Daily Archives: October 20, 2014

Beyond Money Alone: How College Accounting Students Choose Their First Job

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PAR Differentiators Students Consider in Accepting Job OffersEY and UT Austin top professors poll.

In considering job offers from competing accounting firms, the most highly sought-after students weigh three criteria equally, and it doesn’t much matter whether the offer is for big money or whether it’s from a Big Four firm anymore, according to a leading survey of several hundred college accounting professors.

Students today consider compensation and benefits, “work/life balance and a family-friendly environment” and a desirable geographic location each about equally, according to the 33rd Annual professors Survey for 2014 by Public Accounting Report.

The difference is barely discernible, PAR reports. On a scale of 0 through 10, with 10 being the most important, professors marginally differentiated between the three in order of importance. They rated compensation and benefits an average of 8.10, quality of life/family-friendly environment 8.09 and desirable geographic location 7.99. READ MORE →

When You’ve Retired, How Do You Get Your Money?

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Money falling from the sky; moneyon white9 factors that ensure retirement plans will pay off.

By Marc Rosenberg
Retirements & Buyouts

When a partner group crafts their firm’s partner retirement plan, they are hopeful that the plan will play an important role in their financial futures. They are guardedly optimistic that their buyouts will be realized.

But the path toward the retirement payday is a perilous one. Many actions are necessary and a number of obstacles must be overcome for a firm’s partner retirement plan to pay off. READ MORE →

6 Ways to Know What You Don’t Know

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Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and ABy Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor

QUESTION: Occasionally I get a new client in an area I am unfamiliar with. How do I find out what I do not know?

RESPONSE: This happens to everyone and probably more often than we expect. Thankfully we will continue to get new business and getting clients in areas we are unfamiliar with enables us to grow.

MORE PRACTICE DOCTOR Q&A: 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Making Small Business Clients Happy | Client’s Difficult Daughter Balks at Bill | 6 Simple Steps to Impress a Prospect | 10 (Nearly) Painless Ways to Keep Up to Date with Technology | When a Staffer Stops Listening | 10 Ways to Get New 1040 Clients | Making Meetings More Productive | Tax Return Reviewer Ticking and Tying

Here is what I suggest: READ MORE →

Wireless Is Hot, and Here’s How to Handle It

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Novatel Wireless MIFI 4510L

What you need to know to go from Wi-Fi to Mi-Fi.

By Roman H. Kepczyk
Quantum of Paperless

One of the revolutions in remote connectivity is happening within your cellphone, as digital cellular providers have beefed up and expanded their networks to provide reliable Internet access to remote devices.

About 94 percent of firms utilize smartphones for access to email, calendar and contacts, and 33 percent provide tablets or netbooks to senior management, according to the Association for Accounting Administration.

Kepczyk
Kepczyk

MORE ON TECH SPENDING: How Safe Is Your Internet Lifeline? | New Tech Tools for the 24/7 Accounting Firm | The Single Best Defense Against Computer Viruses | When to Adopt Microsoft’s New Office Apps | What Windows 8 Means for How Accountants Will Work in the Future | How to Choose the Right Backup System | How to Know It’s Time to Scrap Your Old Server | Where Laptops Rule at CPA Firms Today | Step 1 in Building the Paperless Firm: Scanners | How Many Computer Monitors Do You Need?

The first step is to determine which telecom provider is the best in your firm’s area of operations. Consider: READ MORE →