Accounting Technology articles from March 2009

Accounting Technology archives from March 2009

Don't Buy Software.(Editor's Note)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert W. Scott When times are tough, businesses look for places to cut costs. And one of those places is software. My advice is don't buy it if you don't have to. Now, for the substantial part of the reading audience that...

Breaking the Excel Habit; A spreadsheet is not necessarily the first tool to reach for.(Features)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert W. Scott Many years ago, a survey of computer usage showed that Lotus 1-2-3 was the most commonly used spreadsheet, database, graphics package and word processing package used by members of the American Institute of CPAs....

SOX Sharpens Focus on Excel.(Features)
March 1, 2009... The fact that Excel can create problems in generating and distributing financial information has long been known. But it took the new generation of regulation to put some urgency in doing something about overuse of Excel. "This is...

Microsoft A No-show for Story.(Features)
March 1, 2009... Microsoft was requested through its public relations firm, Waggener-Edstrom, to provide a person who could discuss the issues regarding Excel and security. However, a spokesman said that he was unable to find anyone with the company that...

NEW PRODUCTS.
March 1, 2009... Intacct Winter 2009 Intacct's Winter 2009 release of its Web-based accounting applications introduces Intacct Global Consolidations, aimed at multi-entity, multi-currency businesses. This application helps global businesses increase...

Donde Speeds Sales Tax Compliance.(Executive Spotlight)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Alexandra DeFelice Anton Donde grew PayUSA to a $15 million payroll processing and tax filling business with 200 employees, acquiring three other payroll companies along the way and selling it after taking it public. Now he is...

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Web Sites.(RE: MARKS)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Gene Marks A few months ago I was at a technology conference and the results of a survey had just been announced and, gasp, it found that an astonishing 40 percent of small businesses don't have a Web site (another survey put the...

Calculating the ROI of Learning.(Opinion)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Gary Boomer Training budgets are tempting targets during tight times, but should firms really cut expenses in this area? According to Gartner Research, every hour of information technology training provides 5.75 hours of increased...

Holding On to Paper and Letting Go.
March 1, 2009... Byline: Alexandra DeFelice How do you deal with the old guys? A Rutgers college journalism student posed that question to me when I visited my alma matter this semester to talk to a class about newsroom management. His question...

Advisory Teams on the Rise.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Rebecca King Many financial planners, accountants, and other financial professionals are turning to advisor teams to improve practice efficiency and leverage their client bases. A recent survey of FPA members, produced by Cerulli...

Leverage a Strategic Network of Peers to Generate Revenue.
March 1, 2009... Byline: Julie Lubetkin Networking groups are increasing in popularity as a viable means to connect with a community and leverage members' strengths and expertise. Whether it is through online social media such as LinkedIn or Facebook, or...

PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT NEWS.
March 1, 2009... Deltek Honors VARs Deltek has named Cranford, N.J.-based Solutions Strategists, headed by Art Nathan, as its New Partner of the Year as the Herndon, Va.-based company published the list of resellers honored in its second annual awards. ...

Put Your Association to Work for You.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Gale Crosley A quick web search for the phrase "CPA associations" yields about 1.4 million entries. Although the number of qualifying organizations would probably number at most in the dozens, the search results suggest that...

Join a Wealth Management Networking Group Today!(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Bill Stevens As CPA, tax and accounting firms like yours look to the future, wealth management should become an integral part of every professional engagement you have with your clients. But how can you reach your full potential in...

Discovering Your Hidden Practice.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Roger Ochs Are you wondering if you should consider adding investment services to your tax practice? As your clients' trusted tax professional, you already provide them with tax help year-after-year. Yet your clients' financial...

Ensuring Success of Network Members.(Survey)
March 1, 2009... Byline: David Bergstein As a strategic partner to tax and accounting professionals, CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, conducted a nationwide survey of accounting firms of all sizes to examine the trends influencing the accounting profession...

Adding Financial Services Capabilities.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Parness No doubt, the services your CPA firm offers today have evolved considerably from the traditional tax and audit business that initially constituted your firm's core business. As your clients' requirements became...

Capitalize on Your Most Precious Partnership.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Chandra Bhansali Various partner programs are available to accountants from broker/dealers, financial services firms, payroll service bureaus, and software vendors. Virtually every vendor that sells to small businesses woos...

Developing Strategic Partnerships.(Partner Programs)
March 1, 2009... Byline: David Brennan Over the past decade, many CPA firms throughout the country have established and continue to establish financial services advisory platforms. This trend is a natural outgrowth of increasing demands among high net...

If it's March, it must be Top 100 Firms!
March 1, 2009... Byline: Bill Carlino For those of you who reside in the colder regions of the U.S., the onset of March is most likely accompanied by a tempered optimism that the snow and ice of yet another unforgiving winter will shortly begin to ebb. ...

Is the glass half full, or half empty?(Top 100 Firms 2009 - Overview)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Daniel Hood Given the current dire state of the world economy, the answer to the question posed by our cover may seem obvious. Indeed, the better question might be not whether the glass is half full or half empty, but whether a...

T100 seize opportunities amidst sagging economy.(Top 100 Firms 2009 - Strategies)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Bill Carlino Despite the collapse of some of the nation's storied financial institutions, massive job layoffs and trillions disappearing from personal investment portfolios, a surprising number of the 2009 class of Top 100 Firms...

Show Calendar.
March 1, 2009... MARCH 4-6 Connect 2009, Tenth Annual CounterPoint User Conference. Hyatt Regency Baltimore. http://counterpointpos.com/news/cuc.htm MARCH 10-13 Convergence 2009, Microsoft Dynamics user conference. New Orleans. ...

Economy impacts T100 firm niche growth.(Top 100 Firms 2009 - Niche Services)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Liz Gold Given the current economic woes, it comes as no surprise that growth in specialty services has taken a hit - leaving fewer of the 2009 Top 100 Firms reporting increases in various niche areas than in past years. Nearly...

T100 regions defy economic gravity.(Top 100 Firms 2009 - Regional Leaders)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Roger Russell The Top 100 regional firms grew overall during 2008 despite the downturn that gripped the U.S. economy during most of the year. Signs of a slowing economy were numerous: unemployment up, home sales and home prices...

2009 Firm highlights.(Top 100 Firms 2009 - Firm Highlights)
March 1, 2009... Alpern Rosenthal: Hired a director of business development. Amper, Politziner & Mattia: In June, merged with Top 100 Firm Goldenberg Rosenthal, Jenkintown, Pa., almost doubling number of partners and adding close to $30 million in revenue....

ACCOUNTING NEWS.
March 1, 2009... Kelly Leaves Epicor After just under a year on the job, Thomas Kelly, CEO of Epicor, resigned his position in January and was replaced by the previous CEO, 67-year-old George Klaus. Kelly, who had a background in venture capital,...

TAX & FINANCIAL PLANNING NEWS.
March 1, 2009... Crisis Center Launched CCH has created the CCH Financial Crisis News Center to provide a variety of information, including news stories, analysis and links to source documents for regulatory actions, involving the current economic crisis....

Marketing Your Firm Online.(Cover story)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Alexandra DeFelice When Justin Curzi tries to convince accountants to use Emochila's Web site services, he encounters the same resistance he did five years ago. They tell him they don't need more clients. But the accountants...

ABCs of AdWords.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2009... Figuring out which keywords to use when dabbling in pay-per-click advertising can be a bit complicated. The good news is that even accountants who don't want to hire outside help to figure it out don't have to be search engine optimization...

Design Dos and Don'ts.(Cover Story)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... There's a lot to consider when starting a site from scratch, or scrapping the old one that's been around for a decade. Following are a few tips from some of the experts: DO * Ask visitors to provide an email - the chances of...

Making Documents Go With the Flow; Document management and workflow are increasingly inseparable.(Software Review)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Dave McClure A year ago, the emphasis in document management remained in the core areas of scanning, storing and retrieving documents. But the emphasis has changed in the past year, making it clear that document management alone...