Accounting Technology articles from May 2005

Accounting Technology archives from May 2005

Web Sites and Feeling Stupid.
May 1, 2005... The pie chart in the 2004 Wolters Kluwer annual report should not surprise anybody. The company says 52 percent of its products are still print-based. Nor should we be surprised that many of the tax and accounting professionals who still...

Training Days.(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... Retaining staff is always a challenge, but providing skills can help keep valued employees in place. In "Time to Train," Associate Editor Carly Lombardo discusses what kinds of skills are being taught and how firms are helping themselves...

Need Insights?
May 1, 2005... Editor Robert Scott also writes "Consulting Insights," a free, twice-monthly electronic newsletter that addresses issues concerning the consulting and reselling market. It's insight with an attitude. If you want to subscribe, put the following...

Practice Development News.
May 1, 2005... AICPA OPENS IT SITE The American Institution of CPAs has established an Information Technology Web site that is designed to provide information to holders of its Certified Information Technology Professional credential and to CPAs who are...

Accounting News.
May 1, 2005... SAGE GETS U.S. RIGHTS Sage Ltd., which lost the rights to its name in the United States, has struck a deal with the company that defeated it. The agreement will enable Sage to retire the name Best Software. Sage had used Best's name...

Street Talk: Reader Views.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... A recent Microsoft survey found that lack of team communication and ineffective meetings were the biggest factors decreasing productivity. What drains productivity at your organization and what steps are you taking to improve? We are in 17...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
May 1, 2005... CSI REBRANDS Creative Solutions has begun rebranding its tax and accounting software line, bringing its entire array of products together under the name CS Professional Suite. "For many of the products, it's going to be the same...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2005... The VAR 100 list in the April issue of Accounting Technology failed to include MAS 500 as one of the products offered by Nextec, a Houston-based reseller. Nextec ranked as No. 28 on the VAR 100 list. Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All...

Time to Train: In today's tight labor market, more firms are investing in training.(Capital Business Solutions)
May 1, 2005... New hires at Capital Business Solutions have to study Government 101 - and not-for-profit 101, as well. They are not going back to school at a university. Newly employed consultants must take several classes, including Not-for-Profit and...

Developing A Training Culture.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... To implement an effective training program, firms must go beyond simply establishing a list of courses. They must make training a part of the firm's culture. "When firms begin thinking about attracting and retaining quality people, a...

The Economics of Training.
May 1, 2005... Is paying for training worth the effort? Gary Boomer says that the gains that stem from having a more educated staff can be measured. "The key to training is to get a balance of soft skills as well as technical skills. Too many firms simply...

Content is King: Price and ease of use are important, but content is what really counts.
May 1, 2005... For vendors of tax research tools it's all about selling their products' content, pricing or ease of use, or all three. But content, it seems, is still king, even when the price is right. "I've got to have content," says Leon Keller, a sole...

Tax Research Vendors.(Brief Article)(Directory)
May 1, 2005... BNA/Tax Management Washington, D.C. (800) 372-1033 www.bnatax.com CCH Tax & Accounting Riverwoods, Ill. (800) TELL-CCH www.cch.com Kleinrock Publishing Rockville, Md. (800) 890-1503 www.kleinrock.com ...

LexisNexis Sees Green In SBMs.
May 1, 2005... For years, LexisNexis has been selling data culled from numerous information sources and then tailoring it for use by the Big Four accounting firms. It consolidates the voluminous content it receives from a number of tax content providers into...

Small Biz Software Gets Bigger: The product choices have narrowed, but their power has grown.(Product/Service Evaluation)
May 1, 2005... The accounting software market for the small-to-midsized business is getting a little worse and a lot better at the same time. It's getting a little worse because the number of lower-end products continues to shrink, but it's getting a lot...

First Look: Microsoft Small Business Accounting.
May 1, 2005... Microsoft's Office Small Business Accounting (scheduled for release late in 2005) is a new approach to SOHO accounting: The product is completely integrated with Office 2003. The beta release shows real potential and will definitely be worth...

CRM resellers and vendors are offering customers vertical solutions.
May 1, 2005... A large hedge fund company found that as its assets under management grew, it became hard to deliver personalized service in a cost-effective way. As the number of clients increased, it became harder to sell, cross-sell, and track new...

CRM Vendors.(Brief Article)(Directory)
May 1, 2005... Best Software Scottsdale, Ariz. (800) 643-6400 www.bestsoftware.com Cole Valley Software San Francisco (800) 447-1712 www.colevalley.com Lexis Nexis Interface Software Oakbrook, Ill. (888) 572-1400...

Recognizing Opportunities.(TenDigits)
May 1, 2005... Vancouver, B.C.-based TenDigits saw an opportunity for CRM to exist on handhelds and ran with it, designing MobileAccess for Microsoft CRM to provide Blackberry users access to their CRM data, including contacts, accounts, opportunities, leads,...

Manufacturing a Solution: Manufacturers are looking for better ways to run their businesses.
May 1, 2005... Small manufacturers are hurting, says David Bilbrey, "Their inventory is not under control. They don't have what they need on time.They have too much that they don't need and they can't find anything." And although the technology world is...

Manufacturing Software Vendors.(Brief Article)(Directory)
May 1, 2005... Best Software Irvine, Calif. (888) 689-5656 www.bestsoftware.com Exact Software North America Andover, Mass. (978) 474-4900 www.exactsoftwarena.com Fourth Shift/SoftBrands Minneapolis (800) 342-5675...

Manufacturing: A Place for CPAs?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The words Intuit, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and manufacturing software haven't been associated with each other. But this year, Intuit exhibited at the National Manufacturer's conference. The low-end packages, including both QuickBooks and...

New Products.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2005... FUNDRAISING GT PRO The address maintenance tool in GT Pro 4.0 verifies an address and adjusts the format to conform to U.S. Postal Service standards. It also searches the name in a national change of address database and will insert new...

Wind2 Software: An Exclusive Club.(Company Profile)
May 1, 2005... Becoming a member of Wind2 Software's channels program is on par with joining a private golf club. There are three candidates undergoing rigorous training in order to become Wind2 Business Solution Providers, says Wind2's chief executive...

Advertisers' Index May 2005.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 1, 2005... Ad appears Advertiser on page Best Software 16 Best Software 7 CCH Cov. 4 Creative Solutions Cov. 2 Intuit ProSeries 3 Intuit...

Burch: Training for Success.
May 1, 2005... Peyton Burch considers the rigorous training he received while at a Big Eight firm as the key to the success of his Burch Consultants. "If you have fabulous software and no one knows how to use it," Burch says, "it does no one any good....

Go to the Top.(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... I'm old enough to have known Groucho Marx who passed away at the age of 87 in 1977. He was a remarkable human being with an incredible wit. But at one meeting, he said something that wasn't particularly funny but which became an edict for me....

Accounting Marketers Play Key Role.
May 1, 2005... It is absolutely true that all businesses, including professional service firms, need to distinguish themselves in their marketplace. This is accomplished by creating a compelling message that differentiates the firm from its competitors. ...

You Can't Do It Yourself.(marketing)
May 1, 2005... For the past 19 years, I have been in the business of helping accountants grow their firms. And, there is one thing I'm certain of and that is you, the accountant and owner of the firm, is simply not the best choice when it comes to selling...

Putting Your Best Face Forward.
May 1, 2005... According to Capstone Marketing research, the top three marketing tools that generate the most leads for CPA firms are networking, mixers with referral sources, and seminars. What do these three marketing tools have in common? Each brings CPAs...

Business Developers are from Saturn ... Partners Are From Mars.
May 1, 2005... Sarbanes/Oxley reforms have upended a formerly predictable cosmos. Today, significant conflicted-out opportunities are being cast off by large firms like meteors through the atmosphere. Finding the most efficient way to draw the largest meteors...

Ten Marketing Tips to a Profitable Client Payroll Business.
May 1, 2005... Payroll is no longer something to fear or loathe as a CPA professional. In fact, payroll could be one of the easiest and most profitable add-on business services for your clients. According to industry reports, estimated billings for...

Creating a Steady Flow of Leads.
May 1, 2005... CPA firms that devote time, money, and resources to one-shot marketing campaigns often wonder why such techniques don't work. A campaign may involve a single mailing or a mailing with a follow up phone call, and that is often where the...

Linking Marketing to Profitability.
May 1, 2005... CPA firms are starting to embrace marketing as a vital component for driving growth. Many firms even have a written marketing plan in place. But the key to making marketing a strategic, long-term investment with a positive ROI is to correlate...

Marketing is Easy...If You Play By the Rules.
May 1, 2005... I started my career as an attorney at a large law firm, and almost a decade later, I now find myself the Director of Marketing at Thomson RIA, the provider of what I believe are the best research products for tax professionals. I mention my...

Avoiding 10 Big Marketing Mistakes.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Have you noticed a slump in your sales? Are you having trouble establishing your new business in the marketplace? Or maybe you're established, but you just can't seem to get the word out about your new product? If these sound familiar, then you...

Firm Wide Commitment a Must.
May 1, 2005... Public accounting firms that want to advance to the next level, becoming and remaining profitable, are adopting many of the proven concepts that have worked so well in corporate America. This includes recognizing and embracing the importance of...