cloud

The World Is Flat

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Montage of a pretty eye with the world continentsThe cloud changes everything, even the way of the dinosaur.

By Rob Nixon

I have a theory as to why most clients of an accounting firm are within a driving radius of the firm.

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My theory is that way back when(ever) the clients used to travel to the accountant’s office with their “stuff” (cashbooks, receipts, livestock headcount, paperwork, etc.). They’d get dressed up in their Sunday best for the occasion, have a pleasant conversation about the year that was and then leave.
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Make the Cloud Work for You

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Staircase of 10 steps10 steps (and you don’t have to take them all at once).

By Jody Padar

Once you decide on what cloud software you want to use, here are the ten steps you need to make the transition:

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Step 1: Adopt for your own practice. Choose an online software you’d like to try and input your financials. It’s the easiest move to make, and you’ll learn a lot during the process. You’re the most intimate with your own financials, so start there.

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6 Ways the Cloud Helps CPA Firms

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Woman ascending staircase into cloudsBONUS: 7 specific tools.

By Jody Padar

We’ve said the backups and the intangibles outweigh the little annoyances. But what specifically will you gain from moving to the cloud?

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1. It will help you go paperless. The cloud has helped me rethink my entire document management system and my firm is now 100 percent paperless. The problem with document management systems today is that they’re very static for working in a fluid environment. I have yet to find a technology that addresses this issue to my liking.
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Server Vs. Cloud

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A virtual machine moves from one cloud server rack to anotherMaybe you should reconsider that scheduled server replacement.

By Roman H. Kepczyk
Quantum of Paperless

In most firms, the traditional core computers used for operating all applications are internal file servers.

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Down time for a day or two is a disaster. If an “out of service” stoppage stretches to a week or more, your partner income will suffer measurably. Simply put, mission-critical servers utilized for tax, audit, time and billing, and email have, at most, an effective five-year life. After this time equipment becomes significantly more difficult to maintain, whether you have a warranty or not.
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Firms in the Cloud Fly Higher

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Businessman relaxing in clouds in skyIt allows you to focus on more important aspects.

…and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me…

– William Shakespeare, The Tempest

By CPA Trendlines

Ah, the cloud…whatever it is, wherever it is…apparently those fluffy isles in the foggy blue yonder are where small businesses, including accounting firms, can make a little more moolah.

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Small American companies, defined as those with fewer than 50 employees, lead the world in usage of the cloud. For the first time, more than half – 51 percent – employ at least one software package that functions offsite, and another 29 percent use three or more cloud-based programs. That’s more than in France, Germany and Belgium. The only country coming close is the U.K., where 47 percent of surveyed companies are involved in cloud-based technology.
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Private Clouds on the Rise

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2016-ROUNDTABLE-OUTLOOK-FOR-ROSENBERG-MAP-COMMENTARY-VF-240x219Security breaches will be a heightened concern.

They say “past results are no indication of future performance.” Maybe. Maybe not. But if anyone should know, it’s our panel of experts, their comments drawn from the new edition of The Rosenberg MAP Survey. These are their bullet points and comments, verbatim, looking back at the last 12 months and looking ahead to 2016. – Rick Telberg, CEO

By Roman Kepczyk
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

Lessons from 2015:

Firms overall remained cautiously optimistic, with those that were more specialized/niched seeing solid leaps in growth in both personnel and revenue. These firms brought us in to direct their investments in upgrading their infrastructures, focusing not only on the physical IT components, but in optimizing their internal production processes with the applications they had in place.

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Much of our consulting last year trended toward helping firms implement streamlined workflow tools (XCM, Thomson FirmFlow, CCH Workstream) and toward adopting “lean tax” production processes, which continues to be the latest buzz. M&A IT consulting was another big focus as we helped firms actively build “private cloud” infrastructures so they could

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Report: Cloud Users Earn More Than Naysayers

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Hand drawing cloud computing diagramAccountants slow to adopt integrated solutions.

By CPA Trendlines

Small businesses that use cloud-based software to support critical business functions make more money than those that don’t, according to research reviewed by CPA Trendlines.

Companies surveyed who are embracing the cloud achieve 25 percent additional growth, while doubling their profits. Those companies make up 51 percent of U.S. small businesses, with 29 percent using three or more packages. The United Kingdom is close behind, with 47 percent adoption and 27 percent using three or more packages.

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Why Adopting New Technologies Is a Must

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Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and ABONUS CHECKLISTS: 5 essentials and 4 questions to help you determine what’s right for your practice.

By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor

QUESTION: When should I adopt new technology? I do not see any benefit to being paperless and the cloud (whatever that is) and do not know why there is such a big fuss over these things. Any suggestions?

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ANSWER: You have adopted new technology, just not enough, or not soon enough.

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