{"id":80680,"date":"2020-11-29t14:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-29t19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=80680"},"modified":"2022-06-26t23:51:20","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27t03:51:20","slug":"survey-firm-size-matters-in-tax-software-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2020\/11\/29\/survey-firm-size-matters-in-tax-software-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"survey: firm size matters in tax software choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

plus: more trends and insights from annual operations and technology survey.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by randy johnston and brian tankersley
\nthe accounting firm operations and technology survey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

the tax, practice management, and time & billing software a firm chooses depends heavily on the size of the firm, according to the new accounting firm operations and technology survey<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

more: <\/b>top challenges? staffing, staffing, staffing<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>
log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

dell far and away leads the hardware wars, and fujitsu remains the top name in scanners but canon is gaining ground. vmware tops virtual server use and older operating systems are being ushered out the door and windows 10 adoption stands at 93.1 percent.
\n<\/p>\n

operating systems<\/h3>\n

survey respondents were asked questions concerning network operating and desktop operating systems.<\/p>\n

key findings<\/strong><\/p>\n

the rapid retirement of older desktop and network operating systems continues. it\u2019s closing time for windows 7, windows server 2008 r2 and office 2010, with microsoft\u2019s support for the latest versions of windows 7 and server 2008 r2 ending january 14, 2020, and office 2010 support on october 13, 2020. some cpa firm software publishers have already discontinued support for office 2010 and will discontinue support for other legacy operating systems in the coming months. one cpa firm publisher discontinued support for microsoft sql server 2012 in late 2019, forcing many firms onto more modern platforms.<\/p>\n

windows server 2016 is the most popular platform for networks in firms, with 25.5% of firms reporting that they are using this operating system, followed closely by windows server 2019, with 14.7% of firms using that operating system.<\/p>\n

desktop users of windows 7 are dropping off rapidly<\/strong><\/p>\n

windows 7 usage has dropped off precipitously, from 40.9% of users in 2017 to 2.0% in 2020. over the same period, windows 10 adoption has gone from 44.0% in 2017 to 73.2% in 2019 and is now at 93.1% for 2020.<\/p>\n

although there are a few stray windows vista and windows xp users, constituting approximately 2.0% of the respondents, firms seem to have done an excellent job of staying on operating system platforms that are supported by the software publishers. 2.0% of firms are using mac os.<\/p>\n

computer hardware<\/h3>\n

survey respondents were asked questions concerning their primary brand and replacement schedule for critical servers, whether they used virtual server(s), their primary brand, and replacement schedule for desktop pcs and notebook\/laptop computers. they were also asked to report on the numbers of monitors being used in their firm, videoconferencing and scanners.<\/p>\n

key findings<\/strong><\/p>\n

dell is the dominant hardware manufacturer used on servers, desktops and laptops. the company has a commanding lead over rivals hp and lenovo in all categories of personal computers; indeed, dell\u2019s share of the cpa market is more than hp and lenovo combined in each class for each of the last three years. many firms are still noncommittal on hardware replacement cycles. when asked how often the firm replaces each hardware type (servers, desktops and laptops), the overall top response for each question was \u201cas needed\/varies.\u201d this response shows that the respondent either was not sure of the firm\u2019s policies or the firm had not committed to a specific replacement cycle.<\/p>\n