CPA Technology Blog

Alleged Plot to Wipe Out Data Inside Fannie Mae Thwarted

Scary article today about an alleged logic bomb by a contractor working for FNMA. 

http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-41262-118.html

How are you feeling about security with your outside contractors now?

Stimulus Packages for the Rest of Us

In this challenging economic environment, many people are looking for a way to jump start activity in their small businesses.   The Treasury's TARP program is in the news, and Congress is debating a $1 trillion (that's a million million dollars) stimulus package.  There are many others looking for bailouts, including Larry Flynt and Joe Francis, and some private citizens who don't really understand the program, but want money for free.  We're hearing of thousands of layoffs in the news, and this means that a lot of talented people are going to be looking for something to do.  I hope some of these people will consider starting their own businesses, and many others are coming to their aid in this time of need.   Intuit announced this week a "Power to Get More Done" initiative aimed at tax and accounting professionals, which supplements their "Small Business United" initiative for businesses generally.  Intuit describes the benefits as follows:

Free small business tools for clients just starting out: Free QuickBooks Simple Start, free Intuit Websites Starter Package, six months of free Intuit Online Payroll, free incorporation services, and free QuickBooks Cash Register Plus download. These offers are also part of Intuit’s “Small Business United” initiative, which is being announced in conjunction with the accountant-focused Power to Get More Done.

Discounts up to 60 percent on accounting, payroll, credit card processing and mid-market offerings for established clients: Substantial discounts on QuickBooks Pro 2009, QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll, QuickBooks Assisted Payroll, QuickBooks Merchant Services, and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions are offered throughout tax season.
 (source: Rich Walker, Intuit 2009-01-26)

Intuit is also giving away ten grants of $10,000 cash, plus $10,000 in products and services to new and existing firms who are looking to hire and invest in their businesses.  More information can be found on Intuit's website.  Accounting pros can also subscribe to a series of biweekly training podcasts on QuickBooks through the Intuit Academy (iPod users:  To add this podcast in iTunes, click on "Advanced, Subscribe to Podcast", and paste the RSS feed for the podcast (http://intuitacademy.typepad.com/intuit_academy/rss.xml) into the box that appears.  This will set iTunes to automatically download new episodes of this podcast to your PC, and these downloads can also be set to automatically go to your iPod.

Not to be outdone, Peachtree is continuing to offer their "Switch My Clients", which offers a free copy of Peachtree for people who switch from a certain competitor's software.  This plan provides a free copy of Peachtree Complete Accounting 2009, plus six months of support.  (More details are on the Sage/Peachtree site)

Finally, my friends at Network Management Group in Hutchinson, Kansas are giving away a $25,000 "Extreme Tech Makeover".  While a review of the fine print reveals that winners have to be located within 250 miles of Hutchinson, KS, it's still a pretty interesting way to stimulate some interest in a small business (by offering similar grants to prospects) and for recipient businesses to get some work done.  No word on whether or not the winners will have a "reveal" with cheering throngs of friends and family.  (My money is on Steve Harper doing the impersonation of Ty Pennington.....  After all, Harpo's namesake was in show business.)

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Need an Extreme Technology Makeover?

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Wired Magazine

I'm on the way to NYC to attend a NetSuite CFO conference today, and had a little time to catch up on some reading, including this month's Wired magazine (17.02- the February 2009 issue). Many of you know that I used to work for the nation's largest magazine distributor, and I had the opportunity to see just about everything sold at newsstands while there. I continue to be amazed by Wired magazine- they always seem to have the most interesting articles. This month's issue includes an article about a Geneticist/Physician's search for clues about his daughter's undiagnosed genetic disorder, how our lives are being changed by GPS technology, and a great article about how the Google/Yahoo deal got the smackdown from the politicos at W's DOJ. While the magazine seems to have a way-left-of-center political view (and some have observed a tinge of the Apple Fanboy Syndrome in its pages), I think it's one of the publications business techologists should be reading. If you would like to read articles from the magazine, you can find them at www.wired.com.
While you're at Wired.com, look over their blogs (especially Threat Level), and the Wired Science show on PBS.
Some of the things I learned this morning include:
- The cool apps for the Google Android OS for phones.
- How Obama used social media and the web to crowdsource policy proposals and prioritize their policy initiatives
- I read a great essay about emerging issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human rights.
The magazine also has amazing graphics throughout which help explain complex (and dry) subject matter (I'm sure the magazine costs a fortune to print).
As the owner of an Amazon Kindle (and a serious early adopter), I can tell you that the experience of reading a paper copy of Wired won't be replaced by the Kindle or the web anytime soon. Buy a copy at your local bookstore, or just fill out a subscription card and get it free for a month- a year is only $8.

Report: CA to Delay Income Tax Refunds Due to Cash Crunch

California's controller says he will begin a 30-day delay on tax refunds and other payments starting Feb. 1 because the state is running out of money.
This can't be a good thing.  Since the state Controller is an elected official (and one would think that delaying tax refunds might not be popular with taxpayers), I can't imagine how bad things must really be if they are delaying refunds.  Yikes.  It's one thing to be out of money, and an entirely another thing to be out of money, be talking about it publically, and do something like this. 

Time for those pink slips......

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Tags: CAtax out of money

Outstanding Emerging Technologies for CPAs Article in January CPATA

Rich Oppenheim had an outstanding article in the CPA Technology Advisor this month (also cross-posted in the AICPA's InfoTech Update) called "Emerging Technologies", and I agree wholeheartedly with his selections for techs which Accountants everywhere should be investigating this year.  Rich's list includes: 

• Virtualization 
• Tax document automation
• Streamlined sales tax
• Mobile access — smart phones, Gobi, 3G
• Cloud computing — mesh, etc.
• Portals

Great job, Rich.

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Tags: EmergingTechnologies for CPAs, Rich Oppenheim, CPA Tech Advisor

"Virtual" CES Coverage, Day #1

Earlier this year, I got my press pass to CES by virtue of blogging on AccountingWeb.com as well as on the CPA Tech Blog (www.cpatechblog.com).  Unfortunately, my family had other plans for those hotel and air miles I was going to use, so I've gone virtual in my coverage of CES.  Don't worry, though.  I'm expecting to hear from my friends on the ground in Vegas at some point on new items.   John C. Dvorak has provided virtual coverage in the past, and with all of the stuff going on with the economy here (about 1,500 people either lost or learned that they will lose their jobs in Knoxville yesterday - Black Tuesday), I think taking a pleasure trip to Vegas is a little self-indulgent....  Since there are tens of thousands of journalists there, I'm going to simply link and comment on the stuff that looks cool. 

With that in mind, here goes:

1. Greg LaFollette (who is at CES and blogs at www.thetechgap.com) has coverage on a cool Lenovo laptop which has one 17" display and a second fold out 10.6" display.  It's a little pricey ($5,100) and weighs as much as a mid-sized SUV.  More at his site.

2. Engadget reports that LG has a new phone (GD910) which is truly the Dick Tracy wristwatch phone.  Looks very good - I could see actually owning one of these someday....  I've linked to the Engadget coverage again, but actually forwarded this one along to my boots on the ground as something to see while they were there.

3. The subnotebook may be converging with the cell phone in short order.  Engadget reports that Asus, maker of the eee PC has joined the open handset alliance and is looking at Google's Android open OS for smartphones (for their own phones)...... so if the existing devices are "smart" phones, would a subnotebook running Android be a "Genius" phone???? (A: probably not.  Apple's reportedly super-aggressive IP lawyers would probably sue them into oblivion - since they call their support people "geniuses". )

4. Flash Gone Wild - SDXC Memory Cards offer the potential of up to 2TB of storage and 300 Mbps transfer speeds.... (Who needs traditional form factor solid state drives when you can get one of these????)

5. What audit team wouldn't want the ASUS Origami laptop.  Although it's still just a concept, it certainly looks interesting.....  and the form factor would make a MacBook air look like a boat anchor!)

6. ASUS's convertible NetBook (with a touchscreen) looks pretty interesting as well, although probably not high-powered enough for most business users....

7. Netgear has a new wireless router for use with mobile broadband cards and USB devices (MBR624GU)....I have used a Kyocera KR-1 for some time, but would love to try out another one of these devices (hint hint, Netgear....)
8.  There's a new Indestructible hard drive case out there for those who want to go paperless, but won't go because you can't get fireproof cases for your hard drives.  (I guess this product demo makes David Letterman's "Will it Float" segment obsolete.... who the heck cares if it will float if you can put it in a 1600 degree furnace......)

More coverage later....

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Tags: VirtualCES Coverage Day 1, Gadgets, Technology