A mentor’s job is to foster one-to-one relationships that challenge people to rise to higher levels of competence and responsibility. This article discusses three key characteristics of an effective mentor: 1. An effective mentor asks challenging questions that help people expand their scope of responsibilities. 2. An effective mentor is
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Information management and technology assurance
Accounting Firm M&As: A Market Update
The market for mergers and acquisitions in the accounting profession has changed dramatically over the past 18 months. Before the financial crisis in 2008, M&As were viewed more as a tool for acquiring experienced talent and less as a means for growing the top line. The economic shift has contributed
Widen the Search Net When Hunting for an Old E-Mail
Q: I was searching frantically for an e-mail I received some weeks ago, and it never showed up in my search. I was about to give up when I decided to check my Deleted Items folder. And, sure enough, there it was. Why didn’t my search locate it there? A:
A Better Idea
An item in the August issue, “Averaging noncontiguous cells that contain some zero values” (page 73), generated several ideas from readers for a better way to address the problem. David M. Fogel, a CPA in Roseville, Calif., was the first to suggest this formula, noting it could be used in
Featured Online Content for October 2010
FEATURED VIDEO Tech Tips From Clarke Price Clarke Price, president and CEO of the Ohio Society of CPAs, is something of a techie. He has made it a habit to reach out to CPAs and other professionals for feedback on their favorite apps for everything from smartphones to the iPad.
JofA Website and Articles Win Business Publication Awards
The JofA’s website, journalofaccountancy.com, won the silver award for Best B2B Website in the 2010 Tabbie Awards competition, presented by Trade, Association and Business Publications International (TABPI). Two JofA articles were also honored in the How-To and Technical article categories. The awards, which recognize excellence in editorial content and design,
Vetting a Vendor: Questions to Ask Before Making an Investment
Editor’s note: Also read “Cloud Computing: What Accountants Need to Know” in the October 2010 issue of the JofA. Ample research must be done before selecting any vendor, but specific areas should be addressed when choosing to move your data to the cloud. The following are some questions to
Cloud Computing: What Accountants Need to Know
There’s no arguing that “cloud computing” is gaining a great deal of momentum. Worldwide, cloud services revenue is forecast to reach $68.3 billion in 2010, a 16.6% increase from 2009 revenue of $58.6 billion, according to analyst firm Gartner Inc. So what does this mean to the accounting profession? What
XBRL
The IFRS Foundation (formerly the IASC Foundation) published its first interim release for the IFRS Taxonomy 2010, which is a translation of IFRS as issued Jan. 1, 2010, into XBRL. This IFRS Taxonomy interim release reflects improvements to IFRS for the 2008–2010 project cycle, which was published in May 2010
Guard Against Cybertheft
A type of fraud has come into the public eye in the past year in which the criminal surreptitiously obtains financial banking credentials, hijacks a corporate computer, and steals money from the victim’s bank accounts. In this scenario, referred to as a fraudulent electronic funds transfer (EFT) transaction, a cybercriminal
Shortcut
In Word or Excel, if you use Find (Ctrl+F) to conduct a search in a very large file, you can save time by first highlighting the part of the worksheet or document you want to search. Then press Ctrl+F. In that way, Find will not waste time searching the entire
A Website Loaded With Free Business Templates
When you have a few minutes to spare, surf over to Microsoft’s Office at Work website. You may find that investing just a few minutes there may save you many hours in the future. The site is loaded with business templates (from analysis worksheets to Excel expense reports), software tips
Lynn Teuscher, CPA
If you were to observe one of our firm’s weekly staff meetings, you might wonder who owns the business. Legally, of course, there are three owners of AGT—my partners, Dorian Aiello and Steve Drageset, and I. But to listen to the staff, you would think they were the owners. They
Create Your Own Emergency System Repair Disk
Q: I just bought a new computer loaded with Windows 7, and there was no backup disk in the box. When I checked the store where I bought it, I was told that operating system and system recovery CDs are no longer supplied with new PCs and I should make
Featured Online Content for September 2010
FEATURED VIDEO Tax Software Survey Analysis In this video, JofA Senior Editor Alexandra DeFelice discusses what more than 12,000 CPAs had to say about their tax preparation software and provides analysis of some tax software trends to watch. Also on journalofaccountancy.com, find more information about each tax preparation software vendor,
The Exceptions That Undo the “Undo” Command
Q: I’m having trouble with my Excel Undo command (Ctrl + Z). Sometimes I can only successfully perform an Undo three or four times. Other times, I can go back more than 10 steps. I was under the impression Undo can take you back as many as 16 steps. Is
Send Us Your Comments
After 11 years writing “Technology Q&A,” Stanley Zarowin will retire this fall. But the column will continue and we’d like to know what you want to see in “Technology Q&A” in the future. Please send your comments to jofatech@aicpa.org.
2010 Tax Software Survey
The Journal of Accountancy and The Tax Adviser conducted a survey of AICPA members who prepared 2009 tax returns for a fee to determine which tax preparation software products were the most popular, what aspects of those products preparers liked, and what they disliked. Of the 17 products identified for
Beware: Smart Phones are Facing Growing Virus Threats From Multiple Directions
Q: I recently bought a smartphone, and while I love its ability to access the Internet, to synchronize data with my office computer and to download and send e-mails when I’m out of the office, I’m worried about security. Not only did the phone come without antivirus software, but nowhere
I Didn’t Know That
In the May 2010 column (page 78) I wrote about a way to add the day of the week, in addition to the date, in the Windows 7 taskbar. Sherry Stricker, product manager in the Metro Park, N.J., office of Ernst & Young, advised me that you can do the
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