Tech (311)
The Progressive Accountant is the leading online communit of public tax and accounting professionals focused on using technology to better manage and grow their practice.
Why Should You Accept Credit Card Payments Online?
- Monday, 27 April 2009
- Tech
- Written by Chad Brubaker
One of the longest standing challenges facing business owners has been collecting payment in full and on time from clients. It sounds simple enough, yet with the economy the way it is, many CPAs' accounts receivable are out of control!
So, the question that naturally follows is: How can my firm avoid this? One answer is to make it quicker and easier for your clients to pay their bills. Whether or not you have a website, a great solution is online. There are several providers to choose from, ranging from the super-popular PayPal to more boutique credit card processors.
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Help Your Clients Optimize Their Inventory: Phitch 9.0
- Monday, 09 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Kathy Yakal
There’s only one adjunct QuickBooks program that accomplishes such a feat. Phitch 9.0, from ePhiphony Incorporated, uses patent pending technology to determine inventory alerts, reorder points, safety stocks, and order quantities at your point of maximum economic profit, in order to optimize your company's investment in inventory.
Phitch works with QuickBooks Premiere and Enterprise, and founder John Krech is working on versions for SAP and Microsoft Dynamics. Setup and integration are easy, as is regular use; color-coded flags indicate when inventory needs attention.
$1,597 per user buys you the first year’s license, and year two costs $377 per user. A free trial is available, as is a weekly Webinar -- visit the site for details.
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Project Insight: Web 2.0, Web-Based Project Management
- Monday, 09 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Kathy Yakal
If you were using Project Insight, you’d probably know by the time you finish reading this blog entry. Project Insight is a Web-based project management solution (Mac and PC-browser compliant) that integrates with Microsoft Project, Office and Outlook. It uses Intelligent Project Scheduling (recognizes dependencies among tasks) and employs efficient resource allocation and workload management.
Hundreds of permutations of reports keep you on top of your progress, and you can create templates for repetitive projects. Project Insight includes cost management, capturing several types of budgetary costs.
Project Insight looks great and works even better. Prices start at $40 per month. Take the product tour or request a demo at the site.
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All Things QuickBooks
- Monday, 09 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by
Ever get a QuickBooks® file and throw up your hands because you can’t get the reports you need from it? Fixed Assets are classified as expenses, loans are classified as revenue -- need I on go on? Together we are going to explore the ins and outs of QuickBooks and unravel the mysteries behind it!
My background as a CPA, CITP, an external auditor, internal corporate auditor and in various other finance positions for Fortune 500 corporations, has given me unique insight in dissecting a QuickBooks file. Join me by reading my articles on “Unleashing the Power of QuickBooks!” and learn how to take a business process approach to not only cleaning up a QuickBooks file -- but obtaining clean financial reports for external stakeholders, operational reporting for your clients, and making QuickBooks not only work for you, but work for your clients!
Read more...Marketing & Practice Development
- Thursday, 05 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Hugh Duffy MBA
Would you like to learn more about improving your marketing and practice development initiatives? We plan to discuss lead generation, internet marketing, and selling accounting services in today’s economy.
As for a bit of background on me, I’ve been teaching and writing about accounting practice development since 2003. Each day, I’m in the trenches talking with small accounting firms around the country discussing marketing, rain making, practice management, developing a niche, building a practice versus buying a practice, and related topics.
I look forward to your participation.
Read more...Excel Best Practices Tip for Reviewers
- Wednesday, 04 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Jeremy Gooding CPA
As you are reviewing Excel files and changes are subsequently made to the spreadsheets, it can be difficult to have an audit trail to ensure changes are made as we expect to see them. Historically some reviewers have been printing a copy of the Excel file as it existed at the time it was reviewed to have a static copy for review purposes. This PDF would then be compared with the updated Excel file to review the changes. While this may be a good solution, there is another option that may be a better alternative.
Read more...Doing More With Less
- Thursday, 05 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Barry MacQuarrie CPA.CITP
The topics I will cover for The Progressive Accountant will focus on technologies that help CPA firm operate more efficiently. I will look at new products and processes that help improve workflow and employee productivity.
My experiences as a CPA and knowledge of technology have helped me provide technology consulting services to CPA firms. I look forward to sharing insights and ideas that may help your firm become more profitable.
Meet Tech Maven Kathy Yakal
- Monday, 02 March 2009
- Tech
- Written by Kathy Yakal
Technology.
Whether the word strikes fear in your heart or makes you get down on your knees in thanks, it can be a real boon to your practice. I’ve been writing about how businesspeople use technology since 1983, so I’m used to rolling with the punches.
In my blog posts, I’ll be exploring trends in technology and how they can enhance your firm’s productivity. I’ll cover everything from Web-browsing to documents to Web design, from communications to contact management to mini-money apps to hardware and software and Web-based solutions we haven’t even heard of yet. And I’ll be eager to hear from you.
Read more...Yoggie’s Gatekeeper Pico Miniaturized Computer
- Thursday, 29 January 2009
- Tech
- Written by The Progressive Accountant
I first saw Yoggie Security System at CES 2008 -- and this year they made a second appearance and I took a second look. They make itty-bitty USB computers. Yup, that’s right -- computers.
They actually have an OS (it’s Linux) in a USB device and the little guys provide some pretty amazing security services. Essentially it replaces your software firewall and protects your computer from malicious attacks -- with a PHYSICAL barrier. The result looks to be a performance boost since all the “thinking” is done by the Yoggie device. Pretty interesting concept for somewhere in the $120 range with the free copy of Kaspersky™ Anti-Virus.
Read more...Logitech is Putting Extra Displays EVERYWHERE
- Monday, 12 January 2009
- Tech
- Written by The Progressive Accountant
I saw dozens of add-on type mini-displays at CES this year. They are already fairly cheap (many were priced around $129) and most are USB powered. Looks like a pretty convenient way to leave a certain Web site (weather?) open all the time.
It’ll be interesting to see how they get used. Logitech was showing a gamer keyboard with a little 2-inch by 3-inch display -- the color GamePanel LCD shows game stats, system information, communication data, video playback, image slideshows, or other information, without leaving the game. It seemed to be a solution in search of a problem to me, but it sure did draw a crowd. Go here to watch the video.
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