technology

the tech risks accountants would rather ignore

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computer infectionnew study reveals widespread weaknesses in accounting firm technology strategies.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

accountants aren’t known for their risky decisions. quite the opposite, in fact. in most things, accountants are paragons of caution and care.

that’s, “in most things.”

but as the “accounting firm operations and technology survey,” published by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, shows again and again, accountants are taking sometimes potentially disastrous risks with their firms and – worse – with their clients. read more →

workflow automation takes root in mainstream cpa firms

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roman kepczyk , author of quantum of paperless at //www.g005e.com/shop/qop/
roman kepczyk, quantum of paperless

tax season 2015 sees 59% of firms using digital production systems.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the tax and accounting profession appears to have made a quantum leap with busy season 2015, by broadly embracing workflow automation to optimize production, control costs and speed delivery, according to data made available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.

the association for accounting administration, in a study led by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor roman kepczyk, author of quantum of paperless: the partners guide to accounting firm optimization, finds that in the general movement toward paperless, or at least less paper, firms are increasing their use of technology to save more trees than ever. the survey compared findings in 2013 with what firms expected to do in the 2015 busy season.

a big innovation for many firms has been the use of digital workflow tools to manage tax return progress. fifty-nine percent of firms reporting using a variety of products. specifically, by brand: read more →

3 steps to truly reliable backup

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cloud istock_000038172310smallif you still have a tape drive, you won’t for long.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless

your firm’s safety net in the event of any disaster is your data backup. it better be consistently performed and securely stored offsite.

typically, firms have a problem when their old backup systems fail or the tapes don’t complete because there’s too much data to fit. this is becoming a common problem as more data and more applications add significantly more volume, making the backup application require more storage and a longer running time to complete.

more on tech spending: moving to the cloud? do these 6 things first | 4 steps to save on hardware spending | in a pinch, use your phone as a scanner | do you have 3 computer monitors? why not? | standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms

why cpas need to worry about cyber crime (especially in tax season)

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click for infographic
click for infographic

and what to do about it.

by kenneth j. mackunis
aon affinity

why worry? the quick answer: client files are worth large sums of money! a cpa’s confidential client data, such as names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers, provide a target-rich environment for thieves.

tax refund fraud is the no. 1 cyber crime facing cpas today, according to the aicpa. criminals use stolen records to file phony tax returns and receive refunds. the irs issued 1.1 million refunds to people using stolen social security numbers in 2012, which resulted in fraudulent tax refunds of $3.6 billion. read more →

moving to the cloud? do these 6 things first

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pile out of outdated computer equipmenthow to know when to scrap your old server.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless

in almost every firm, the core computers used for all applications are internal file servers. down time for a day or two is a disaster. if that out-of-service stoppage stretches to a week or more, your partner income will suffer measurably.

more on tech spending: 4 steps to save on hardware spending | in a pinch, use your phone as a scanner | do you have 3 computer monitors? why not? | standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | how to ‘go digital’ when partners demand monthly p&ls on paper | the 3 reasons firms are migrating to digital timesheets | digital tools streamline audit production | tech tools for today’s properly equipped field audit teams

simply put, mission-critical servers utilized for tax, audit, time and billing, and email have, at most, an effective five-year life.

read more →

it nerds need budget help

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donny c shimamoto, cpa citp intraprisetechknowlogies
shimamoto

accountants must define categories of expenditures.

by donny c. shimamoto, cpa.citp
intraprisetechknowlogies

if you think the brainiacs in the it department are going to tell you how to divvy up their budget into capital and operating expenditures, you’re in for a surprise, and not necessarily a good one. it people are smart, but they aren’t accounting smart, which, as we all know, is a very special kind of smart.

read more →

tax season 2015 marks watershed in cpa firm digitalization

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roman kepczyk , author of quantum of paperless at //www.g005e.com/shop/qop/
roman kepczyk , author of quantum of paperless

tax season 2015 may signal a landmark change in workflow automation.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

this year’s busy season could mark a turning point in the tax and accounting industry’s techno-history, with mainstream firms flooding into digital processes like optical character recognition, pdf bookmarking, and collaboration tools.

results from this year’s paperless benchmarking survey, conducted for the association for accounting administration by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor roman kepczyk, author of quantum of paperless: the partners guide to accounting firm optimization, found a generally upward trend in the use of technology to avoid the carving of audit and tax prep data into stone or printing it out on paper. the survey compared responses in 2013 to foreseen usage in the busy season of 2015.

but which trends are trending the fastest? where are the rockets of digitalization?

read more →

4 steps to save on hardware spending

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businesswoman working on laptop at cafe.where laptops rule at cpa firms today.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless

getting the right mix of mobility is critical for firms today. today’s rule of thumb is that everyone who works out of the office one day or more per week should have a laptop as their only machine.

more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | the 3 reasons firms are migrating to digital timesheets | digital tools streamline audit production | going paperless means convincing clients first | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | making digital tax process easier is all about the workflow | in a pinch, use your phone as a scanner | do you have 3 computer monitors? why not?

laptops should be scheduled for replacement every three years, whereas desktops are often functional for a fourth year. in firms that utilize workstations only as “dumb terminals” via tools such as citrix, windows terminal server and workstation virtualization (vdi) in the future, the functioning life of a desktop computer can be five or more years.

read more →

8 ways to wrestle software subscriptions into submission

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one question leads to another.

by donny c. shimamoto
intraprisetechknowlogies

budget talks between accounting and information technology departments can get pretty complicated. accountants know budgets; it folks know it. not many people know both.

related: it hardware gets even more complex (great!) | how accounting geeks and techie nerds can play nicely together

but you don’t have to know both if you know the right questions. one area of special concern is budgeting for subscriptions to software.

read more →

in a pinch, use your phone as a scanner

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epson workforce ds-510 sheetfed scanner
epson workforce ds-510 sheetfed scanner

with upfront scanning, 78 percent leverage on-screen review.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless 

one of the keys to optimizing accounting firm production processes is capturing information at its “root” source – the moment data enters your firm, regardless of the format – mail, fax, email or on a flash drive.

more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | how to ‘go digital’ when partners demand monthly p&ls on paper | digital tools streamline audit production | tech tools for today’s properly equipped field audit teams | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | why firms need document retention standards | intranet is the best place for firm knowledge

ideally, documents would be delivered already in a digital format such as email attachments or preferably through a portal, but the reality today is that a significant portion of accounting firm source documents arrive from clients in a physical paper format. your firm will need to develop processes to efficiently scan, name and store these documents. read more →

it hardware gets even more complex (great!)

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donny c shimamoto, cpa citp intraprisetechknowlogies
shimamoto

some questions for both accountants and it.

by donny c. shimamoto
intraprisetechknowlogies

budget season is a good time for accountants and it wonks to get together for a heart-to-heart about hardware. computers and peripherals aren’t like the hardware of yore. they’re omnipresent in the organization. they have strings attached. they have special issues in obsolescence. sometimes it’s hard to draw a line between hardware and software.

related: how accounting geeks and techie nerds can play nicely together

here is a suggested a series of questions that accountants and it wonks should address as they make budget decisions. here are a few of the ones that relate to hardware: read more →

do you have 3 computer monitors? why not?

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panorama of alesund, norway, on three computer monitorsit’s the new norm.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless

the best place to start a conversation on computer hardware is with monitors – the easiest place to see an immediate return on your it investment.

more on tech spending: standardize quickbooks support for clients | how to choose the right client portal solution | streamlining bill-paying at cpa firms | automating bank deposits offers instant roi | the 3 reasons firms are migrating to digital timesheets | digital tools streamline audit production | accounting firms run on more than checklists alone | going paperless means convincing clients first | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | making digital tax process easier is all about the workflow | why firms need document retention standards

your computer monitors are your windows into all digitally stored information and are the foundation for improving every aspect of firm production. transitioning tax production processes from physical to digital requires that all input screens and source documents be simultaneously viewable in a convenient format, which today means more screens per workstation. read more →