Accounting Technology articles from October 2006

Accounting Technology archives from October 2006

The Graying of the Channel.
October 1, 2006... New people aren't coming into the reseller market, fretted one veteran of the accounting software wars, who continued that he worried about what that means for the health of the industry. And it's hard to miss the observation that at many...

Special Tax Software Issue.
October 1, 2006... Like the auto or fashion industries unveiling the models for the next year, the tax software business is tooling its applications for use in the next busy season. This year's special issue of Accounting Technology recaps the business...

Need Insights?
October 1, 2006... 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, you can do so at...

Street Talk: Reader Views.
October 1, 2006... What has been the most effective cost-cutting measure you have implemented in the last twelve months? Our biggest cost savings is leveraging the Internet for marketing our firm rather than print copy and mailings. We use an electronic...

Practice Development News.(Brown Smith Wallace L.L.C. starts new unit, Columbus IT Partner A/S reports fall in its earnings, Goldstein Lewin and Co. promotes Robert Cini)
October 1, 2006... BROWN SMITH STARTS BI UNIT Brown Smith Wallace has created a new service line, called Business Intelligence Plus Services, that is designed to provide reporting, analysis, and business performance management. Dave Winkler will head the...

Accounting News.(Sage Group PLC acquires Emdeon Practice Services, Microsoft Corp. appoints Mogens Elsberg, Microsoft Corp. creates a three-level pricing system )
October 1, 2006... SAGE BUYS EMDEON UNIT Sage's acquisition track has taken a new direction with the purchase of Emdeon Practice Services, which makes medical practice management software. Sage is buying the group from Emdeon Corp. for about $567 million...

Tax & Financial Planning News.
October 1, 2006... TIMEPLUS BUYS LICENSEE TimePlus Payroll, a payroll service provider based in Atlanta, has acquired one of the company's software licensees, which is based in Northern Florida, and will open a sales office in the Tallahassee market. ...

Give me an 'E'; Give me a 'C'...: E-filing and Consolidation are Hot Topics in the Tax Business.
October 1, 2006... In one way, the big story of the tax preparation market is not the continuing consolidation of vendors (the C), the increasing price competition, integration of products, or the growing importance of the Internet. All of those things, of...

Analysis for Fun (But Mainly) Profit: Making sense of a client's data can bring firms great financial rewards.(financial analysis software)
October 1, 2006... Are you concerned that increasingly your audit and tax preparation work is becoming a commodity-like engagement for your firm? Just think how your clients must feel. Each year they pay for information that may not add much value other than...

Accountants Bet on MPAN's Success.(Microsoft Professional Accountants Network)
October 1, 2006... Microsoft is attempting to give Intuit a run for its money in the accounting industry, and consultants are staking their bets that the software giant will make a large footprint in the QuickBooks-dominated marketplace. Just more than a...

Felter: A Customized Approach.
October 1, 2006... Technical challenges are the heart of James Felter's business. A CPA and Certified Information Technology Professional, Felter builds custom applications for companies that have no clear answer to their particular software problems. ...

A Nexus Of Vision.
October 1, 2006... During the construction of a new home or office, vision and expertise from various channels are combined in an arduous process that begins well before its official unveiling. There is the architect who transfers an idea from thought to...

Looking ahead: Help wanted.
October 1, 2006... When asked what the next five years might hold for the profession, the 2006 Top 100 were adamant that should the CPA pipeline keep drying up, it would not just affect revenues, but throw many firms' plans for an orderly succession under a cloud...

The 2006 100 Most Influential People.
October 1, 2006... Erik Asgeirsson President and CEO, CPA2Biz The AICPA's portal has reversed its rocky beginnings, with over 50 percent of the profession as users, and positive cash flow for operations - an uptick many credit to Asgeirsson. Career...

Enron's Legacy.
October 1, 2006... Before Ken Lay's death, we asked the Top 100 how influential his and Jeff Skilling's convictions in the Enron scandal would be, and whether they would be forgotten, or serve as a warning to future corporate malefactors. Enron, Ken Lay,...

Advertorial: Checkpoint(r): The Integrated Solution Tax & Accounting Professionals Want NOW.
October 1, 2006... Today's tax and accounting professionals are required to handle increasingly complex technical issues with a multitude of competing demands on their time. The challenge is to ensure you have the resources to help you understand and implement...

Positions of influence.(number of those affecting the profession continues to increase)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... As we have in years past, we asked candidates for our Top 100 People list to name who they think are the most influential. The results were broadly similar to last year's, but the differences are instructive. First, the candidates named a...

Nothing Stays Still.(Accounting services)
October 1, 2006... You're now holding something brand new in your hands. Oh, we've been around for the past five years but never in this form. This is a newly designed CPA Wealth Provider with lots of entry points (as the designers would say) on each page to make...

The Need for Certainty: Society at vanguard on transfer tax.
October 1, 2006... The New York State Society of Public Accountants the oldest state accounting association, representing approximately 30,000 CPAs, has offered certain suggestions regarding pending legislation in Congress affecting estate planning-specifically...

Supplement: CPA Wealth Provider: Choosing a Financial Advisor: Is your professional a fiduciary or a sales person?
October 1, 2006... The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has launched a public service campaign entitled "Focus on Fiduciary" that is aimed at educating Americans about the need for financial professionals to hold themselves to a fiduciary...

Strong Loyalty to Financial Planners: Individual advisor is the key.
October 1, 2006... In a new report from the Spectrem Group, some 80 percent of affluent investors identify themselves as being very loyal to their financial planners but overwhelmingly, these same investors claim that their loyalty is more to the advisor than to...

Vest Advisors Leverage Wells Fargo Partnership: Private banking solutions offered.
October 1, 2006... Since Wells Fargo bought H.D. Vest in 2001, everyone (including H.D. Vest Advisors) has been wondering how partnering with a bank will affect the investment services H.D. Vest can provide. Early on, the advantages became apparent as H.D. Vest...

Franchise Opportunities: Seeking more control over your practice?
October 1, 2006... Sareen & Associates is an accounting firm headquartered in Manassas, Virginia with locations in Fredericks-burg, VA, Stephens City, VA., and Occoquan, VA. The firm provides accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax services primarily for small...

Largest Central Marketplace for Buying/Selling FP Practices: Protecting your legacy.(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Business Transitions oversees the largest central marketplace in the nation for buying or selling financial service practices at the small-cap and mid-cap levels. It has a new FP Transitions site for independent registered representatives,...

On the Book Shelves: The 1,000 Largest Foundations: Who donates how much and where.(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The Foundation 1000 (2006 Edition) is now out from Foundation Center. This leading print resource of 3,030 pages on the 1,000 wealthiest U.S. foundations features key facts and analysis of their giving priorities. Each profile includes contact...

Elder Care Is a Family Issue: Money, property, healthcare.(The Parent Care Conversation: 6 Strategies for Dealing with the Emotional and Financial Challenges of Aging Parents)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... The Parent Care Conversation: 6 Strategies for Dealing with the Emotional and Financial Challenges of Aging Parents by Dan Taylor has been published by Penguin Books. The book includes case studies, Taylor's own story, as well as a series of...

Guidance on Firm Valuation: Determining a practice's worth.(How to Value, Buy or Sell a Financial Advisory Practice)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... From Bloomberg Press comes How to Value, Buy, or Sell a Financial Advisory Practice by Mark Tibergien and Owen Dahl. The book takes advisors through the logic and the legwork of coming to a true assessment of one of their most important...

Understanding Personal Finances: Proactive toward security.
October 1, 2006... "MyProfitCents" (www.profitcents.com) is a financial analysis software product that was developed to help people understand and improve their personal finances. The program uses Sageworks' core technology ("FIND"), which converts...

New Fee Structure Increases Grant Monies: Lowering costs means more for charities.
October 1, 2006... The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program announced significant reductions in administrative and investment fees for qualifying donor-advised fund accounts, as well as a lower threshold that will allow more participants to benefit from the new...

Investing in the Right TIC 1031 Property: Providing tax related advantages.
October 1, 2006... PropPoint fulfills the need for accessibility, transparency, and convenience within the marketplace for Tenant-in-Common (TIC) 1031 exchanges. These exchanges are gaining in popularity because they offer related tax advantages without...

Treating your Clients Like GOLD.
October 1, 2006... "CPA firm clients for many years were asking us to help them manage their money," says David Sego, managing director of Texas-based Weaver and Tidwell Financial Advisors (WTFA). "These clients assumed we could help them manage it or at a...

Understanding is Imperative.(clients financial planning solutions)
October 1, 2006... According to David Sego, the importance of financial planning with his clients can be narrowed to nine specific thoughts: * Baby boomers are thinking about retiring and need help more than ever. They need help planning their financial...

Working with CPAs.(Raymond James Financial Services Investment Advisors Division, certified public accountants)
October 1, 2006... David Sego, managing director of Weaver and Tidwell Financial Advisors, says that Raymond James Financial Services Investment Advisors Division (RJFS) provides a wide range of support for RIAs, who are fee-based advisors. The specialized...

A Marathon, Not a Sprint.
October 1, 2006... My son, who is a CPA, called me last week to ask for my advice. After picking the phone up off the floor where I had dropped it, I asked him what was up. It seems that one of his New Year's resolutions was to do a better job with his equity...

Simple, But Not Easy: The strategies to outperform the market are not difficult.
October 1, 2006... While we search for answers to the complex problem of how to live a longer life, there are simple solutions that can have a dramatic impact. For example, it would be hard to find better advice on living longer than do not smoke, drink alcohol...

Lessons to Learn: Watch out for those "hired" Solicitors.
October 1, 2006... I received an invitation the other day from the annual forum of the Charities Review Council (CRC) of Minnesota (www.smartgivers.org). They announced that the keynote speaker would be one of Minnesota's most respected businessmen: a former...

Surpassing $6 billion in Grant making.(Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Driven by a greater desire to be more strategic about their charitable giving, not to mention being around to see the impacts of their donations, Americans today are actually driving a sea change in philanthropy. The role donor-advised funds...

10 Tips For Smart Giving.
October 1, 2006... Last year many of you opened your wallets to make a difference through charitable giving. You were not alone. Whether it was in the name of hurricane relief, educational scholarships, or medical research, more than 80 percent of the money...

Fresh Look at Your Benefit Guidelines: The IRS will make direct deposit of tax refunds into IRAs.
October 1, 2006... The newly passed Pension Protection Act of 2006 is far more pertinent to the average family's financial planning than its title implies. Yes, the legislation creates better guidelines for how companies fund and account for their pension...

Maximizing Results for You and your Clients.
October 1, 2006... When do most financial advisors plan for succession? Usually, not until the time of the actual event. Although intellectually they know it's important, with a thriving growing business to manage, who has time think through the various...

Life after AJCA.(American Jobs Creation Act of 2004)
October 1, 2006... This article was submitted prior to the anticipated "late summer" release of final regulations from the Internal Revenue Service regarding Code Section 409A. While the author does not expect the items discussed in this article to materially...

4th Annual Financial Planning Awards Call for Nominations.
October 1, 2006... CPA/Financial Planning Firms Broker/Dealers Financial Planning Software Vendors Winners are those firms or companies that have taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative, or growth in the financial planning area....

Baddish Shapiro - Financial Planning Group.
October 1, 2006... Benjamin Singerman started an accounting firm in 1925 in New York. Today it is known as Coltin, Baddish & Shapiro, CPAs, P.C. Stuart Shapiro, one of the partners, joined it in 1988. Five years ago, the firm began a separate financial...

Do Financial Planners Really Need Another Standard?
October 1, 2006... The answer lies more in who designs the Standard rather than its contents. In 2001, the International Standards Organization (ISO), which has been establishing relevant international standards for electrical, manufacturing, shipping, and other...

Editor's Note: Goodbye to the gray flannel suit.(Editorial)
October 1, 2006... This is not your father's accounting firm. The long-held image of CPAs in starched white shirts, green eyeshades and tattered leather briefcases clocking 2,800 hours a year toward the partnership track has evolved into Manolo Blahniks,...

Advertiser Index.(Software industry)(Directory)
October 1, 2006... AccountantsWorld 140 Fell Court Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788 (888) 999-1366 18, 20, 21 Accounting Practice Sales 8851 Cross Timbers Rd. Flower Mound, Texas 75022 (800) 397-0249 17 AccountingWeb P.O. Box...

Time for a new poster?: Recruiting strategies have to change with the times.
October 1, 2006... Pizza parties, betting pools on the TV show Survivor and a team-building "camp" for new hires are not images that come immediately to mind when pondering accounting firms. However, these are all tactics that CPA firms are currently using to...

Accentuate the positive!: Firms can bolster retention strategies with the latest technology, flexibility and a supportive atmosphere.
October 1, 2006... Within half an hour of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, every single U.S. employee at Deloitte & Touche LLP received a voicemail telling them to go home and be with their families. This was the moment that...

Minor gains for minorities: Firms are trying to recruit more diverse staff - but there's still much to be done.
October 1, 2006... Most industry people would agree that having a diverse workforce contributes to the overall growth and prosperity of a firm. Recruiting a diverse workforce, then, makes smart business sense - and studies have shown that over the next 10 years,...

One firm's approach to growing a diverse workforce.(Deloitte & Touche L.L.P)
October 1, 2006... Big Four firm Deloitte & Touche has made strong progress in growing its diverse workforce. Some diversity and inclusion programs that it offers include the following: * Efficacy: Deloitte offers this program to enable and maximize the...