The Tech Gap

NASBA to Provide Web-based CPE Tracking Tool

At the September Florida CPA Society Show in Fort Lauderdale last month I stopped in at the NASBA booth and visited with Jill Gordon, a very exuberant promoter of her agency’s soon-to-be-released web-based CPE tracking tool. After about 5 minutes of conversation I was hooked and most definitely wanted to know more.

CPEtracking is a tool which provides an online compliance management solution for state boards of accountancy, CPA firms, and individual CPAs. Its flexible system architecture means CPEtracking can integrate with a firm’s existing programs. CPAs can enter course details and immediately see their compliance by jurisdiction and reporting period. It provides for uploading scanned “evidence of attendance” documents and will print ready-for-filing reports and, eventually, file those reports electronically with participating jurisdictions. The service will be available in early 2006. It’s priced at $20 per professional per year. NASBA has been [successfully] testing CPEtracking with Deloitte Touche and its subsidiaries. Yordonoz Dumez, the Director of Compliance Services at NASBA expects no less than 100,000 users by 2007.

I've seen an extensive demo and will soon personally test the system --- and obviously report back here.

Watch for my interview with Dumez in an upcoming issue of The CPA Technology Advisor.

gll

I've Arrived!!

Well, it appears that I've "arrived" in the [fairly small] world of public speaking regarding public  accountancy. Today I'm speaking at the Wisconsin Institute of CPA's Annual GAAP/GAAS Conference. Those of you who know me well, especially my former partners, will be pretty amazed as you know that I know very little about GAAP and almost NOTHING about GAAS. Relax --- they wanted to hear about technology so my presentation is right my alley! But I can still say I presented at a GAAP/GAAS Conference!!

This will be my 37th presentation this year --- and the season is finally [mercifully!] winding down. I'll be on the road quite a bit in November at the Thomson CSI Users' Conference in Scottsdale, then immediately following and also in Scottsdale, the CCH Tax & Accounting User Conference, and finally over to Las Vegas for the now sold-out Sleeter Group QuickBooks Advisor Conference. After that it's a few AICPA meetings and then I settle in for a few months sans airplanes.

See you on the road ---- if you're attending where I'm speaking PLEASE come and introduce yourself. I love talking with and learning from practicing accountants.

gll

"Physician, Heal Thyself"

Last week the nice people at Wiley sent me a book for possible review. It's the second edition (which  frankly amazes me--- who the heck bought the first edition?) of "The Vest Pocket Guide to Information Technology". A quick perusal of the book (yes, it really IS "vest pocket" sized) revealed it to be reasonably accurate and I suppose reasonably complete. That is --- as of the moment it was released to printing. I would further submit that, because of the nature of the subject matter, it was incomplete and at least somewhat inaccurate about 2 hours later!

Come on, Wiley, I know you're publishers and all, but a "Guide to Information Technology" simply screams to be electronic. Why would any self-respecting "geek" want a poorly sized, most-probably-out-of-date book with no hyperlinks? The answer is --- they wouldn't!! Make this an e-book and update it regularly and I'll buy a subscription. As is, even the review copy I got free isn't worth it. Maybe your PUBLISHERS should read what your EDITORS produced --- and then, just maybe then, you could "heal thryself"!

Sorry Charlie --- gll [and I would venture to say most of the tech market] wants content that's appropriately delivered, not just delivered as a book because that's the way you've always done it.

Intuit's Simple Start Garners 100,000 Users in First Year

Last year about this time (September 28, 2004 to be exact) I wrote here about Intuit's then newest offering, Simple Start. In that piece I also disclosed that Intuit spokesperson Rich Walker had steadfastly refused to provide a metric upon attainment of which Intuit would declare the launch a success. Whatever the "un-shared" number was, you can bet it was less than 100,000 and that's precisely why they [Intuit] giddily issued a press release last week announcing that " More than 100,000 small businesses have chosen Simple Start Edition, the majority of which have abandoned paper and pencil or spreadsheet accounting, with thousands more continuing to switch each month." The 2006 version will soon be available at it's sub $100 price point.

gll

An Interesting Luncheon Meeting

A few weeks ago I was invited to lunch by Lisa McCarthy and Christine Galli, the founders of Farmington, MI- based Accounting Resource, LLC. These two women have made a career and built a respectable practice by helping small business owners (and, sometimes, their accountants!) understand QuickBooks. That's what they do --- and they do it well. They are also exuberant and passionate about their business.

When I asked Lisa about Microsoft's new Small Business Accounting product she admitted that, while she'd heard of it, she'd not looked at it. Later in our conversation I asked what professional magazines they read --- they both confessed to "none". In fact, they do almost nothing other than know everything there is to know about QuickBooks. At first this perplexed and confused me --- how can a professional be so narrow? Upon retrospection I realized the answer --- these women are extremely focused and follow the old folk-song adage of "Do what you do, do well".

Lisa and Christine are immersed in QuickBooks, especially its adaptation to franchises, most notably Little Caesar's. If you or your clients need help in those areas they might well be a resource.

gll

The Digital Hotspotter

Until we finally get "ubiquity" in 802.11 signal those who spend a lot of time traveling will always have a need to know where there's a signal. A year ago last summer I wrote about a WiFi detector and several of you have approached me after presentations and asked to see the one I carry. It's very small and fits comfortably on my keyring. However .... it has it's limitations. I've regularly searched for and found a signal, then opened my tablet PC only to find the signal to be secure. And then wished for more information from my detector.

Last week my wishes were answered when the people from Canary Wireless sent me their recently released device. The Digital Hotspotter searches for and reports information about wireless networks. Information reported on its one line LCD screen includes the name of the network, channel number, signal strength, and encryption.

My review is a simple pro and con analysis.

PRO: It does what is says it will do and it does it well. It found my wireless network in my office even though it's a hidden SSID. The Hotspotter reported it as "Cloaked". At home it quickly found and reported my network and reported that it was encrypted. Much more useful than the unit I currently carry which reports only the presence of a signal.

CON: At (about) 2.5"x2"x1" it's simply too big. I know the Canary people marvel at how SMALL it is --- but the truth is, I can't carry it in pocket and that, IMHO, makes it too big. Secondly ---- and Canary certainly can't solve this --- many networks show as "open" (i.e. unencrypted) but they require paid registration. I'm sick and tired of people wanting $6.95 for me to use some bandwidth!

Bottom line is, if you travel much, you might want to grab one of these. Or, if you wait a year or so before you buy your next laptop, you may find the feature built in to the cover!

gll

Grass to Exit at Intuit / Goodarzi to Take Charge

Intuit's Vice-President and General Manager of ProTax, Karl Grass, has announced he's leaving his Plano, TX post to return to his long-time home in Florida.  Grass joined Intuit less than two years ago after an even shorter stint with CCH. Prior to those positions his  career was with A+ Tax before these recent posts. Karl was a real breath of fresh air in the business of providing technology to accountants. He had an uncanny understanding of our needs and quite simply, always did the right thing. To Grass a bug was a "bug", not an "issue", and all customer complaints were important. He did a lot in the last two years to stem deterioration of the once-legendary passion of Lacerte users. He'll be missed.

Sasan Goodarzi has been named the new vice president and general manager. Goodarzi is currently vice president of ProTax and the Intuit-Branded Software Businesses. In this role, he oversees ProTax, Intuit Eclipse, Construction Business Solutions, Real Estate Solutions, Information Technology Solutions Group, and businesses in Canada and the United Kingdom. Goodarzi joined Intuit in June 2004 from Invensys, where he was president of the products group within the company's process systems division. He previously held several senior management roles in the automation control division at Honeywell and was the chief executive officer and co-founder of a startup, Lazer Cables Inc.

Goodarzi earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

I'll schedule a meeting with Goodarzi early this winter and report back ---- I hope he has size 14 feet because the shoes he has to fill down there in Texas are pretty big!

gll