Technology
40 Under 40 Honoree: Glen Keenan, CPA — 36
President, Xpitax LLC & XCM Solutions, LLC, Braintree, MA
Aug. 29, 2007
40 Under 40 Honoree: Glen Keenan, CPA — 36
President, Xpitax LLC & XCM Solutions, LLC, Braintree, MA
EDUCATION: BS Accounting — Boston College
FAMILY: Wife Kathleen & three children (ages 7, 5 &
1)
HOBBIES & INTERESTS: Golf, fishing, family
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: AICPA, Massachusetts Society of
CPAs, Boston College Technology Counsel
What’s the one piece of technology that MOST helps you get through
your normal workday?
“The ability to access my work remotely, using Citrix or a Terminal Server,
is an important productivity and life balancing tool for me. Accessing applications
and files remotely enables me to be productive while on the road visiting clients
or attending industry events, or from home so I can participate in my children’s
school and sporting activities. We designed XCM workflow software as a hosted
application to give CPA firms the same freedom to work remotely or in virtual
teams.”
What will be the biggest change over the next five years in the ways
tax and accounting firms operate?
“To attract and retain younger talent, firms cannot afford to ignore the
next generation’s desire to have greater flexibility in how they work
in order to achieve more balance in their lives. To that end, firms must embrace
technology that will enable a virtual team environment, comprised of full-time
professionals working from home or on the road, as well as outsourced professionals
working in another state or another country. Important technology tools that
will help firms achieve this virtual environment include remote server tools
such as Citrix or Terminal Servers; document management software that enables
staff to work in a digital environment; and workflow automation tools to facilitate
communication, collaboration and centralized information management.”
What Glen’s peers had to say about him:
Glen has been instrumental in educating the accounting industry on the advantages
of properly executed outsourcing, developing many of the standards and controls
used in outsourcing for accounting today. In addition to serving as a leading
proponent of outsourcing, Glen worked with his colleagues at Xpitax to develop
the XCM workflow software, helping to launch both XCM Solutions and a new important
category of software for the accounting industry in its quest to achieve the
paperless environment.
From his own experiences at the Boston offices of RSM McGladrey and Deloitte
in his early career, Glen has an acute understanding of the challenges facing
CPA firms with the talent shortage looming in his generation and those that
follow. He views outsourcing and particularly technology adoption as critical
steps for firms hoping to overcome this challenge by creating greater efficiencies,
a more comfortable work environment for tech savvy younger professionals, and
a truly virtual team structure — taking pressures off in-house talent
by reassigning non-value-driving work. To this end, Glen continues to be a thought
leader on workflow automation and outsourcing, educating the market with best
practices learned from clients over the past five years.