This Isn’t Your Father’s Recession

No economic slowdown has been as bad for jobs as this one. The big red line is the current employment recession. Nothing in the last 63 years has been as painful or as prolonged for American workers. The good news? … Continued

Technology Raises the Bar: Four Things Accountants Must Do to Keep Up

Dustin Lubertazzi

Principles of accounting remain unchanged, but…

By Dustin Lubertazzi,
Senior Consultant, Sageworks, Inc.

Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar, is widely known as the “Father of Accounting” for publishing 36 chapters on the double-entry accounting method used by Venetian merchants during the Italian Renaissance. His book, Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita (which translates, “Everything about Arithmetic, Geometry and Proportion”), was written as a textbook for students in Northern Italy at the end of the 15th century. Pacioli’s documentation of double-entry accounting and ledgers taught entrepreneurs of the day how to conduct business using timely and accurate financial information, and it established the fundamentals of accounting still practiced today.

Pacioli’s fundamentals were only feasible thanks to the written numeral system and the abacus developed before that. And since then, the industry has seen further and more ground-breaking developments including the introduction of the typewriter, then computers, and later the internet. With each of these milestones, technology not only impacted how accountants handle financial information but also how they interact with their clients.

With the changing technological landscape, what must accountants do to stay competitive in the future, and how will technology change the future role of the accountant?

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Why the Widening Gap among Solo Practitioners?

There’s a buzz this tax season about a deepening divide between high performing firms and the rest of the profession — interestingly: especially among soloists.

Some solo practitioners are having a terrific season, others not. There’s no in-between. We’ve been wondering about the causes. And practitioners have been answering.

— Rick Telberg

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Smallest of Small Biz Hurting the Most

Small business optimism slumps in March, according to SurePayroll.

The index fell two percentage points from February to 69 percent in March, with hiring is down 2.2% year-to-date. “While large businesses, medium-sized businesses and even larger small businesses may be seeing improvements in hiring, the smallest of businesses aren’t,” the company said.
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How Do Accountants Define “Success?” [SURVEY]

Hint: It’s not all about money. And your answers could help you to better understand your clients.

How do you define success? Join the survey, see what your peers are saying.

In a CPA Trendlines straw poll of accountants about their notion of “success,”  the overwhelming majority are telling us that building a growing business or advancing in their career is not necessarily the most important goal. And career and business may not be as important as you think.

Real-time results:


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Where Are the New Clients?

And, is that the right question?

The top challenge for firms is getting new clients, according to a new survey of Sage Accountants Network members.

Next most frequently mentioned were tax law complexity and changes, followed by time management, keeping up with technology, and the effect of new regulations and standards.

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