New Trust Laws Keep CPAs Busy

What is the accountant’s role in the revised uniform state trust laws?

by Seymour Goldberg, CPA, JD

Most states over the last few years have enacted significant changes in the state trust laws regarding the definition of accounting income and principal. For the most part, these laws and rules apply to existing trusts and newly formed trusts. These state laws have a dramatic effect on the rights of trust beneficiaries as well as the rights and liabilities of trustees.

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Posted on August 30, 2006
Filed Under BSG FINANCE PROFESSIONAL | Leave a Comment

Get Active: Refugees International

Get Active: Refugees International is a non-partisan global aid organization.

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Posted on August 29, 2006
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Accounting Software: CPAs Reveal Likes, Dislikes

What’s the one thing YOU would change about your accounting or ERP system?

Join the new study, get the word from professionals like yourself.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

No doubt about it, finance and accounting professionals love software.

In the past couple of decades, accounting applications have gone from useful novelty, to powerful tool, to absolute necessity. No matter how much you like the good-old pencil-and-eraser solution, it just won’t meet the demands of today’s financial regulations, tax codes and client urgency.

But that doesn’t mean that accountants love the software they’ve got. Some do. Some don’t. Which means: A bunch of accountants are in the market for something better. Read more

Posted on August 27, 2006
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BEWARE: Identity Thieves Target Accountants

The office of two accountants sharing an office in a strip mall was recently broken into in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the only things stolen were the computers.

Not the monitors. Not the keyboards. Not the stereos. The crooks were apparently looking for confidential client data. It was a nightmare for both accountants — and not happy news for their clients either. Be warned: Accountants could become increasingly common targets of identity thieves.

“Hanging a CPA sign on your door is like posting an invitation to ‘come, steal my client data.’”
– Mike Garland, Marketing Manager, DataPreserve, an online backup service Read more

Posted on August 25, 2006
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CPAs Find New Profit In Payroll

Online Technology Decreases Work, Increases Revenue

By Jim Heeger
Chief Executive and President of PayCycle Inc.

In the past, accountants have shunned client payroll services, and referred clients away to traditional payroll service bureaus. In a survey by Evans Research Associates, 31 percent of public accountants chose “lack of profitability” as the reason for not providing payroll to their clients.

Today, new Internet technologies have changed the practice of payroll, causing many professionals to re-think their attitudes about it. This is good news for small businesses, who want their accountant to handle everything from accounting to taxes to payroll. According to a National Payment Corporation Survey, 90% of small businesses prefer that their accountant handle their payroll.

Professionals are discovering that online payroll can be profitable, thanks to the following advantages…

Continued at AccountingSoftware411 Read more

Posted on August 24, 2006
Filed Under BSG MARKETPLACE - Products, Services and Vendors | Leave a Comment

E-Media: CPA Insider Marks 5-Year Anniversary

Most widely read online weekly for CPAs reaches 175,000 sets of eyes.

from AICPA Custom Media Solutions

“The AICPA Insider newsletters represent a quantum leap forward in media, marketing and communications for the profession,” said popular accounting profession columnist, Rick Telberg. “The newsletters prove what can and should be done with leading-edge technologies at the crossroads of the profession and commerce.”

Most of the original management team from 2001 remains on board including: Editorial Director, Rick Telberg; Advertising Sales Director, Tom Greve; Publisher/GM, Hank Berkowitz; Account Executives Karin Demarco and Joseph Torres and columnists, Jonathan Moreland, John Bowen and George White.

In addition to the weekly CPA Insider™, the bi-weekly CPA Tax Insider (50,000 readers) has been published since 2002 and the monthly CPA Career Insider (100,000 readers) has been published since 2004. Earlier this year we rolled out CPA Corporate Finance Insider (110,000 readers) and CPA Wealth Management Insider (30,000).

Regular advertisers include PPC, RIA, Microsoft, Paychex, SAP, The IRS, Advanced Settlements, Surgent McCoy and Tax Talk Today.

“It’s significant that AICPA members are embracing the online newsletters in such vast numbers and with such loyalty,” said Telberg. “It’s one of the most important two-way dialogs members can have with their national association. We’re very proud to be a part of serving the profession in such a meaningful way.”

Berkowitz noted that since 2001, the Insider newsletters have grown a great deal in readership, scope and complexity, “but we have maintained a mantra of slow growth, continuous testing and micro-enhancements, so that readers can always find their favorite columnists, professional development resources and vendor information — in a familiar place — in as few clicks as possible.
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Posted on August 21, 2006
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Are You Speaking Your Customer’s Language?

Maybe not. Take this example — a common website mistake — that probably crops up in many other areas of interaction with clients and even colleagues…

“In the United States, over 80 times more people search for “cheap flights” than for “low fares.” In the United Kingdom, 6,500 times more people search for “cheap flights” than for “low fares”. No, that’s not a typo. It is 6,500 times more! “Low fares” is what the airline industry likes to say. “Cheap flights” is customer language. This an extremely common mistake organizations make on the Web: assuming that their words are their customers’ words. Never, ever assume that.”
– Gerry McGovern, website design guru Read more

Posted on August 21, 2006
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When CPAs and Clients Don’t See Eye-to-Eye

Clients may not be as reliable as many CPAs think.

If you’re a client, what do you say?

by Rick Telberg
At Large

We’re not quite sure what to make of two issues emerging from our canvass of finance managers and public accountants.

On the one hand, 38 percent of CPAs are saying in the preliminary findings that they’ve been working with their clients for five to 10 years, and another 34 percent are saying more than 10 years. So what does it mean when only 29 percent of clients tell us they’ve been with their CPA firm for five to 10 years, and only 29 percent say more than 10 years? Read more

Posted on August 20, 2006
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 5 Comments

The Profession at a ‘Tipping Point?’

Has the profession reached a point-of-no-return in it’s ability to resist the forces of change?

Bruce Marcus thinks so.

His advice:
·Think forward, not backward.
·Listen to clients. Learn their businesses and industries, and to hear and understand problems before, not after, you give advice.
·Learn what other firms are doing in such forward-thinking ideas as value billing, two-tier structures, knowledge management and internal communications.
·Question everything you do. The question you ask yourself is, “This is the way it was done yesterday. Is there a better way to do it today and tomorrow?” A truly powerful question.
·Recognize that the shortage of brains and talent in these times is so acute that you can’t afford to concern yourselves with the race or color or age or gender in which those brains and talent come.
·Recognize that you may be accountants, but you’re in a business, and business requires trained and talented leadership, and flexible structures to meet the challenges of a dynamic environment.

And that’s just for starters. Do these things, and you’ll ride the wave of the tipping point. If you don’t at least try to do these things, then just sit back and watch your competitors, because they will be doing it. And growing and thriving, as you decline. Read more

Posted on August 18, 2006
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Local Governments Face Healthcare, Pension Challenges

What every auditor needs to know about state and local trends, and government auditing standards.

Fiscal conditions for state and local governments appear to be improving but auditors should be alert to key developments such as natural disasters, a rise in healthcare costs and sales tax simplification. See the complete report at the AICPA.

RELATED AICPA PRODUCTS:
– State and Local Governments - Audit and Accounting Guide
– AICPA Audit Risk Alert - State and Local Governmental Developments, 2006
– Government Auditing Standards and Circular A-133 Audits - 2006 - Audit Risk Alert
– Government Auditing Standards and Circular A-133 Audits - AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide

[Produced by Bay Street Group Media Solutions for AICPA Professional Publications] Read more

Posted on August 18, 2006
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TECH TIP: Worried About Identity Theft?

You Should Be.

Remember to wipe your old drive clean. Brian Tankersley, CPA, CITP, recommends a FREE appliocation called “Eraser” from Sourceforge.net (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php). “This program lets you delete files securely up to DOD standards,” he says. “Try it - you’ll sleep better.”

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Posted on August 15, 2006
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Do Clients Really Care About Marketing?

Yes. But not in the ways most CPAs think. If you’re a client, what do you say?

by Rick Telberg
At Large

Every day, America’s tax and accounting firms spend millions of dollars on marketing. They roll out their Web sites, trot out their newsletters, hand out their cards, and network at golf courses from coast to coast. But what really works? What grabs the client’s eye? What persuades the business owner to consider switching to a new tax or accounting firm? Read more

Posted on August 13, 2006
Filed Under BSG BUSINESS BUILDER | 1 Comment

SBA Study: Home-Based Biz Excels in Return-on-Revenue

Does it seem sometimes that everyone’s an entrepreneur in the U.S.? Maybe here’s why…

“The findings of the study suggest that individuals choosing to enjoy a preferred lifestyle, can operate an unincorporated home-based business knowing that their return on revenues will be greater than if they rent business space. As a home-based business owner, with few or no employees, they can work the hours and seasons necessary to reach the needed level of revenues and net income. Those wanting to maximize income can hire employees, work more hours, and operate outside the home. Home-based sole proprietors who take the home business deduction contribute a total of $102 billion in revenue to the economy. The 10 million “all other” firms, which appear to be largely home-based, contribute an additional $431 billion. Self-employment trends may rise due to demographic, technology and life-style factors.”

Get the full study:
“The Impact of Location on Net Income: A Comparison of Homebased and Non-Homebased Sole Proprietors.”
(Registration requested.)
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Posted on August 9, 2006
Filed Under BSG ENTREPRENEUR | Leave a Comment

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