Featured Online Content for May 2011
FEATURED VIDEO
With a fast-growing economy powering demand for accountants, the Chinese government has made a commitment to spurring development in the accounting profession, says Winnie C.W. Cheung, chief executive and registrar of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. That initiative is designed to build 10 large CPA firms and 200 midsize, homegrown accounting firms by 2015. She discusses the shortage of accountants to serve the mainland China market and hot topics for the profession in Hong Kong. The video is available at tinyurl.com/493gaoa.
ONLINE EXTRAS
VIDEO
Lessons in Business Development
Successful CPA firms set expectations early for new associates to begin honing the skills needed to land new business and check in often on how staffers are progressing, says Mark Koziel, director–Specialized Communities and PCPS/Firm Practice Management at the AICPA. In this video and an accompanying article, he shares low-risk strategies for building confidence and experience in selling skills. The video is available at tinyurl.com/4fgleeo.
VIDEO
What is your firm or organization doing to prepare the next generation of CPAs for the future? In this video, graduates of the AICPA’s Leadership Academy discuss the importance of succession planning, mentoring and career development. The video is available at tinyurl.com/6haqyrl.
AUDIO
Security Essentials for Business Professionals
Security often is treated as a technology problem, not as a business issue. In this interview, Eric McMillen, CEO and chief security architect at The McMillen Group LLC, offers CPAs a short list of security policies they should have in place and how to educate their employees on keeping confidential data safe. The audio file is available at tinyurl.com/49ejsu4.
SOCIAL MEDIA TIP
Using Quick Response Codes
You may have seen quick response (QR) codes (like the one to the left) on advertisements, business cards and print catalogs, but what are they and how do you read them?
A QR code is a matrix barcode in a square pattern readable by a smartphone’s camera. Information encoded in a QR code can be text, a website URL or other data.
To read QR codes, you’ll need a QR code reader app, many of which are free. For the iPhone, popular and highly rated code reader apps include RedLaser and Bakodo. For Android phones, there’s Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team and QuickMark QR Code Reader; and for the BlackBerry, there’s Code Muncher and QR Code Scanner Pro.
To read a code, open your phone’s code reader application and scan the image. You will be taken to a website or social media profile for more information about a product, business or individual. For example, the QR code above takes you to the JofA’s website.
For more tips visit facebook.com/JournalofAccountancy and click the “Tips” link in the left column.
—Megan Pinkston (mpinkston@aicpa.org) is the JofA’s senior online editor.
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