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.”
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 →
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.)
READ MORE →
Sage Group plc, the UK-based parent of Sage Software, is buying Emdeon Practice Services based in Tampa, Fla, from its parent company Emdeon Inc., for $565 million cash. Emdeon Practice Services is a leading vendor of software and services for doctors’ practices in the US. The acquisition is expected to complete in September, subject to regulatory approvals.
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Rounds Out Suite Serving Full Range of Clients from Small Business to M&A
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. [NEWS RELEASE] — ValuSource Software, a leader in business valuation software, has acquired Business Evaluation Systems, a product that helps business brokers, owners, CPAs and consultants quickly determine the value of a small business. READ MORE →
How do you pay just 1.6% on your earnings?
If you’re the Rolling Stones, you run the money through offshore trusts in Holland and the Caribbean.
Over the past 20 years, London’s Daily Mail reports, have paid 3.9 million pounds Sterling on 242 million pounds in earnings. [1 British Pound = US $1.90]
Here’s how: Their funds have been invested in Holland, where there’s no tax on royalties.
The news only came out after Keith Richards’ fall from a Fiji coconut tree got the group thinking about estate planning. So they set up a couple foundations in Holland, which requires some limited disclosures.
U2 has now hired the same Dutch financial adviser.
Well, I guess Mick’s time spent at the London School of Economic didn’t go to waste!
Hat tip to Phyllis Bernstein at www.pbconsults.com for the item. READ MORE →
Doctors and Teachers Most Trusted Among 22 Occupations and Professions: Fewer Adults Trust the U.S. President to Tell the Truth
Compare this report to the Harris Poll on “prestige:”
Prestige Professions? Accounting Bounces Back –Accountants score 17% in Harris poll, recover from Enron-era low
But in the “trust” rating, accountants scored 68% in the 2006 Harris Poll, up 13 points since 2002, more than any other occupation. The big loser: Pollsters — a finding Harris terms “A wake-up call to the pollsters.”
Accountants, clearly, got their own wake-up call a few years ago and have been clawing back their reputations.
“Would you generally trust each of the following types of people to tell the truth, or not?â€
“Would you generally trust each of the following types of people to tell the truth, or not?â€
About 48% of U.S. adults generally trust that the President tells the truth – down substantially from 65 percent in 2002. However, 12 of the 22 professions measured by the Harris Poll are trusted to be truthful by 60 percent or more of U.S. adults, with doctors (85%) and teachers (83%) topping the list.
In addition, over half of the occupations measured have seen an increase in the eyes of the general public to tell the truth when compared to 2002. This is a turnaround from four years ago when most occupations saw a decrease in feeling about truthfulness.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Specifically the survey found the following changes in responses since 2002:
– In the past four years the occupations that have received the largest increase in the percentage of U.S. adults who trust that they tell the truth are accountants (up 13 percentage points from 55% in 2002 to the current 68%), bankers (up 11 percentage points to 62%), clergymen or priests (an increase of 10 percentage points to 74%), and scientists (up nine percentage points to 77%). Doctors and military officers have also shown increases. Doctors rose eight points to the current 85 percent, and military officers also increased eight points to 72 percent.
– Others that have shown more modest positive change include police officers (up seven percentage points to 76%), stockbrokers (up six percentage points to 29%), judges (up five percentage points to 70%), teachers (up three percentage points to 83%) and lawyers (up three percentage points to 27%).
– Those who have shown the most substantial drop are the President (a decrease of 17 percentage points from 65% in 2002 to a current 48%) and public opinion pollsters (a drop of 10 points to 34%). Others that had a more modest decrease are civil servants (a drop of three points to 62%) and TV newscasters (down two points to 44%).
– Those that have shown little or no change in the past four years are professors (75%), the ordinary man or woman (66%), journalists (39%), members of Congress (35%), and trade union leaders (30%).
READ MORE →
Finance managers say their company’s CPA firms could be doing a better job.
Would you recommend your CPA firm to a friend? Join the survey — Get the results.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
The overwhelming majority of accountants in public practice seem to think they’re pleasing their clients. But about half of all finance managers and accountants working in private industry just aren’t feeling that pleasure. pparently CPAs are offering one thing (or think they are) while their clients think they’re receiving something else. CPAs, it seems, may be a little overly optimistic about how much their clients love them.
Creates $170-million-a-year CFO outsourcer
Tatum LLC, the largest and fastest-growing executive services firm in the United States, announced that The Controller Group LLP has become a division of Tatum. This move follows a long-standing strategic alliance between the firms and gives Atlanta-based Tatum offices in Dallas, Austin, Houston and Fort Worth.
The Controller Group has a staff of 100 and revenue of about $20 million. With the deal, Tatum ranks as one of the largest non-CPA finance and accounting firms in the nation, with more than 600 partners and principals, and $170 million in revenues. Tatum has doubled in size in the last three years.
5 Tips for Employers to Boost CPA Exam Test-Taking
CHICAGO [Kaplan CPA Education News Release] — The number of Certified Public Accountants is at a standstill — from 639,628 in 2003 to just 646,520 in 2006 — an increase of a little over 1%, according to data from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). At the same time, the need for accounting professionals is greater than ever, thanks to Sarbanes-Oxley and other changing financial laws and regulations passed in the last few years. READ MORE →
CPA Trendlines Technology Journal of Accountancy
