to provide strategic insight, manage risk and drive new...

Reliable Research a Critical Component.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Due to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), even seasoned accounting practitioners find themselves second-guessing their estate planning decisions. At RIA, we knew it was vital to help practitioners with...

Leveraging Business Intelligence.(The Information Edge of Blackbaud Inc.)
August 1, 2005... We live in the information age, nonprofits included. Although having access to data can be great, turning it into knowledge is a challenge. This is where experienced CPAs are essential, turning their clients' data into information by using...

Real Time Visibility.
August 1, 2005... There are many good reasons-three major ones, to be precise-for an accounting firm to consider NetSuite over competing accounting software packages. Our accounting functionality, however, is not among those reasons. Don't get me wrong....

Adding Value to Your Client Services.(accounting services)
August 1, 2005... Clients are asking for additional information and services beyond the preparation of financial statements. Small business client managers and owners often have difficulty analyzing business performance and developing strategic plans based only...

Any Report, Any Way, Right Now.(product details of Jet Reports)
August 1, 2005... It's 7:00 p.m., the last few employees are making their way out the door to go home for the evening. You sit in your office and watch, envious of their position. If only you could solicit a few of them to help you, you might make it home by...

Riding the Retirement Wave.
August 1, 2005... A wave of opportunity is washing over the financial services industry. An estimated 46 million baby boomers are expected to retire in the next 10 years. As these near-retirees prepare for their golden years, their focus is shifting from saving...