Early in the 20th century, audits of company financial statements served merely as verification for management that a company was productive and efficient. After the 1929 stock market crash, the role of the auditor evolved. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 established requirements for
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Information management and technology assurance
Baker Tilly to merge with New York firm Holtz Rubenstein Reminick
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, one of the 20 largest U.S. accounting firms, is merging with Holtz Rubenstein Reminick LLP in a deal that will give Chicago-based Baker Tilly a significant foothold in New York City. The merger announced Wednesday is scheduled to take effect June 1. It will create
Microsoft Office 2013
An essential tool for many CPAs is a dependable computer running Microsoft Office. Accordingly, CPAs have more than a passing interest when Microsoft releases new editions every three years or so. This year should be no exception. With Office 2013, Microsoft has made major modifications related to new touchscreen capabilities,
Can I Drop(box) QuickBooks?
Q: We use a multiuser version of QuickBooks, and our remote satellite office personnel log in to my computer remotely using LogMeIn to access the system—which means that only one of us can access QuickBooks at the same time. This also means that when others access QuickBooks in this manner,
Tech talk: What CPAs need to know
Tax Code modifications and new FASB rules aren’t the only changes that CPAs have to concern themselves with these days. Whether it’s the security of clients’ data, the implications of migrating to the cloud, or the uncertain future of the once-venerable desktop, rapid technological transformation continues to generate new challenges
Smart tech tips
Technology mistakes can cause higher expenses and lost revenue opportunities. During a session at the AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference in January, Advisor Products President and CEO Andrew Gluck shared tips on how to avoid the biggest technology mistakes. The tips could prove useful for accounting firms and small
Horsing around with paint
Q: We have a company logo that I want to display on a proposal’s cover atop a graphic image, but I want to get rid of the logo’s surrounding white space. Is there a quick way to accomplish this without buying fancy software or paying a graphic artist to do
A complicated inheritance
Q: I inherited an Excel workbook containing lengthy formulas, and I am having trouble determining exactly how these formulas work. Is there a magic trick for figuring out how complicated formulas work? A: Excel provides a couple of tools that might help. The first tool is Evaluate Formula. To use
A tour of five XBRL tools
Supporters of extensible business reporting language (XBRL) have long touted its potential to transform financial data mining and analysis. Now that potential is starting to become a reality, thanks to several new software applications. These tools are designed to help accountants, investors, and analysts extract data from XBRL documents for
Criminal background checks can’t remain in the background anymore
Among the many client services they perform, accounting firms often handle client funds in the performance of various services provided to both individuals and businesses—bookkeeping, investment advisory, family office, and more. Imagine what might happen if a firm employee steals or otherwise misappropriates funds from a client: The firm would
Rule your spam
Q: Even though I’ve set my Outlook 2010 Junk E-mail Options to High, I still receive so many unsolicited emails it’s maddening. Do I need to purchase a junk email or spam program, or is there something else I can try to reduce my junk email? A: I recommend that
From “write-up” to right profitable
CPA firms for decades saw little upside to providing basic accounting services to business clients. Bookkeeping and other “write-up” activities required extensive data entry and document transfer that chewed up man-hours but did not require much specialized knowledge. Client accounting services (CAS) were seen as commodities that brought with them
Five Dropbox tips
1. Receive emailed files from others directly into your Dropbox. Paid Dropbox members can create a File Dropbox, which is a special Dropbox folder that enables anyone you invite to email files directly to your Dropbox. To set up a File Dropbox, right-click on any Dropbox folder and select Create
Missing toolbars
Q: I typically surf the web using Internet Explorer’s InPrivate Browsing mode for better safety and privacy, but when I use this mode, some of my toolbar add-ins (such as the Norton toolbar add-in) are no longer displayed. Is there a way to display the Norton toolbar (and other toolbars)
Reverse the negativity
Q: Our company’s old accounting system produces financial reports with trailing minus signs, which we open in Excel and fix manually by retyping the data. Is there an automated way to remove trailing minus signs and convert those numbers to negative numbers with leading minus signs? A: Presented below are
Snake!
Q: I have an Excel worksheet with two columns and more than 1,300 rows of data that I would like to print on legal-size paper in landscape orientation. Is there a way to get the two columns to flow automatically to adjacent columns (across the page) so it fits on
Clients: The end is near
Evaluating clients annually is good practice management for a professional services firm. A firm’s strategies, areas of practice, and risk profile change over time. As a result, certain clients may no longer be a desirable fit for the firm. Similarly, some client behaviors become problematic and can harm the staff’s
Make your point
Q: I added a long numbered list to a Word document, and I want to format the numbered bullets with a different font and font size than the text (so the formatting matches the other lists already included in the document). I am able to select the entire numbered list
What are the risks?
Companies with fewer than 100 employees often find it difficult to implement appropriate fraud prevention and detection techniques. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), in its Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (2012 issue available here), has consistently reported through the years that small businesses are
A bit disappointed
Q: Embarrassingly, I purchased a new computer last year that was advertised as being pre-installed with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional operating system, and I then spent about three weeks (off and on) installing applications, configuring the system, setting up email, setting up network permissions, setting up printers,
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How to find the right CAS clients
The key to success with CAS is selecting the best clients. Tools like ideal client profiles (ICPs), buyer personas, and even artificial intelligence can help identify the businesses that best fit each CAS practice.
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