CPA Firm Technology Blog

Some Tech Sites and Some Updates to Google Docs

I follow a lot of tech blogs so I can know what's going on and keep lots of crisp, fresh tech goodness in front of you, the gentle reader..... but seriously, some of the better sources out there are:

• Merlin Mann, personal productivity guru - www.43folders.com
• Lifehacker.com - Gina Trapiani's superb tips blog
  
• This Week in Tech (podcast) - www.twit.tv - good general tech news
  
• The CPA Tech Advisor has some good podcasts as well (most notably, their round table podcast called "Tech to Go")

Speaking of Merlin Mann, The King of 43 Folders recently reported that Google has added 300 templates for various kinds of documents.  Like most templates, some are nice and some are campy.  My vote:  Stick with the MS templates - there are more of them, and there are more you could actually use at your office as opposed in your role as a member of the PTA.

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Tags: Lifehacker, 43 Folders, This Week in Tech, TWIT, Tech To Go, Web

Tech News and Notes - Week of 7/17/2008

I'm behind on reporting on the gadgetry in my office, so here are some updates on things :

• I've been working with my  Scansnap S300 for the last few weeks, and I'm really impressed with it.  Although I would like to have TWAIN or ISIS compatibility, it's an amazing little device, and well worth the $260 it costs on Amazon for this piece of hardware.  It has only jammed twice after running hundreds of pages through it, including a couple of hundred thermal receipts for an expense report.  (and in one of the two jams, I had forgotten to take the staples out of the original - Doh!
• I seem to be on a LOT of conference calls lately, and have been using a Plantronics Calisto Pro Phone ( Cordless, DECT 6.0, Bluetooth, speaker phone, and it comes with a really good headset).  If you're a Skyper, this thing even has a USB connection to your PC so you can use it for your VOIP application.  I also really like the range on this thing- in the spring (before my A/C was running all of the time), I could use this item connected to my Jawbone headset (which has noise cancelling) to talk to people while taking in the great outdoors in my yard.  [Don't tell anyone that working for yourself has perks like that....]
• I mentioned that I had converted my home internet connection to TDS' fiber optic (PON) service, and I've also got their digital TV offering.  Verdict: The fiber optic internet rocks, and the digital TV is also very good - but seems to be in early implementation.  Once they start offering On Demand and DVR's in September, the TV will be up to speed with the rest.  The TV service reminds me a lot of dish service, in that there is a slight delay between when you select a channel and when it is displayed on your PC.  It doesn't take long, but it's just long enough to be a little annoying.

A few other things came to my attention earlier this week:

• The Association of QuickBooks Technologists is having a conference this fall for CEO's, CFO's, IT Directors and Management Consultants looking to streamline business processes and who want to learn more about Business Solutions designed for QuickBooks users. The conference is in Deerfield Beach, Florida on October 16, 2008, and appears to be reasonably priced.  (There are worse places to be than South Florida in October).  For more information contact AQBT founding member Dawn Scranton.
  
• The cobranding I discussed a couple of weeks ago has been very interesting, and offers some neat potential marketing tools for mid-sized and larger CPA and bookkeeping firms.  I've actually considered creating a CD for clients with the trial/free versions of Peachtree, OA Express, and QuickBooks SimpleStart along with an HTML page which has links to my site..... really interesting stuff.  This is something I would look into if I was at a firm looking to grow their accounting software consulting business.

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Tags: Gadgetreviews and news items of note FYE 2008-07-17, Office Accounting, AQBT, Peachtree, QuickBooks, TDS, Fiber Optic Internet Access, PON, Plantronics Calisto Phone, Scansnap S300

Fiber Optic Internet and New Software Business Models

I'm in the middle of getting fiber optic internet installed today (through TDS, my phone company - even though I don't have a land line), and am excited about it.  I'll post more, as well as some speed tests once I get things set up.  Speed on the line is advertised as 25Mbs down, 10Mbps up.  Hopefully this will eliminate the occasional flutter in my VOIP conversations. Intuit recently announced that they have 50,000 ProAdvisors, which is a pretty significant milestone.  For comparison, AICPA has 300,000 members - so there's plenty of room for growth - but 50K is going to be far and away the largest in the segment (as you would expect).  If you haven't looked at the partner programs from Intuit (ProAdvisor Program), Sage (Sage Accountants Network), and Microsoft (Microsoft Professional Accountants Network) as well.  One can join all three for a total about $1,200 per year, and get close to $30K in software.... good stuff, people. Not to be outdone, Sage and Microsoft have both announced some initiatives through their partner programs which are very innovative.  Sage has offered ads on job site Monster.com for SSAN members, is giving away a free license of Peachtree Complete Accounting (plus six months support) for clients of CPA's switching from Quickbooks (see their site, www.switchmyclients.com for details), and has a number of innovative offerings to help their members meet the needs of clients, including payroll tax subscriptions and a five user license of Peachtree Quantum for SSAN-Peachtree members.  Microsoft's MPAN program recently announced a co-branding initiative where MPAN members can put links to their own website in copies of Office Accounting and Office Accounting Express for clients, which is pretty interesting.  I'll write more about this later, but Microsoft still offers the Microsoft Action Pack to MPAN members in public practice or consulting.  This subscription is basically everything Microsoft you would ever use in a 10 person CPA firm for $299 a year.  They also are linking to the MPAN Certified Consultant directory from within the software - so if someone has the software and tries out a sample company, they can go to the "Find a Small Business Accountant" page on the Microsoft site, and find an MPAN member to help them (search this database under zip code 37922, and you'll find me as an "MPAN Consultant", which means that I have passed their certification exam on Office Accounting).  (Side note - take and pass as many of the certification exams as you can - my phone rang yesterday with a potentially very lucrative opportunity because I was on the QuickBooks ProAdvisor site for Enterprise Solutions.  I personally billed and collected about $4K off of leads from my ProAdvisor listing last year, with an average rate over $100 per hour, and actually turned away a lot of leads from this source.  This would not have been possible without taking and passing the ProAdvisor exams for the standard and enterprise editions of QuickBooks). On the software subscription vs. purchase front, Microsoft is now selling MS Office Home and Student on a subscription basis.  The new product is called "Equipt", and is bundled with some Windows Live / Office Live services, including Windows Live OneCare and Office Live Workspace.  This seems like a great offering for students and others who need MS Office software, but get sticker shock at the initial price of purchasing this software.

It's important to note the following:

• Same EULA as Home and Student (e.g. use for the student only or the parents when helping students with homework).  Accordingly, this is NOT and SHOULD NOT be used in a business environment.
• Software can be installed on up to three PC's.
• Office updates are pushed out automatically, and upgrades during the subscription term are automatic.

Some links for those wanting to know more:

• Microsoft Press Release on Equipt - http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/jul08/07-02EquiptPR.mspx
• ZDNet Coverage of MS Announcement -http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1469
• Review of Equipt -http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=485

If you're doubting that software subscriptions are the wave of the future, let me remind you that Intuit announced a restructuring last week which realigns their workforce to focus on subscriptions and online services.  From Intuit's press release:

The changes better position the company to deliver on its comprehensive "Connected Services" strategy. The strategy increases Intuit's emphasis on developing value-added services for its desktop products and innovative online offerings. The company plans to focus on both traditional and new markets across the globe, while embracing social networking and mobile technology trends.

While I'm a serious technophile, I plan on celebrating the 4th with my family by taking my son and niece to a drive-in movie while they still exist.  (There's plenty of time to watch  HDTV and surf the internet over fiber later.)  Life is, after all, all about relationships, isn't it? Brian Tankersley is a Knoxville, Tennessee based CPA and consultant, and is an Associate with K2 Enterprises.  You can read more of Brian's writings either on AccountingWeb.com or at http://blog.bftcpa.com. 

Tags: TDSFiber Optic Sage Microsoft Intuit MPAN ProAdvisor SSAN Software and Services

Fraud from the Ukraine..... in Texas... Affecting People on Long Island.

If you don't believe that it can happen to you.... or if you're avoiding dealing with those pesky PCI standards for not retaining credit card numbers, etc..... you should read this article.

"Three alleged hackers have been arrested for allegedly  using "college-level knowledge of computer programming skills" to steal and sell credit card numbers from customers of Dave and Buster's restaurant chain, the Justice Department said Monday"..... 
"One of the men arrested, Maksym Yastremskiy, of Ukraine, was found in possession of millions of stolen credit card numbers, unrelated to the restaurant, on his laptop when the Turkish National Police arrested him in July."

"Private account data was captured almost immediately at the point of sale. Similar attacks have occurred at other retail outlets, including T.J. Maxx, DSW shoe stores and Polo Ralph Lauren."

So... how did they do it?

The government said the hackers illegally accessed 11 of the national chain's servers and installed packet sniffers at each location. The sniffers vacuumed up "Track 2" data from the credit card magstripes as  it  traveled from the restaurant's servers to Dave and Buster's headquarters in Dallas, according to the indictment.

Estimated damage to financial institutions?  $600K, and 5,000 people were affected by the breach.

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Tags: CreditCard Fraud

The Future’s So Bright, We Have to Wear Shades

There’s a very interesting article by Andy Kessler on the editorial page in the Wall Street Journal this morning which discusses the coming war in technology; the link is here.  While Microsoft and Google are the armies currently fighting the skirmishes around the future of technology, this is really simply a proxy war about how we will use technology in the future.  Just as there are different methods of transporting goods around the country (think: rail vs. truck vs. airplane), there are also different models of computing
(browser vs. local vs. mobile).  Processing power (thanks to Moore’s Law), bandwidth, and wireless technology have changed the level of real time information sharing.  HP has even come out with a laptop (HP Compaq 6720t) which is designed to be used as a thin client into corporate systems and which doesn’t even have a hard drive!.

Many accountants are rightly concerned with the security and information control implications of using online services for their
mission-critical applications.  While these are legitimate concerns, the reality of our digital infrastructure has generally made these concerns less of a problem now than in the past.  High speed internet is getting faster.  Last week, I received a flyer from my local telephone company offering a fiber internet connection which would have 25Mbps down/10Mbps up connectivity to my home. 

While I’m still mulling over whether or not I really need that fast a connection at home since my current connection is 10Mbps down/1Mbps up through my cable provider, it’s really interesting that this level of service is now available in Knoxville, Tennessee, which, although a nice-sized city, is admittedly not one of the first cities you think of when you imagine fast internet speeds.  My current internet connections (cable and Sprint wireless) continue to impress me with the speeds which are possible; my cable connection averages 8 Mbps down, 970K up whenever I test the speed, and my wireless connection (backup) has been running over 1.1 Mbps down/300K up on the road lately with EVDO Rev A. 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that telecommunications and other utilities are also more reliable than we have had in the past.  Where I used to reboot my router and modem every morning, I now go for months without rebooting these devices, and they seem to just work now.  My collaboration with others within K2 suggests that their experiences are similar:  I have noted only two critical outages among the team during the first four months of the year.  When I started my career 15 years ago, we would have two or three power outages during the busy season which would shut us down and cause us to lose work.  While utilities aren’t sexy, they certainly seem to have made significant improvements in the last generation.

If you haven’t tried some of the latest evolutions in Web-based applications, here are some for your consideration:

• Gliffy – Flowcharts on the Web
• QuickBooks Online
• Microsoft Office Live Small Business and OfficeLive Workspace
• Bill.com – Electronic workflow and AP/AR processing
• Copanion GruntWorx – An online application for scanning and organizing tax returns
• XCM – Workflow automation for CPA Firms
• Google Apps – An office suite which allows Web-based collaboration and processing of spreadsheets and word processing documents.  These documents can be taken offline with an app called Google Gears.
• Thomson and CCH offer hosted versions of their CPA firm applications.  Thomson’s offering is called Virtual Office CS, and CCH’s offering is called Global fx.  (Both have simplified life for many firms who want to quit applying updates and administering servers in their offices.)
• Capital Confirmation makes audit confirmations paperless and electronic (and really fast as well).
• Jungledisk – An application installed on your PC which creates an encrypted storage drive using Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) .

While the future direction of computing hasn’t been finalized, there are really interesting things happening in technology, and some things (like those pages or CD’s for reference materials) are on the way out. The future appears to offer more choices for how tools are delivered to users, which will make it much easier to work from anywhere – even a condo in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Brian Tankersley is a CPA and CITP based in Knoxville, Tennessee.  You can learn more about him at www.bftcpa.com.

Tags: WebApplications cloud versus local accounting CPA space

Mobile Broadband Kicks it Up a Notch

As many of you know, I am a loyal (paying) Sprint customer, and have used a variety of their cards since they rolled out EV/DO service about a year and a half ago. I am usually home a lot during the winter months, and have recently started venturing out of my winter hibernation cave to go back to my life of roaming the earth and through it searching for the best accounting technology. I have noticed a significant increase in the speed of Sprint’s mobile broadband service since I last talked about it last year. Where your average city would have a download speed of 500-700K and an upload speed of 70K last year, I’ve been seeing speeds of 1.7-2 Mbps down and 200K upstream. Since these are as good or better than those received by low end DSL, Ma Bell has to be shaking in her boots(!).

Last Result:
Download Speed: 2111 kbps (263.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 282 kbps (35.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Download Speed: 1631 kbps (203.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 218 kbps (27.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Download Speed: 1654 kbps (206.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 220 kbps (27.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

BTW, I did these tests at 7:15A, a time when many road warriors are using their aircards to check e-mail and surf the internet in preparation for another busy day on the road. Website used: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest

Help, Help, It's Tax Season and I'm Being Upgraded!

My most recent post at AccountingWeb.com for K2 is linked here.  It's a discussion of some issues associated with having to convert part of an accounting office to Office 2007 at the last minute and some related tools which can ease the burden of transition.

Hosted Document Management

CCH recently announced that the are offering a hosted version of ProSystem fx Document.  CCH joins Thomson (who already had hosted versions of GoFileroom and FilecabinetCS) in this space, as well as a number of other potential competitors.  Interesting times for DMS, indeed.  I've got some other posts to write on other recent developments in the CPA firm software space, and hope to be more active with my posting in the coming weeks.

IL Technology and Business Solutions Show

I made some last minute changes to my presentations at the Illinois Society of CPA's Business and Technology Solutions Show, and promised my attendees that I would post some notes to my blog with PDF's of the presentations and links to some of the sites I discussed during the sessions.

1. Upgrading your Computers (Vista/Office 2007/Hardware Update)

• Download Upgrading.pdf

• Technology Recommendations (from Randy Johnston's company, Network Management Group, Inc.) [Disclosure: I do some paid consulting for NMGI] - Updated quarterly, this site has recommendations for workstation specs in business situations.  I always check this site when purchasing gear.
• SalesCircular - Compares sales prices on electronics and appliances from weekly sales circulars in Illinois.  OK for home hardware, probably not OK for business hardware.
• I mentioned that I upgraded my new laptop out of the box to 4GB of RAM.  I purchased the RAM from Newegg.com, one of my favorite sites for "geeky" items.  (No, I don't get any commissions if you click through - I just like the company.)

2. Small Business Servers (Overview of What is Going on in SMB Server World)

• Download SMBServers.pdf

• ScorpionSoft - Maker of Two Factor Authentication devices for SBS and Remote Web Workplace. (thanks to the lovely and talented Susan Bradley for this link)
• Microsoft SBS Page
• Microsoft Windows Home Server Page

Create a Working Trial Balance from a QuickBooks Excel Export File

I used an example in a class recently which parsed QuickBooks data to create a working trial balance.  Some participants of a class requested the file, so I'm posting it to the Blog to make it available.  It's underdocumented if you don't have the manual from K2's Excel Financial Reporting class.

Download MSP-EFR-Example.xls

If you would like to attend the EFR class (sponsored through your State's CPA organization/society), click here to see where the course is being offered in 2007, or contact me directly (brian at kay two e dot com) for more information about the course and having it in-house for your financial staff.

Excel, Visual Basic, and Podcasts

I was prepping this morning (have been up since 4A CT working), and ran across a cool tip from a podcast.  I often use resources from Bill Jelen (aka "Mr. Excel") [Side note: Don't you know that was an awkward meeting with his future in-laws - "Mommy and Daddy, this is the man I've been telling you so much about - Mr. Excel."].... but I digress.

The tip (Mr. Excel Podcast #499) involves converting a numeric value to text (think the amount line on a check - from "400.00" to "four hundred and no 100").  While this isn't the most difficult thing in the world, it illustrates how a little code can solve a problem in a hurry.   Bill gets the code from MS Knowledgebase article #213360, and pastes it into a worksheet.  While this isn't rocket science, it certainly makes the subject of writing custom code much more approachable - and it's free.

You may want to look into listening to podcasts, even if you don't have an iPod.  iTunes, Apple's music application, will download and manage podcasts for you - for free.  Their store is also a good place to find information on these self-published topical talk radio shows.  I currently listen to podcasts on topics as diverse as Mr. Excel's podcast, Formula One (hard to get good F1 information in the USA),  NPR shows, technology and gadget shows, and a monthly roundtable on accounting technology.  If you haven't looked into these broadcasts, they're generally pretty good, and I'm learning new tips and tricks all of the time instead of getting caught up in Howard Stern or something.... so check them out.  It's definitely more productive than the tabloids....

Virtual Machines: Your Computer to Go

I'm starting to think about how CPAs are going to deal with Windows Vista next tax season.  While this year was easy (pretty much everyone I know avoided Vista simply because the CPA firm apps weren't certified as compatible), next year is going to be interesting.  Consider the following scenarios, and incorporate them into your Vista and Office 2007 planning effort.

1. The Non-Filer: Your newly Vista-implemented firm is enjoying the search, new appearance with Aero, and the other features of Windows Vista Business.  A new client is referred by an existing client, and he needs you to prepare his last five years tax returns.   The returns are moderately difficult, and preparing the returns using just fill-in forms is impractical.  If you can use your tax software, these returns can yield $200 per hour, but if you have to do them manually, you'll barely cover expenses due to some Oil & Gas stuff that you don't do every day.  While the current year's tax software (let's assume this is January 2008, and all of your CPA firm apps work prospectively in Windows Vista, but the software for the prior year returns does NOT run under Vista.  What will you do?
2. The Subpoena:  Despite your best efforts and hard work, the dreaded day has come:  You've been threatened with litigation for some work you did five years ago.  While you still have all of the data files (or most of them, anyway), you don't have an old PC which is configured to open the files for your old write-up software and tax software.  The vendor sold four years ago, and the software has been "absorbed" into other product lines.  Your fear is made worse when your install CD from the now-defunct software publisher is found broken in the computer closet.  Will you fight this baseless accusation, or will you settle since you don't have the documents you need?
3. The Interrogatory on E-mail: Although you have implemented Hushmail hosted secure e-mail for all of your staff, and all desktops also offer the new version of WinZip (which was reviewed very capably by John Anderson, CPA.CITP (and about 18 other letters after his last name) in this month's CPA Technology Advisor).  Since your firm's practice has been doing business in California, Vermont, and lots of states with notification laws, the California Board of Public Accountancy began recommending that you notify all clients you do business with that your e-mail from the last year could have theoretically been intercepted and confidential information released.  One client who you notified had his identity stolen.  At the time, it didn't seem necessary to notify everyone, since it was unlikely that anything got out, and your state doesn't mandate this reporting.  You subsequently learned that your staff room hosts an open wireless access point which is used for access to all manner of client data, and is open 24x7x365. What will you do?
4. The Lost Laptop - Your audit staff (who travel over 50% of the time) have

Gliffy - More than a Family Nickname Gone Horribly Wrong

So there I was - reviewing some websites for a proposal, and out pops a gem of an application that you might want to consider.  It's got a funny name (like most web 2.0 / AJAX sites), but it seems pretty neat.

The site is Gliffy, which was written using OpenLazlo, an AJAX development tool.  Gliffy doesn't aspire to take over your Office (they'll leave that challenge to better funded competitors like Google - and even with the best brains and lots of cash, that's going to be pretty tough to pull off).  Gliffy just wants your flowcharts.  Lots of them.  And you can do it in a browser.

If you're one of those who has used my Excel flowchart template in the past, you might want to sneak a look at Gliffy - in the immortal words of Bluto, "Don't cost nothin'"

A Second Line for Your Kids or Home Office for $6.50/month

One of the more interesting technologies I’ve used in the last couple of years is Skype, the internet telephony service.  While I’ve been using VOIP for three years, and have been with my current cell carrier, Sprint, for five years, Skype’s new prix fixe approach to phone services makes it a compelling choice for me.  Here’s an analysis of the costs of a fully tricked-out Skype line in your house:

	Skype Account	Free
	Unlimited US Calling	$29.95/yr
	Skype-In (normal phone number)	$38.00/yr
	Base minutes for other needs	$10.00/yr
	$77.95/year or $6.50/month

I have a Skype Out number (865-329-6789), and have been very impressed with the service.  Since my Mom and Dad live 300 miles away, and my brother lives 2,700 miles away. Lately, I’ve been using it more, and I’m more impressed with it every day.  Heck, I can even call my friend Ward in Halifax on Skype for free, and it works pretty good on just about all of the Wi-Fi connections I use in hotels.

A few caveats for you:

1.       Almost all Skype devices connect to a PC with a USB cable, and use your high speed internet connection. (This is a great use for that old PC sitting in the corner that the kids won’t use anymore).

2.       If you like regular phones instead of the cheesy headsets, you can purchase them at most electronic stores.  I have purchased two, and have been impressed with both.  I’m so impressed with them that I’m sending one of them to my Mom for her to use when talking to Baker and the other grandkids.

Here are the devices I’ve used:

Skytone Skype USB Speakerphone with LCD, RST201- $45.62 at WalMart.com

VTech Cordless Dual-Line PC Phone for Skype VoIP - $79.99 at Best Buy.

The first one (Skytone) is a speakerphone, and has cords, so it’s good for use in an office or by a PC.  The second is a neat device – it connects to both your landline phone and your PC with a USB cable, and lets you talk on either service (POTS or Skype) from the same handset.  The only downside is that the Vtech Cordless works on the 2.4Ghz spectrum (same as Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, and other gadgets) instead of the 5.8 GHz spectrum (used only on 802.11a), so it can have some interference issues.

If you’re looking to the summer with dread as your kids talk on the phone all day while they’re out of school, don’t overlook Skype – it’s cheap, it works with the real telephone network, and it can help you not incur those $0.40/minute charges for going over on the cell phone.

Just as hot water became a precious commodity when your kids became teenagers, upstream bandwidth can become just as rare when kids are using Skype.  (Upstream bandwidth is the upload speed you get from your internet service provider, and is lower than the download, or downstream, speed.  Test your speeds at dslreports.com).  If you have a standard cable internet connection (3M down, 256K up), the 256K upstream bandwidth may cause issues with your call quality, especially if your kids are working the Napster subscription all of the time in the background.  You should expect a Skype session to take 30-80K of upstream bandwidth by itself, so this isn’t an option for dialup users.  I’ve got a 10M down/1M up connection, so my connection can handle a Broadvox VOIP call, two Skype sessions, and a torrent of podcast downloads at the same time – but if you’re having issues, think about what else is going through your internet connection.

News Roundup: Vista is Released Today

Windows Vista and Office 2007 hit retail stores today, and boy, are they cool.  I've run various versions of Vista and Office 2007 for the last six months, and have been very impressed.  The visual interface of AeroGlass in Windows Vista is very nice, and the bitlocker drive encryption technology is very impressive. 

Office 2007 is amazing, and while the conversion to 07 takes some time (due to the very different UI), once you work with it for a while, it seems to improve productivity.  I was working on a document yesterday in Word 2007, and spent less time making some changes because the icons were at hand, and large enough for my blind 38 year old eyes to see.  I have also used some add-ins with Excel 2007, and they have all worked well.  While I think that you should test anything before you implement it in a production environment, Office 2007 (even the beta versions) is stable, and is a wonderful innovation for CPAs.  There is some learning curve associated with the ribbon, and I would wait until things slow down a little bit in your average CPA firm practice before you implement, but I love Office 2007.

Windows Vista is also amazing.  The Aeroglass interface is beautiful, and it seems to have fewer tiny icons that are hard for us over 35 to see.  I'm particularly encouraged that Microsoft has included serious drive encryption in Vista with Bitlocker, and like that all versions of Vista have media center functionality.  Unfortunately, many software vendors used by CPA firms have made announcements that their applications will not run under Vista for the time being.  Accordingly, I recommend that CPA firms in particular check their hardware and software for compatibility before  implementing this OS.  While these conflicts are usually the fault of the software vendor and not Microsoft, fault really doesn't matter if your favorite application or hardware doesn't run on your new OS.  I am currently awaiting my MS Action Pack update for January, which includes Windows Vista and MS Office 2007, and can't wait to put it back into production on a few boxes so I can test out the final versions.

BTW, Action Pack is the best deal running for CPA firms and IT consultancies - for $299/year, you get 10 licenses of just about everything Microsoft, all updated on a quarterly basis.  If you run a CPA firm and don't have action pack, I think you should have your head examined.  To get Action Pack, CPA Firms have to do the following:

1. Join MS Professional Accountants Network by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/cpampan.  Joining MPAN makes you a member of the MS Partner program, and thus eligible to purchase Action Pack.

2. Subscribe to MS Action Pack for $299/year.  For more details, visit Microsoft.com and search for Action Pack.

On a personal note, I wanted to let you all know that I had some surgery 1/15.  After a number of ill-fated calls to women in my life when inebriated in college, I work hard to not communicate with others when I'm on medicine like the Lortab and Hydrocodone I used when convalescing.  I also recognize that I don't get paid for this blog, so it remains idle when I have too much going on.  As such, my posts have been less regular that I would have liked in the runup and recovery from surgery.  I will be going on some vendor visits in the next few weeks, and will be updating readers on a more regular schedule going forward.

Gmail Drive

I mentioned an app called GMail Drive at the TSCPA Tech Conference last week in Franklin, TN, and wanted to pass along the link from Wikipedia which discusses this app, as well as related programs which use GMail's 2.7 GB of storage as a virtual drive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail_Drive

Note: Since Google is an ADVERTISING company, please encrypt anything which you don't want to risk being exposed to the world using PGP, GPG, or similar applications (whether it exists on your local PC or a GMail drive).

2006 QuickBooks Premier Edition

I have a client who was using 2002 QB.  I took her data and updated it to my 2006 Premier Accountants Edition.  Will the backup from 2006 Premier Accountant’s Edition restore to any other 2006 version?  Can I have my client buy 2007 Pro, and this backup will restore for her?

Thanks!

Frustrated in

Illinois

____________________________________

Dear Frustrated in

Illinois

:

I have a client who was using 2002 QB.  I took her data and updated it to my 2006 Premier Accountants Edition. 

1. Will the backup from 2006 Premier Accountant’s Edition restore to any other 2006 version? 

Yes.  Any other 2006 version – but we will have to be sure that you’re both on the latest updates from Intuit. I think the current update release is R6 or R7.

2. Can I have my client buy 2007 Pro, and this backup will restore for her?

Yes, but you won’t be able to open the file in your version of 2006 after she opens it in 2007.

Best regards,

Tankersley in

Tennessee

Lost Quickbooks Password Options

I received the following e-mail from a participant this week:

Brian,

I attended both the QuickBooks and Advanced QuickBooks classes in the past two weeks.  Ok, so here is my issue.

I remember Val cautioning us to write down (capture, canonize, put in stone) the Administrator password somewhere safe before making any changes.  I said, “Dude, you got that done; written in three places, safely secure!” I did the installation of Premier and began the migration from QB Pro 2005.  The migration asked me which files to convert to Premier and I selected my current company file after a secure backup as well as a 2^nd copy of the qbw file.  The migration asked for the Administrator user and logon password, and it rejected my password to log on as Administrator.  I pulled out the stone tablet and tried that again without success; then I tried every possible combination of passwords I have ever used with this software, and no joy.

I went back to QB Pro 2005, pulled up the qbw file and logged on with my normal user and password.  So I can still work with the company file.  However, I could not log on as administrator using any of my various combinations.  I suspect I may have set the Administrator to some peculiar combination, i.e. mis-spelled by keystroke.

Now the $64 question -  Do you have a good, quick, low cost, way to retrieve that Administrator password?   

Yours truly,

Ticked off in Tulsa

My response follows:

Dear Ticked Off in Tulsa:

We all lose passwords, so this is a common question I receive from class participants.  That having been said, this particular topic is like men admitting to each other that they asked for directions - if you admit to it, you subject yourself to ridicule from your peers.  For future reference, you might consider including phrasing such as 'a friend did this' or 'a client did that' to avoid ridicule from other accountants or techies.

One of the options offered by QuickBooks to assist in removing lost passwords is the Automated Password Removal Service. This service works with QuickBooks versions 5.0 through 2005; it does not work with QuickBooks 2006. Available at no charge and offering same-day service, users upload a copy of their data file to QuickBooks and then download a copy where the lost password has been removed. For more information, visit https://dataservices.intuit.com/sdccommon/intuit/ds/intuit.asp?prod=QuickBooks&action=pwreset. If you're within 12 months of your initial QuickBooks software registration or upgrading to a new version, Assisted Password Removal Service may be available without charge in certain cases. The Data Services technician will determine whether the service fee will be charged at the time the service is rendered. If you're within 12 months of your initial QuickBooks software registration or upgrading to a new version, Assisted Password Removal Service may be available without charge in certain cases. The Data Services technician will determine whether the service fee will be charged at the time the service is rendered.

Other options include:

• www.lostpassword.com ($45 program to remove password)
• http://quickbooksusers.com/passwordservice.htm ($70, but note that I haven’t done any due diligence on this service - so use at your own risk)

If I can be of further service, please drop me a line. I hope to see you at the Technology Conference in Tulsa in early November.

CPA Firm Technology Update

It's been a busy summer thus far - I've traveled about 50,000 miles for speaking gigs this year.  I've got a lot of good tips for all of you, but they're currently between my ears - so over the next few weeks, look for some posts to discuss things I've learned recently which you might find interesting.

New Tools on my test and production systems:

• HP Projector
• Targus Docking Station
• Logitech io digital pen
• Kensington Bluetooth Mouse
• Novatel Merlin S620 Air Card with Service by Sprint PCS
• Kyocera KR1 Router for Air Card
• Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro (with earbud that works with Skype)
• SnagIt and Camtasia Studio
• Peachtree Quantum 2007 and Peachtree Complete 2007
• Betas of Office 2007 and Windows Vista (yes, my laptop will run the Aero setup)

Probably my favorite two tools this far are the Logitech io digital pen and the Novatel Merlin S620 aircard.  The combination of these has made it much easier on the road.  I'll have detailed discussion on these over the next week or so, but they're doing a great job of making my life easier.  Summaries are as follows:

io Digital Pen:  Great tool, paper costs too much.  I'm using this to take notes and transfer them to MS OneNote.  While I'd like to have a tablet long term (I hear HP has a killer new tablet - and would love to test one on the road this summer and fall and write about it), the io digital  pen seems to be a nice stopgap measure.   The nice thing about the digital pen is that it lets you take notes and fill out forms with someone without the technology becoming the conversation instead of enabling it.

Sprint PCS Novatel Merlin S620 Air Card: Internet.  Anywhere.  This is an EVDO internet access card provided by K2 for me to use when on the road.  I get good coverage in most cities.  Here's my summary of coverage thus far this year (by city)

NYC: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up (3 Park Ave, 31st St @ 6th Ave, Penn Station, Jamaica, Newark airport, JFK airport, and LGA airport)
Long Island: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up (Worked in room at LI Marriott, Hicksville train station, on LIRR to NYC, and the only place I really had trouble was in tunnels.
Chicago: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up - Worked well in Oak Brook Terrace area as well as in Deerfield.  (on a personal note, I got to see the Cubs on August 1st - while I would have liked to see Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" drunk, I was able to go on '70s night.  There were some people with absolutely unbelievable fros and getups - lots of lambchops, Elvis lookalikes, etc.  Good game - Cubs won).
Syracuse: Not Good - dialup speeds.
Knoxville/Farragut: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
Denver (Tech Center Area): Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
CVG Airport: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
ATL Airport: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
DEN Airport: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
TYS Airport: Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
Nashville (Brentwood/Franklin): Outstanding - 500kb down, 80kb up
Sevierville, TN: Good - 60Kb both ways.  Not EVDO, but good for a new subdivision, and great for a non-EVDO area.

Free Office Templates from Microsoft

In the course of doing some work on a new course, I ran across some links which might be of interest to CPAs everywhere:

• The Accounting Format Template for invoices and other typical accounting documents. (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA101423571033.aspx )
• Information on Financial Forecasts (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011558521033.aspx) (Note that this discusses forecasting from the perspective of someone preparing a forecast for internal use, and does not discuss any ethical obligations of CPAs related to forecasts.)

Microsoft also has a series of templates for Office system applications for various professions.  Links for those most likely to be used by our typical audiences follow:

Consulting

Consultants

Finance

Auditors and accountants Chief financial officers Controllers Financial analysts Personal financial advisors

General work tasks

Budgeting E-mail management Information management Making presentations Meeting management Team collaboration Team management Time management Work/life balance

The Ribbon

One of the key things in the new version of Microsoft Office 2007 is the top 15% of the screen - also called:

"The Ribbon"
(click on the icon to view a sample of the "ribbon" interface from an early version of Office 12)

(Also see Microsoft's coverage of their new user interface at their website)

The Ribbon is a context-sensitive replacement for the dropdown menus and the toolbars.  Simply stated, the job of the Ribbon is to put the most likely things for you to use in front of you when you would like to use them.  The idea here is that Excel (and the other office apps) have a lot of features that only us power-users know how to locate, set up, and use.  While I expect the interface will be easier for those who are not used to Excel to master, I have used it already - and I like it.  It does take a little getting used to - after using Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, and Visicalc before it, and this is a big change.  Admittedly, it's not as big as the change from the old Lotus "/", or slash commands, but it is enough of a difference that you may say, "What the heck is this?" the first time you see it.

(Note that the Ribbon I see in the betas of Office 2007 is different from this one, and the MS Office 2007 UI Team probably hasn't finished their work on The Ribbon yet. 

The story behind the scenes is interesting - and reminds us that while we have advanced tools to help us with collaboration, some types of work will still use lots of paper.  So those of you who are going paperless this year (for sure(!)) don't get rid of that printer just yet - just like Microsoft, you may have lots of paper in your future.

According to one of the Microsoft blogs, the ribbon layout was developed on a series of 11" x 17" pages posted in the hall of the fourth floor hallway where the Office 12 (now called Office 2007) UI design team was based.  Mind you - this is one of the most successful companies in the world, and probably the most successful software company in the history of, well, software.  These guys can use any tool they want to collaborate electronically, (and they have some pretty cool stuff.)  They used paper.

The US Space Program spent a bloody fortune designing a pen that would work in zero-G.  (You can purchase one - it's called the Fisher Space Pen).  The Russians?  They sent pencils and a sharpener.  While there are a lot of things about the USSR and its designs on the world which made me nervous (and some which continue to make me nervous), the ability of their military (and their space program in particular) to use less elegant, more reliable solutions to the problems facing cosmonauts which work right every time is a big deal.  It's particularly noteworthy when you consider that the Soyuz platform is still around - and NASA couldn't build another Saturn-V rocket again if one was needed without a major retooling.  True, Americans have walked on the moon, and Russians have not been there - but we're closing in on the 35th anniversary of the last time a human walked on the moon - and we're not going back there for a long time.

Moral of the story here:  Don't overlook the simple stuff that works in your quest for technological supremacy - the trick to using technology in your practice is to use technology to solve problems.  We don't see mechanics buying tools because they look cool - they buy tools because they help them get a job done.  I love gadgets - but that's a hobby, and the gadgets are there to help me get more work done - which is the point.  Implementing technology without analyzing the business problem and picking the best solution from the available solutions for that problem is foolhardy.  Success with technology is like the successes from the space program in the 1960's and 1970's - it's best implemented with a lot of people working hard on solving lots of small problems every day for a long time.  In other words, tech success is usually evolutionary instead of revolutionary.  Remember this if your implementation hits a few speed bumps - and keep your ears open, as sometimes, the best ideas come from the people who have little formal education and lots of experience.  There's a reason the Good Lord gave all of us two ears and one mouth.