Technology

Column: From the Trenches

Column: The QuickBooks Advisor

Every accountant’s practice is different from that of his or her peers. Whether it’s the client base that has driven the practice to offer specialty services or a particular interest and skill on the part of the professional, every firm varies, sometimes more than others, in the services it offers.

Are you one of the majority of CPAs who still are without a handheld computer or PDA (personal digital assistant)? Perhaps you tried one in the past but never really clicked with it, and so it found its way into the pile of antiquated tech devices in your office, or perhaps the junk drawer at home.

One of the things that I try to do to keep my knowledge current is to attend vendor-sponsored conferences. This is the case whether I am looking at practice management products, accounting software products, paperless products, consumer products or networking products.

When Kevin Robert, CEO of Wolters Kluwer’s CCH, makes a move, he makes a MOVE. In July, CCH had almost no footprint in the small and very small firm market. With its ProSystem fx line firmly entrenched in solid majority of the largest firms (minus the Big 4, most of whom are GoSystem Tax RS customers), Robert obviously saw the other end of the market as a ripe spot for growth.

In a time when many accounting practices are rethinking the services they offer to stay competitive, Scott Price and his staff of 26 professionals have found a very successful niche that puts his firm against competition that many practitioners might be intimidated by.

An interesting recent conversation with the principal of a small accounting firm has driven me to address the personal use of the Internet by employees at work.