CPA Trendlines

WEBCAST: The Mobile Professional

Upcoming Webcast: How Local Accounting & Tax Firms are Leveraging Smartphone Technology

May 8, 2007 — 2:00 PM EDT
Register for the Webcast

Attend this free live event for 1 hour of CPE credit and a chance to win a free Blackberry device of your choice!

Professional How Local Accounting & Tax Firms are Leveraging Smartphone Technology to:
■ Improve Client Satisfaction
■ Enhance Productivity
■ Recruit and Retain Staff
■ Sharpen Their Competitive Edge

Plus: The Smartphone Buying Guide… in new research conducted by Bay Street Group LLC, sponsored by BlackBerry

Join Executive Editor Gregory L. LaFollette, CPA.CITP, as he talks with Rick Telberg and Lyndon Burrell about how smartphones increase personal productivity, improve client service and satisfaction, increase billable hours, improve coordination with colleagues, and enhance work/life balance.

Moderator – Gregory L. LaFollette, CPA.CITP, Executive Editor
Greg is Executive Editor of The CPA Technology Advisor and Senior Manager – Tax & Technology Consulting with Eide Bailly, LLP. He is a frequent speaker to accountants on matters of technology and firm operation.

Rick Telberg brings a unique background and perspective to the accounting, tax and finance community. He is a veteran editor, publisher, media executive, analyst and commentator on the profession. As principal and founder of Bay Street Group LLC, Mr. Telberg develops and builds research, marketing, communications, e-commerce and custom publishing strategies and programs for accountants and the vendors who support them.

Lyndon Burrell is a senior marketing manager with Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerry smartphones. He is focused on helping professional services firms embrace wireless solutions that go beyond email, increase responsiveness, raise client satisfaction and increase productivity of the mobile professional.

We would like to thank BlackBerry for supporting this valuable, educational session for the accounting profession.

Register for the Webcast READ MORE →

BUSY SEASON LESSON: Your Best Investment May Be Yourself

Striving to be ‘the best’ pays off.

Join the study; get the benchmarks.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

Does it really pay to upgrade your technologies, to invest in talent and to coddle your clients?

Many tax and accounting practitioners still aren’t convinced that investing, time and money into their practices is worth the trouble. And they may be right. They may have practices that just aren’t healthy enough to merit new cash infusions, or they may be looking at exiting their practices too soon to reap the returns. But they are finance professionals, after all, and it should be safe to assume they’ve made some objective judgments. READ MORE →

Midsize Finance Organizations Stifled by Lack of Technology Innovation

New Research in Financial Performance Management Reveals Midsize Companies Must Make Better Use of IT Before Finance Organizations Can Become More Strategic

SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a new research study “Finance and Innovation in Midsize Companies,” Ventana Research reveals that finance managers in midsize companies want their organization to go beyond bean counting to a more strategic role in management.

Use of mainstream information technology (sometimes simply using what they already have) is critical to meet this business need.

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Virtually there: Accountants eye new efficiencies in IT

Virtualization controls tech costs by sharing resources.

By Rick Telberg
Hewltett Packard, HP Technology at Work, May 2007

You’ll be hearing more about “virtualization,” especially with the release of Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system. Exactly what virtualization is depends on the context in which the term is being used. For the most part, virtualization refers to the process of creating a software emulation of a hardware platform.
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What’s Your Time Worth?

What’s your time worth?

How about your client’s time?

It’s worth considering when pitching or serving small business owners. Researchers at Warrillow & Co. asked 905 of them. The median response was about $100 per hour.

Given these findings, Warrillow says, it’s not a surprise that small business owners ranked “time and complexity to set up” among the top five reasons they decline to buy new business processes, including:
– Buying Internet search-based keywords
– Paying your company bills online
– Checking bank balances online
– Accessing business software applications over the Internet
– Obtaining customer service support online
– Accessing business email remotely

“If you’re trying to change a small business owner’s behavior,” says Warrillow, “make sure switching to your solution/company/service will save or make them money – at least as much money as their time to make the change is worth to them.” READ MORE →

In Whirl of Change, Speed Is the Edge

Dan Coughlin

Finance managers must master the art of accelerating business evolution.

by Rick Telberg
On Finance

Business has never demanded more from finance and accounting professionals. From technical knowledge to people skills, professionals are facing stiffer challenges every day.

It seems the most daunting challenge of all is change itself, and if change is the constant, then speed is the competitive edge. Or so suggests management consultant, Dan Coughlin, in his new book, “Accelerate: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum.” “My definition of ‘accelerate’ is to increase the rate of achieving desired outcomes in a sustainable manner,” Coughlin explains in this new manifesto.

We don’t have space here for all of Dan’s “lessons,” but a few are especially suitable for finance managers and accountants…

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Rick Telberg’s Travel Schedule

Coming soon to a city near you…

Rick Telberg is appearing around the country this year, and you’re invited to connect while he’s in a town near you.

• Orlando, Fla., May 13-16, Sage Insights 2007, Sage Software’s annual business partner conference.
• New York, May 16-17, CPA Business Tech Expo, the New York State Society of CPAs’ annual business and technology Conference.
• Secaucus, N.J., May 23-24, The 13th Annual New Jersey Accounting, Business & Technology Show.
• Kissimmee, Fla., May 30-June 1, Florida Accounting and Business Expo, for a presentation, “Trends in Accounting: Challenges and Opportunities.”
• Savannah, Ga., June 5-8, Association for Accounting Marketing Summit 2007, for a panel discussion, “How You, as a Marketer, Can Help Your Firm.”
• Rosemont, Ill., Aug, 21-22, Illinois CPA Society, Business & Technology Solutions Show.

Click here to contact Rick

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