if u cn rd this…

…then you either remember an old New York subway ad, or you’re under 40.

And if you’re not texting on your cell phone, you should be. Because your clients are.

A new Warrillow study shows 39% of all small business owners texting. And it’s not just Generation Y owners. Younger business owners almost unanimously report texting. And fully 59% of owners aged 28 to 44, and over a third of owners aged 44 to 62 use text messages.

So… r u txting? Leave a comment.

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Posted on July 30, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 2 Comments

SURVEY RESULTS: Payroll Software and Services 2008

With over 200 responses so far, the trendlines are becoming clear.

[This post was updated July 31, 2008, to include new verbatim responses.]

Get the CPA Trendlines Payroll Study 2008: Join the survey; get the results.

Roughly 46% of CPAs are “very satisfied” or “completely satisfied” with their payroll system. But a significant number are not so happy, including 8% who are “not very satisfied.”

Even if they’re relatively happy with their payroll system, most CPAs (62%) could be looking for a new solution in the next 18 months.

Web-based systems are emerging as an increasingly popular option, now garnering overwhelming acceptance. Some 32% would be “totally comfortable” doing payroll online.

Got payroll? Who ya gonna call? The answer is local firms, with 83% of CPAs saying the payroll future belongs to local firms. If, that is, they want it.

What do you think? Please join the survey and get the results or just leave a comment.

Here’s sampling of the comments collected so far in the survey, to the question:

If you could wave a magic wand and change just one thing about your current payroll system, what would it be?

The responses:

  1. Better integration with General Ledger
  2. More payroll Clients
  3. ease of timeclock data into payroll system…
  4. Make it easier to offer direct deposit (initiate ACH trx’s)
  5. Ad hoc reporting
  6. ease of transferability
  7. That the Feds would come up with a universal way for everyone to file all payroll reports online
  8. Generating Report
  9. cost
  10. much better customer support. the firm handling ours does not understand the needs of employees who have had an error in their checks
  11. Find the right employee to manage the service
  12. Making it easier for payees to access the information about their earnings
  13. simpler to use
  14. Eliminate Intuit charges for direct deposit
  15. Better interface for paperless tax payments and filings for state compliance.
  16. Move to real time processing of transactions and away from batch processing so that I have real time costs analysis
  17. Allocation of salaries/wages across departments
  18. Better knowledge of payroll tax changes.
  19. Have access to HR info
  20. Easier set up of required payments.
  21. That it works like it is supposed to and when we call for tech support NOT to get, “no one else has that problem.”
  22. More effective report generation and data download
  23. Add service bureau software capabilities
  24. Go from manual to web-based.
  25. manual entry
  26. flexibility in report writing
  27. ease of use; profitability
  28. lower cost
  29. Have a complete systtem that in completely within our general ledger system
  30. reporting flexibility
  31. Improved customer service
  32. Get rid of it!!!
  33. Make it easier to use
  34. Make it better and easier to use, accumulate data
  35. making it user friendly
  36. I would like a dynamic software product that would keep up with changes and handle the complex local taxes in Ohio.
  37. Flexibility
  38. Focal point customer service. No gambling by calling 800#.
  39. More flexibility in handling garnishments
  40. Improve ease of extracting payroll information reports.
  41. HR Manager – she is a pain
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Posted on July 29, 2008
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CPAs’ Four Top Tips for Getting Things Done

How CPAs juggle distractions to focus on work. Got a tip? Send it in!

by Rick Telberg/At Large

An endless flow of e-mails, chatty co-workers, unexpected clients knocking on your door and phones that never stop ringing — sound all too familiar? If so, you are not alone.

The real question is — how do you stay focused amid the chaos?

According to a CPA Trendlines study by the Bay Street Group, 34 percent of CPAs report “often” feeling distracted, while another 34 percent are “sometimes” distracted. This is followed by 22 percent who are “frequently” distracted.

CPAs rely on a few key habits for maximizing productivity and minimizing distraction, including the following: Read more

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Posted on July 28, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 19 Comments

CAMICO Names Ric Rosario Next CEO

CEO, founder John Dodsworth set to retire in 2009

CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company, the nation’s largest CPA-owned provider of professional liability insurance, announced that Ric Rosario (left) will become CEO on Jan. 1, 2009, succeeding John A. Dodsworth (right), CPA, who, in a planned move, will retire June 30, 2009, after having served as CAMICO’s chief executive since the company’s inception in 1986.

Read more

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Posted on July 25, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 4 Comments

The New Strategy for Work-Life Balance

Hint: It’s good career advice, too.

by Rick Telberg/On Careers

Last year I managed to break loose for a short vacation. It was all over in about 14 minutes, barely enough time to imagine swinging in a hammock under a palm tree on the beach of a small Caribbean island. But it was just enough time to think about that elusive dream of balancing work and life. Sound familiar?

Life. You remember that, right? It’s that place with the kids and the concerts and the friends sitting back in Adirondack chairs to the sounds of the tinkling of ice at twilight. Stop laughing for a minute.

That place really does exist and Stewart Friedman (pictured), founding director of the Wharton Leadership Program and the Work/Life Integration Project, says he knows how you can get there.

In his new book, “Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life,” Friedman describes the four domains of people’s lives: Read more

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Posted on July 24, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 4 Comments

SURVEY RESULTS: How CPAs Manage Distractions

… And how to stay focused.

How do YOU stay focused? Add your own comments here.

In a CPA Trendlines survey of 672 finance and accounting professionals, 22% complain they are “frequently” distracted. And another 5% say they are “terminally” distracted… “What was the question?”

But seriously… The number of accountants are who don’t suffer some problematic distraction is in the single digits. In fact no one says they are never distracted. Most CPAs are in the “sometimes” or “often” club.

Email may be one of the biggest problems.

Read more

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Posted on July 23, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

CPAs Take the Lead on Technology

Using the best hardware and software available.

Join the survey; get the answers.

by Rick Telberg/At Large

Technology has been kind to accountants and finance managers, but in a sense, it’s also been cruel.

On the kind side, we’re blessed with powerful tools that allow us to get a lot done a lot faster than we used to. Few other professions lend themselves to such extensive productivity through advanced technology. Accountants and computers were meant for each other.

On the cruel side, technology never seems satisfied with itself. It charges forward as if today’s tools were as slow as ox carts and as dumb as stone.

It’s great to have the tools of technology, but it’s always a challenge to keep up with what’s new and what needs to be used. The finance and accounting shops that keep up are going to be the shops that get ahead.

With that in mind, we’ve been asking our readers to rate their practices on how well they keep up with the galloping digital age.

But first, ask yourself four key questions:

  1. How often is your organization among the first to adopt new technologies?
  2. Do you make and follow a strategic technology plan?
  3. Can you get thorough and continuous training?
  4. How many people in your office work with the best equipment and software available?

Then, join the survey panel and we’ll let you know how your shop compares. From the first 100 responses, we can already start to see some trends: Read more

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Posted on July 21, 2008
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TaxMama’s Money Tips

taxmamaWe asked: What should small business do in an economic slowdown? Eva “TaxMama” Rosenberg answered!

By Eva Rosenberg, MBA, EA
Publisher, taxmama.com, “Where Taxes are Fun!”

…Just some quick ideas before I actually wake up and start producing today’s TaxQuip.

1) There are the obvious suggestions – start analyzing your comparative financial statements to see where your costs are highest – especially compared to the last 3-5 years.

2) Look at your vendor records and see which vendors you’re ordering from on a weekly or frequent basis.

a) Are too many orders being placed, for too many things the company doesn’t need all that much? i.e. frivolous orders

b) Could placing fewer, larger orders result in discounts?

c) Are you taking advantage of 2%/10 day payment terms? Or can you negotiate those terms with your larger vendors?

Read more

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Posted on July 19, 2008
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Gloria Birnkrant: Money Tips

Gloria BirnkrantHere are eight tips for minimizing the effect of a recession on a small business…

By Gloria Birnkrant
Partner, NSBN

1. Clean up your act now, before you start feeling the pinch. Be sure you are getting current and good financial information on how your business is doing. Waiting till the end of the year to see how you did will not do it. You need to know, as up to date as possible, how you are doing, month by month.

2. Take a look at your expenses and see where you may be able to cut costs, without cutting service to clients/customers. Clients/customers are hard to get and if lost, almost impossible to get back.

3. Secure your credit now. Credit is already very tight and will probably get tighter. Read more

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Posted on July 18, 2008
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