The Tech Gap

New Jersey Society Show and Exposition, Secaucus, NJ

The “Floor CPE Tour” is alive and well at the NY Show. Organizer Russ Flagg is wise to recognize that some over-exuberant vendors occasionally turn-off practitioners who just want to “look”. The tours provide a safe and secure way for attendees to see different booths and products without fear of being button-holed. My tour was interesting in that it involved a printer manufacturer, a tax return and report binder, and a document destruction company. If I could accurately foresee the future I’d be betting all 3 will be gone in 10 years --- all victims of digitization.

Interesting new product to keep an eye on ---- www.AccountReconciliations.com --- an upstart stand-alone program providing some pretty interesting workpaper functionality.

Sageworks, Cary, NC

ProfitCents© seemingly omnipresent cheerleader Brian Hamilton continues to assail a profession not quite ready to embrace his concept. He’s been surprisingly successful in launching alliances with vendors, and has recently added a small direct sales force. The challenge here is one of re-educating (or, perhaps more accurately, simply educating) a profession already over-worked and not particularly interested in new services. Fortunately he has the “top 25% income earners” firmly in hand --- seems they understand the wisdom of “delighting” clients with extra information.

Time Matters, Raleigh, NC

Time Matters software President Bill Butler is justifiably proud of his fairly exciting new technology and its application to the practice of public accounting. Long established in the legal market, TimeMatters and companion product BillingMatters are making a concerted effort to win like recognition on the tax and accounting side of the fence. Their open approach is quite different from the norm and is closer to full “firm and client management” than traditional practice management packages.

AICPA Tech 2004 – Las Vegas, NV

The planning committee worked extra hard on this one and, from all appearances, their work paid off. The conference initiated a “tri-track” approach to CPE coding every class for consultant, technician, or practitioner. The result was a near-record crowd who were, overall, quite happy with their 4 days in the desert. New vendor displays were numerous with SAP’s Business One gathering quite a bit of attention. Don’t make the mistake of assuming SAP only wants giant customers! They are actively marketing a new SMB product that seems to be quite powerful. Can you say “air supply”?