Accounting technology news and resources

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March 1, 2020

Excel vs. Tableau: See your data differently

This article compares the data visualization program Tableau to Excel, examines their relative strengths, and provides a simple walk-through on how to use Tableau.

February 24, 2020

More businesses using AI as tools emerge

New tools offer the promise of making automated machine learning available to organizations that don’t have AI or data analytics experts readily available.

February 17, 2020

Open source information and forensic accountants

Veteran investigator Cynthia Hetherington offers practical tips and guidance on how forensic accountants can use the open source information found on the internet to make themselves smarter, better investigators while staying within privacy laws.

February 11, 2020

Get started teaching blockchain

Experts offer best practices for helping students and faculty get up to speed.

February 11, 2020

Use Excel’s Flash Fill to automatically fill in data quickly

How to use Excel’s Flash Fill feature, including a keyboard shortcut for both Windows and Excel for Mac.

February 3, 2020

Where accounting really stands with blockchain

Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, and Ron Quaranta, founder and chairman of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, examine tax and accounting issues related to cryptoassets and explore assurance opportunities blockchain is creating for accountants.

February 3, 2020

3 ways to defeat ransomware: Plan, prevent, not pay

This article discusses ways to prepare for this kind of cyberthreat.

February 1, 2020

What is artificial intelligence?

There are two main categories of AI: artificial general intelligence (AGI) and narrow artificial intelligence (NAI).

February 1, 2020

‘New’ payment apps CPAs should know

A monthly look at applications, gadgets, and other technology that can improve a CPA’s job and life.

February 1, 2020

The easy way to join text in Excel

If you have Excel 2019 or Excel 365, you can use the function TEXTJOIN to quickly join text in one cell and separate the text with any delimiter, even if you have many rows or columns of data to join.

February 1, 2020

Replace Excel errors using this function

IFERROR can be used to eliminate formula errors and replace those errors with something else.

January 21, 2020

How firms are delivering value with audit data analytics

Here’s how auditors can prepare themselves for this work, and what they need to explain to audit committees as they incorporate analytics into engagements.

January 20, 2020

A farewell chat with Tech Q&A author J. Carlton Collins

J. Carlton Collins, CPA, talks about how he came up with the hundreds of technology topics he covered, how he became a good writer, and how he feels about ending his run with our most popular column.

January 14, 2020

Use IFS function to calculate letter grades in Excel

Added by Microsoft in 2016, the IFS function replaces the need for multiple nested IF statements. You can put all your conditions (percentage grade cutoffs in this example) in one function, making it easier to follow.

January 1, 2020

2 simple ways to visualize data

Supplementing spreadsheet data with visual representation aids the user in identifying trends and patterns that may not be evident otherwise.

January 1, 2020

2020s vision: Tech transformation on tap

Data analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other technologies will drive big changes in the accounting profession over the next 10 years. Are you ready for what’s next?

January 1, 2020

Sick of emailing it in? Check out Slack and Teams

A treatment for our email affliction is emerging in the form of collaboration applications, most notably Slack and Microsoft Teams.

January 1, 2020

5 tips for effective remote meetings

Reliable communication is a key component in enabling remote working arrangements.

January 1, 2020

Practitioners need a written information security plan

The IRS places fresh emphasis on tax preparers’ responsibilities under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act safeguards rule.

December 1, 2019

Zapier: From IFTTT ‘weird’ to ‘wonderful’ in a ZAP

A monthly look at applications, gadgets, and other technology that can improve a CPA’s job and life.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

4 ways solo practitioners can stand out

Five years ago, a grieving Angel Zhen started his own CPA firm with no clients and no revenue. Today, he has 300 clients, $600,000 in revenue and 12 weeks of annual vacation. In this JofA article, he shares how he set up his firm and how you could do the same.