A lot funnier than your standard Wikipedia
The entry for Auditor at the UNcyclopedia.com (“the content-free encyclopedia that anyone can edit”)…
“An Auditor (auditor sapiens) is a unique mammalian species, first bred in the 1960s by crossbreeding garden variety accountants with serial killers. They were noted for their hard working attitude and quickly became a “fad breed” later in the decade before their dangerous side was well known. Today, most live a lonely existence in offices, separated forever from humanity.” More here….
See also Accountant…
[A hat tip to Toronto accountant Marisa for the joke of the day!]
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Do we learn more from advice or by observing the actions of others?
In a study (PDF download) that has ramifications for CPAs and consultants, Columbia University Professor Bogachan Celen compares how we acquire information. He studies investors, but the dynamics are the same for many business decisions. Investors often ask their friends, colleagues or experts for advice before buying a stock or investing in a mutual fund. So which tack is more productive? “The findings showed that people tend to take advice more seriously than simply watching others,†Celen says. “The nature of asking for advice makes people pay closer attention, and they therefore learn faster.†That may be good advice. Of course, you could wait to see what others do. READ MORE →
CPAs learn accounting, auditing and tax. But how do you make a living?
by Rick Telberg
On Careers
Get the free report: “What Do Clients Really Want?”
Back in school, you probably learned what you need to know to hang out your shingle, but did they teach you to blow your horn?
Because in case you haven’t noticed, you aren’t the only CPA on the block.
Fully half of surveyed corporate financial officers figure they just might switch auditors this year, according to our research. On one hand, that means you’d better be clinging tightly to the clients you have. On the other hand, it means there are a lot of potential clients out there looking for a new CPA firm.
These corporate financial decision-makers who our studies show tend to be CFOs more often than owners or CEOs, aren’t likely to notice the CPAs who have their noses to their respective grindstones. They’re going to notice the ones who are marketing themselves. READ MORE →
Maybe that’s too much to ask.
But Anne Stanton makes the point that CPAs should put aside their biases, their old habits, misguided beliefs, and, yes, she says, their egos, to get on track with new technologies like Vista.
What’s at stake? Oh, just the future of the profession.
“Small firms are missing out on technologies enablement, because they are not supported by all their advisors in using the proper selection and implementation of technology best practices. Sure you can spend money on technology toys… but you can also waste a lot of time using products selected from a very limited list. A great example? The number of people who use EXCEL to do everything and as such instead of using the right tool (already designed to solve the business problem), end users customize/hack/creatively create solutions, spending hours using Excel to do something that perhaps a Business Intelligence tool can do in seconds, or an accounting software product can do effortlessly.” Read the rest here… READ MORE →
CPAs need to understand all the angles
by Gregory K. Meyer, CPA
Business & Technology Consulting, Inc.
Buffalo, N.Y.
I am a bit surprised that you completely overlooked the negatives of Vista ["Are You Ready for Vista?"], namely that it gives Microsoft unprecedented control over how you can use your own computer, and even whether you can use it.
I would think that as CPAs that it is important to maintain control over our data and computing environment and I am a bit puzzled about why this doesn’t seem to matter.
Have you read this: “A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection,” by Peter Gutmann, University of Auckland, N.Z.?
Throughout my career I have always been a huge proponent of technology and an early adopter, but I see so many pitfalls with Vista that aren’t being discussed, as if we don’t have a choice but to play ball and go along with the Microsoft program.
I am not a Microsoft hater, but a pragmatist and if the ultimate solution is to go ahead and adopt Vista, that’s fine as long as people are discussing and aware of the downside. READ MORE →
$170-million lawsuit set to begin in Miami
BDO Seidman never earned more than $75,000 a year in fees in the five years it audited Miami financial-services company that turned out to be a fraud. Still, BDO Seidman is being sued for at least $170 million for its involvement in one of South Florida’s biggest banking scandals. The trial could have significant implications for Chicago-based BDO Seidman… More at the Miami Herald… READ MORE →
Why CPAs should hold off on adopting Microsoft’s new Vista operating system.
Re: Are You Ready for Vista? Or, really, is Vista ready for CPAs?
Join the poll; get the answers.
by Ken Gerberg, CPA
Sparks, Md.
You failed to mention in your article on the new Vista operating system that your computer needs to have a 64 bit processor to run Vista. The majority of computers in operation have a 32 bit processor. This means that in order to use the Vista operating software, you have to buy a brand new computer. It also means that you will probably have to buy brand new software to load onto your brand new computer.
In addition to the security flaws recently discovered, as well as the expense of replacing your entire computer, I believe the switch from XP to Vista will be a slow one.
There are a couple of other reasons to hold off on the new Vista software… READ MORE →
24-Year Veteran Heads U.S. Operations
RIVERWOODS, ILL. (CCH release) — Mike Sabbatis, a 24-year veteran of the tax and and accounting industry, has been promoted to the newly created position of President, CCH Tax and Accounting, U.S. Most recently, Sabbatis served as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for CCH.
Sabbatis rejoined CCH as the head of business development in 2002 after a short stint outside the company. His track record in the profession started as a sales rep for CCH Computax. READ MORE →
More than half of small businesses have at least 1 mobile woker
NEW YORK (AMI-Partners) – More than half of small businesses (those with 99 or fewer employees) have at least one mobile employee, far more than the 13% of the U.S. workforce in general.
“These figures have been increasing significantly over the last couple of years as technology has made it considerably easier for employees to access real-time information from outside the traditional office setting,” says New York-based Avinash Arun, Research Analyst at AMI-Partners. “This trend is expected to continue over the next few years, based on the results of AMI’s recently completed survey.”
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Or, really, is Vista ready for CPAs?
Join the poll; get the answers.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
Don’t you just hate it when Microsoft introduces a new operating system?
As a rule, many accountants drag their feet in upgrading hardware and software. It’s not so much a case of not wanting to embrace the newest technology. It’s more an awareness of how critical most of the technology in use in the accounting process is to the underlying mission of the business — whether public or corporate. If there is such a thing as a rallying cry in the accounting profession, it would be “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” READ MORE →
