Editor’s note: Also read “Windows 8: Jump or wait?” in the November 2012 issue of the JofA. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Windows + Arrow Keys: Use this to place an application window to the left/right of the screen and also to maximize/minimize. Windows + Shift + Arrow Keys: Maximize, restore and move
Information management and technology assurance
Custom calendar
Q: Is there a quick way to create or paste a calendar into a Word document that can be edited, without having to create one from scratch? A: Word includes a tool called Quick Tables, which provides several options for inserting calendars into a Word document, as follows. From the
Lost Excel file
Q: Help! I was working in Excel 2010 on an important file for several hours when the unthinkable happened. I meant to close a single workbook, but I accidentally closed all of my workbooks without saving. Hoping that there was an undo feature to recover the file, I selected File,
Follow MAP to better firm
The 2012 National MAP (Management of an Accounting Practice) Survey, conducted by the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section and the Texas Society of CPAs, allows CPAs to benchmark their firms against their peers, an exercise that can identify areas—and processes—for improvement. To best use the MAP results, CPAs should do
The case has been solved
Q: Excel provides several functions (=LOWER, =UPPER, =PROPER) for changing character case; does Word have similar capabilities? A: To change the character case in Word, highlight the word, sentence, paragraph, or document, then press Shift+F3 to toggle between lower, upper, and proper case.
Five Twitter tips
1. Use services such as Twitter Search (twitter.com/#!/search-home) to see if someone’s talking about you, your company, or your products. You can also sign up to receive instant notification in the event a tweet does mention you, your company, or your products. 2. Use applications such as TweetDeck (tweetdeck.com) or
The incredible shrinking font
Q: In Excel 2010, the font tool allows me to select from a font size ranging from 8 points to 72 points, but I’m sure that I’ve seen others use a smaller font. Can you tell me how this is done? A: Even though Excel’s font size tool offers font
Embracing change
Richard J. Caturano, CPA, CGMA Title: Executive managing partner, Boston office, McGladrey LLP City: Boston Education: B.S. in accounting, M.S. in taxation, Bentley College Date of birth: Nov. 18, 1952 Family: Wife, Barbara; son, Anthony; daughter, Christina Ryan; son-in-law, Shane Ryan; grandson, Rhys Richard Ryan Device he can’t live without:
Cohn-Reznick deal closes as market pressures portend more mergers
J.H. Cohn LLP and the Reznick Group have closed on their previously disclosed merger, a transaction that creates the 11th-largest U.S. accounting firm and represents the second marriage of top 20 firms consummated this year. The Cohn-Reznick combination, first announced in May, creates a firm with 2,000 employees, 25 offices,
Succession planning on the rise, but about half of CPA firms haven’t implemented a plan
With Baby Boomers nearing retirement, the number of succession plans in place for CPA firms is on the rise. But fewer than half of multiowner practices have succession plans ready, mentoring is largely informal, and the development of future partners is in decline, new research shows. Forty-four percent of multiowner
Google Play making serious run at Apple’s App Store
The battle for control of the mobile device market is heating up in an area long dominated by Apple—mobile application downloads. Google, developer of the Android operating system for smartphones and tablets, announced in a blog post Sept. 26 that users have downloaded mobile apps from the Google Play store
Complete advice
Q: My colleague runs the same version of Microsoft Office 2003 as I do, but my version is missing some of the functionality that hers has. Why would this happen, and what can I do about it? A: When installing Microsoft Office 2003, the installation routine provides the option to
Facebook tips
Who you know matters. Accordingly, many social media websites provide proven solutions for expanding and cultivating one’s circle of contacts, both personally and professionally. With this in mind, presented below are tips for using Facebook, the world’s largest social media website with more than 800 million valid users, half of
Excel PivotTable questions
Several readers have submitted questions about Excel 2010 and 2007 PivotTables, as follows: Q1: Why does Excel insert the GETPIVOTDATA function into a formula when you use the mouse pointer to refer to a cell in a PivotTable, and is there a way to prevent this action? A1: As discussed
Take a swipe at this
Q: My friend’s phone has a cool feature that allows her to type text messages by sliding her finger across the virtual keyboard rather than typing each key individually. She says this method of typing is much faster once you get used to it. I cannot seem to find this
Seeing green
Q: I keep seeing green triangles in my Excel spreadsheet (pictured below); can you please tell me how to get rid of them? Thank you. A: The small green triangles displayed in the top-left corner of a cell are indicators of a possible error. By default, Excel 2010, 2007, and
Malware growth maintains rapid pace as mobile threats surge
The number and complexity of cyberattacks, especially those targeting mobile devices, grew at an alarming pace in the second quarter, security technology company McAfee Labs said in its latest Threats Report. McAfee identified more than 8 million previously undiscovered samples of malicious software, or malware, during the three months that ended
2012 tax software survey: Individual product survey responses
In this year’s survey by the JofA and The Tax Adviser, more than 6,070 CPAs assessed the software they used to prepare 2011 tax returns, revealing what they liked and disliked about their software. The survey was conducted in May 2012. Overall, respondents were pleased with their software: On average,
Cookies in red capes
Q: I found unwanted cookies on my Windows computer that I am unable to delete, and my security program does not detect or delete them either. How can I get rid of these persistent cookies? (Note: To view the cookies on your computer, from the Internet Explorer browser menu, select
Exactly!
Q: I am trying to write an IF function in Excel that compares two cells to determine if they are exactly the same, including capitals and lowercase letters, but Excel seems to ignore case when using the IF function. What’s the best way to accomplish this goal? A: Excel’s functions
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