Trying to uncover evidence of fraud in a data set of millions of records is somewhat akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, the successful employment of data analysis techniques can clear away most of the “hay” and leave the fraud examiner or auditor with a much
Information management and technology assurance
The games people play
Q: I have an employee who plays social media games on his lunch break. Will playing these games slow down his computer or cause other harm? A: The vast majority of computer performance issues and crashes occur when a computer runs out of available memory. Because many computer games involve
2012 MAP Survey: Signs of recovery
Accounting firms aren’t all the way back to where they were before the Great Recession, but they are making progress. That’s one of the many findings of note in the 2012 National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) survey, sponsored by the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section in association with
I’ve got you pegged
Q: We use a wall map with pushpins to keep track of the location of our service technicians, but this manual method requires continual phone calls and pushpin adjustments. Can you recommend a cheap and easy technology solution that would enable us to see where our service technicians are and
Small keys create big problem
Q: Help! My laptop has half-size keys, and this keyboard is almost impossible to use with my large fingers. What can I do? (The image at right shows two normal size left and right arrow keys, and two half-size up and down arrow keys.) A: The same thing happened to
Run a tab for this table
Q: I use a lot of tables in Word, and it would be nice if the Tab key would actually indent my table data, but that functionality does not work—the Tab key simply moves my cursor to the next cell in the table. Is there a setting that makes the
Sum highlights for you
Q: I was disappointed to find that Excel’s AutoSum tool produced an error in my workbook, which I did not catch until it was too late. The problem resulted when I highlighted row 15 (as pictured below), and then clicked the AutoSum tool to insert formula totals at the bottom
Five tips using Excel’s Fill Handle
1. Drag the Fill Handle of a single cell to copy that cell. The Fill Handle is at the bottom right of any selected cell or group of cells. 2. Drag the Fill Handle of a cell containing January, Jan, JAN, Monday, Mon, or MON, Quarter 1, or Q1 to
Table rows are a drag
Q: I often rearrange rows in Word tables, and I find it cumbersome to insert a new blank row, copy and paste row data, and then delete the original row. Is there a faster way to accomplish this task? A: To rearrange rows in a Word table, you need not
Online shopping sends business productivity down the Amazon
With the arrival of the holiday shopping season, the analysis of a particular work email account serves as a cautionary tale to employers. Barb Bowes, a human resources consultant and president of Legacy Bowes Group in Winnipeg, Manitoba, offered the example of a company that found an average of 35
SEC provides regulatory relief for Hurricane Sandy interruptions
The SEC on Wednesday issued a conditional exemption from certain federal securities law requirements for accountants, publicly traded companies, investment companies, and others affected by Hurricane Sandy. A regulatory relief order issued by the SEC says the storm and flooding have displaced individuals and businesses, and disrupted communications and transportation
Gartner: Android, Apple to spark surge in smart device sales
Worldwide sales of smartphones and tablets will soar past the 1 billion-unit threshold in 2013, while the Android, Apple iOS, and Windows 8 operating systems will spark a multiyear surge in mobile device purchases by businesses, the information technology research and consulting company Gartner forecast Tuesday. In a news release
Sandy’s sobering reminder: Prepare for the worst
As business owners affected by Hurricane Sandy attempt to pick up the pieces and get back to work, their plight serves as a reminder to others that it makes sense to prepare for the worst in business. Jim Hardy, CPA/ABV/CFF, said it’s a mistake for business owners to think that
Accounting profession at tech tipping point, Wolters Kluwer exec says
Cloud, mobile, social media, and Big Data are the emerging technologies having the most impact on the accounting profession, according to a survey of more than 400 U.S. accountants released Monday by software provider CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business. The results of the CCH Technology Survey were unveiled on the
How to keep a natural disaster from becoming a financial disaster
A natural disaster does not have to be a financial disaster, too. Estimates of damage caused after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast have run as high as $60 billion. CPA personal financial planning experts say that taking the right steps after a disaster can help people protect their surviving
S.C. taxpayers’ Social Security numbers, credit cards hacked
The South Carolina Department of Revenue is providing affected taxpayers a year of credit monitoring after a hacker stole information including 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers from its computer systems. State revenue officials announced Friday that the S.C. Division of Information Technology learned
Windows 8: Jump or wait?
With the Oct. 26 release of Windows 8, Microsoft unveiled a new look and new direction for the operating system that runs 92% of desktop computers worldwide. But Windows 8 isn’t about desktop dominance. It’s about Microsoft seeking to gain a foothold in the mobile market, where Apple’s iOS and
2012 MAP Survey: A snapshot
The smallest firms have been the biggest winners among U.S. accounting firms during the past two years. That’s one of the findings of the 2012 National MAP (Management of an Accounting Practice) Survey, a biennial benchmarking survey conducted by the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section in conjunction with the Texas
Twitterfy me!
Q: Does Twitter really serve a legitimate business purpose? All I see are people using it to gossip and to keep track of others’ personal activities and corny stuff such as new songs and concert dates. A: Like the internet, Twitter can dish up both useful and useless information. It
QuickBooks job costing
Q: We are planning to convert our accounting system to QuickBooks next month, and we plan to use QuickBooks primarily for job costing. Do you have any recommendations related to our setup that we should consider? A: You are asking the right question at the right time. I sometimes find
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