CPA Technology Blog

Sights from CES 2010, Part I

 

I’ve been in Las Vegas for CES for the last few days, and wanted to pass along some of the sights from the trade show floor.  It’s been a really good experience, and I think I’ve made some really good contacts, and refreshed lots of old ones.  Thanks to Sage and Greg LaFollette for a very nice meeting with some of the CPA profession’s technology leaders at the Aria casino last night.  It' was a very interesting meeting, and I think we all had a great time exchanging information and tips about how best to work this meeting.

Planon had a new version of their portable scanner (with bluetooth and an LCD) and a new thermal portable printer.  Looks interesting, but I’d like to work with one for a few weeks before I pass judgment.  There were some scanners here, and I’m planning follow up visits to some of them, but I haven’t seen anything super-revolutionary.  I’ll probably have another post on anything that turns out to be super-exciting.

Displays continue to be a big deal in the computer space.  Kodak and some other vendors were using the Microsoft Surface platform (funny parody of this technology here) to have an interactive digital experience.  The technology was really cool, and it helped me get more of their messaging – so it worked.

 

Displaylink showed off a Samsung display with six large monitors configured to be one massive display, running through one small digital cable.  They demonstrated it running a driving game, and the video performance was truly amazing.

The Microsoft booth had a small notebook with two displays that slide out from each other to give you two monitors on a laptop.  Very cool, although these two displays are only about 12” diagonally (16x9) each, and this is a prototype which won’t be in production for a while.

Skype continues be featured in numerous products, including the ASUS AiGuru SV1T device (left, below).  Television manufacturers continue to incorporate features into their new LCD/LED sets, including the Skype feature demonstrated by LG (right, below).  Other applications on displays include media streaming, Netflix, and many others.  Microsoft launched a new IPTV interface for Windows 7 Media Center which can be used to directly receive IPTV from services like my TDS Fiber Account, AT&T U-Verse, or Verizon FIOS without needing a cable box, which looks pretty interesting.  (I’ll believe it when I see it working in my home office).

If you have specific things you’re interested in, send me a Tweet (@BFTCPA), and I can let you know what I’m seeing that might be of interest.

Tag Cloud

This is the Tag Cloud for today's webinar, courtesy Wordle.com.  

Monitors for Out of the Office and Other Hardware Recommendations

One of the more common questions asked by readers is a request for recommendations of external LCD monitors which can be attached to a laptop so that mobile users have two displays.  This post summarizes current thoughts on how to do this based on my experiences and the experiences of my friends, Randy Johnston, Bob Spencer, and Val Steed.  Together, we teach hundreds of CPE courses to accountants across North America each year, and also make recommendations at TechnologyBestPractices.com, CPAFirmTech.com, TotallyPaperless.com, and AccountingSoftwareWorld.com.  Many of us are also active consultants with CPA firms nationally either independently or through organizations such as NMGI.

The K2 CPA Firm Tech team members had an e-mail discussion re: our personal opinions on portable monitors for CPAs about three weeks ago. 

• Some of my co-workers @ K2 (Val, Randy, Bob) are recommending an HP 21.5” touch screen monitor – the HP L2105tm 21.5”($299).  Personally, I think this one is too big to lug around (14.1 lb (6.4 kg), Dimensions (w x d x h) 20.2 x 9.1 x 16.5 in).  The one I mention below is smaller, but does not have the multi-touch touch screen, and is also only an 18.5” display instead of a 21.5” display, resulting in much less work area, but my recommendation is a little over half of the weight of the HP model.  Info on HP model L2105tm is available on the HP website.
• Due its the much smaller form factor (17.72" x 11.65" x 2.83", Weight 7.94 lbs), I’m recommending the Samsung LD190N monitor for staff and seniors when out of the office  ().  It is a 18.5” LCD (1360 x 768 native resolution), and has a 5ms response time with decent contrast.  I purchased one of these for my own use a few weeks ago.  Some things you should know about this display:
  • This WILL NOT fit in my backpack sized for a 17”notebook, so I haven’t taken it on the road yet.
  • The monitor is NOT HDCP capable, so you will not be able to play Blue Ray DVDs on it, and only has an analog VGA cable input.
  • Since this one is only $119 vs. the $299 of the HP above (the HP is clearly a superior monitor, but it’s big, you could always buy a few of the Samsungs, and then see if you need a larger display and the touch interface. 
• You might try to find a good deal on 17” monitors, although I don’t know of any specific models to recommend, as most everyone is going to something bigger these days.

Screen protection will be a concern for most users, as there is no protection provided with either of these displays, and they will be very easy to crack.  I plan to protect my screen two ways:

• I plan to use black velcro (matches the framing on the monitor) to attach a trimmed corrugated plastic For Sale sign you can buy at Lowe’s/Home Depot and use it as a hard piece to protect the screen.
• I will see if any of my existing bags will hold the monitor so I can avoid purchasing a special case for it (I have about 10 laptop cases from throughout the years).

There are a number of alternatives for a case, including:

• For the smaller Samsung and other 19” class displays, there’s a closeout bag by Shuttle (gaming PC manufacturer) which is designed to transport their discontinued XP19 - 19” monitor (which had a piece of plexiglass over the LCD) from place to place.  I don’t have one at this point, but it looks pretty interesting, and is $60 @ Directron, an online closeout store.
• One firm reported that they use the CaseAce LCD harness to transport monitors and shield the screens from damage.  This is a cover shaped like a messenger bag (with the bottom open) to let you carry your monitor by the handle mounted on the top of the bag.  (Note: This harness appears to not be water tight, so you may want to also carry a trash bag with you to seal the monitor in the event of very heavy rain).  There is a larger version of this LCD harness which will let you carry monitors up to 24”. 
• Another firm reported that they used contact paper to reinforce the original packaging which came with their monitors and are using these boxes on the infrequent occasions when they need to move from site to site with their LCD.

Finally, some users will want to have more than one 22” monitor available in the office.  There are a number of solutions which will let you run the second external monitor (e.g. laptop LCD + 2 External LCD’s), including:

• VillageTronic’s viBook USB to DVI adapter.
• Arkview’s USB to DVI adapter
• Some docking stations

I would NOT purchase more than one of any device until you test it and verify that the drivers will not conflict with your applications and operating system.  I have had numerous issues with drivers for these items in the past, and some of the ones you can purchase at retail in office supply stores have software which will hang up when you try to run the PC without the attached monitor – which defeats the purpose of having a laptop.

FREE WEBCAST 12/9/2009 @ 2PM - On a personal note, I’m presenting a free one hour webcast on Gadgets with Greg Lafollette at 2pm EST on Wednesday, December 9th.  I hope you will register and attend.  The webcast is sponsored by Sage.

News Roundup for July 22, 2009

After a long absence, the CPA Tech Blog is back.  It’s been a busy last three months, but there’s lots of good stuff to discuss.

• The Release Candidate of Windows 7 is out, and I really like it.  I’ve been running the 64-bit version of it as my production operating system for a while.  The only major issue I had was a shared networking issue with VMWare, and I think I’ve got that all fixed now.  I’ve got one device that has a driver issue, but I seem to be able to work around it by running an XP virtual machine, so it’s not a show stopper.
• The Community Technical Preview (e.g. geek beta) of Office 2010 is out, and it promises browser-based access to Microsoft Office, better integration with SharePoint and Groove (now called SharePoint Workspace), and many other things.  As I write this, I’m installing Office 2010 into a virtual machine (VM) for some testing.  Lots of good material here.
• There are many new tools to discuss, including some from CCH, ThomsonReuters, and Intuit.  The releases are too numerous to mention here, but if you follow my Twitter feed (twitter.com/bftcpa), I’ve listed most of the new things there.
• There have been some significant changes in the VAR space, with the MIS Group, a huge Sage VAR, discontinuing operations, and many others folding or significantly downsizing their operations.
• Many industry publications have changed personnel or folded.  Source Media folded Accounting Technology and Practical Accountant into Accounting Today, and there are many personnel changes at traditional and new media outlets all over the place.  (As a side note, the whole print media business is going nuts right now, as the distribution channels seem to be changing, and the economy is having a significant impact on the ability of advertisers to pay for things….

On a personal note, I have some new gadgets to mention to you, the gentle reader.  Those include:

• Palm Pre: Love the screen, new OS and speed.  Needs more software, an improved keyboard, and better battery life.  I’ll rate this one 4 stars out of 5 (My iPod Touch got the same rating, so I think it’s probably comparable to the iPhone before we start talking about AT&T’s phone service…. nuff said.)  The Touchstone inductive charger is really nice, and I highly recommend it for pretty much everyone.  I love that I can charge my phone without having to plug in any cables – very cool.
• Seidio makes a really nice external charger for numerous cell phone batteries.  This is one of the better gadgets I’ve bought lately, especially since my Palm Pre has “issues” with its battery life.  (These guys are also supposed to be creating a new battery that has twice the battery life of the OEM battery.  No word yet on whether or not it will work with the Touchstone inductive charging device).
• I have started running two external monitors off of my laptop using a VillageTronic ViBook USB-based video card ($129 from HarmonicInversion.com).  It’s small, runs great, and with the exception of some very infrequent freezes in the video, it’s wonderful.  Now, I wouldn’t try to do video editing or anything crazy with it, but on my fast system, it’s doing super for Word, Excel, document imaging, Adobe Acrobat, and other routine office tasks.

I will probably be acquiring a new SonicWall UTM device for my office, as well as one of the USB monitors which were all over CES this year (waiting on either the touchscreen models to become more available, or for more models to become available).

I’ve written articles which have been picked up by various state CPA society magazines as well as The Progressive Accountant lately, and I’m still developing those podcasts mentioned earlier in this space.  More to come in the future.

Intacct Wins 2009 SIIA “Codie”for Best Financial Software

Dan Druker, CEO of Intacct, reported today that Intacct, a provider of on-demand financial software for businesses, won the 2009 “Codie” award for Best Financial Software.  Codie awards represent “the nation’s best software, digital content, and education products”  according to the sponsoring organization, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Other notable 2009 winners include:

• Best Business Intelligence or Knowledge Management Solution - Adaptive Planning 5.0, Adaptive Planning.
• Best Business Software Solution - Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com.
• Best Communication Solution - Adobe Acrobat.com, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Document Management Solution – Adobe LiveCycle ES, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Multi-Media Solution – Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Adobe Systems, Inc.
• Best Open Source Solution – Sugar Professional On Demand V5.1, Sugar CRM, Inc.
• Best Relationship Management Solution – Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com.
• Best Software as a Service (SaaS) Solution – Salesforce CRM, Salesforce.com
• Best Web Services Solution – Force.com, Salesforce.com

A complete list of 2009 Codie award winners is available on the SIIA website, siia.net.

This comes on the heels of news that Intacct was selected as the preferred provider of on-demand financial applications by the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA). 

Windows 7 RC Now Available to Us Mortals

The next version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, Windows 7, is now available in a “close to final” version for intrepid, bleeding edge-types like me.  Needless to say, I was downloading it at 6AM ET this morning, right before my morning run to McDonald’s for some caffeine and breakfast for the family… (you have to have priorities in life, right – the first RC of Windows 7 only comes out once in a lifetime).

Previously available only to MSDN Subscribers and those who purchase an annual subscription to Microsoft TechNet, the release candidate of Windows 7 is now available for download.  The 64-bit version weighs in at 3.05 GB, and the 32-bit version is a somewhat lighter 2.36 GB.  I’m planning on converting the netbook (ASUS eee PC 1000H) to Windows 7 today, and am hoping to be running Win 7 on a new teaching build for my two teaching days in Dallas at the Texas Society of CPA’s Tech Conference next week.

The downloads were amazingly fast – I had two different PC’s downloading the different versions, and the download for both of them was under a half hour – and they were downloading at the same time using the same connection.  (I love my fiber-optic internet connection!)

I haven’t read up on when the license for the RC expires, but since I’m a member of the MS Professional Accountants Network and an MS Action Pack Subscriber, I fully expect that I’ll get 10 licenses for Win7 in my Action Pack update later this year.  If you’re a public accountant and don’t subscribe to MS Action Pack, you’re currently spending too much on software.  I’ve been a MS Action Pack Subscriber (with my own green money) for the last five years, and it’s probably the best $300 I spend for my little business.

Microsoft Office Accounting (UK) Webinar 4/22, Noon ET (5P GST)

John Thuneby of Microsoft mentioned in his blog that Microsoft is going to be talking about Office Accounting 2009 in the UK next Wednesday.  It should be a good session – I’ve known John for a while, and he does good work.

Free Webinar - Microsoft Office Accounting – why is this free software making such a splash?

Join Gary Simon (the author of Office Accounting to the MAX), fellow Microsoft Senior Program Manager Glen Altringer and I, as we discuss Office Accounting 2009 in the UK market and the impact on small and medium size businesses.

The 30 minute webinar is on Wednesday April 22nd at 5PM GST (9AM PST) and you can register using the link below:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/733483201

New Stuff Alert – April 8, 2009

There have been a lot of press releases lately with new and improved products and services vying for the attention of CPA’s after we all get past April 15th and get caught up on our much-needed sleep.  Some of the items I’ve run into include:

1. CCH has released IntelliConnect, the next generation platform for their research products.  It’s currently available on the products which were on Tax Research Network (and CCH is going to be migrating existing users starting in about three weeks), but it is a very simple to use platform.  One of the limiting things about the superceded TRN platform is that you need to select where you want to look for search results.  With IntelliConnect, by default, you search in all available databases – which means that you can find stuff in products you didn’t even know you had access to in your plan.  The user interface has been reconfigured to look more like the familiar three-pane split screen interface we all use in Microsoft Outlook or other e-mail programs.  I could go on about this for a while (and believe me, as NOT exciting as tax research can be, that’s saying something) – but you should check it out.  Think: Google for tax research, with authoritative literature.  (Now, if I could just get something like this for these shoeboxes I’m working my way through….  Search: BM&E, mileage logs +1099… (and then I woke up))

2.  Intacct and AICPA announced a deal to bring Intacct’s web-based accounting systems to AICPA members, and the two will develop a joint product that brings AICPA’s content together with Intacct’s systems for a new version of the product aimed at CPA’s.  I’ve done some work lately with Intacct, and have been very impressed with how easy it is to use, as well as the interesting ways you can use it to accumulate data the way you want to see it presented.  In the long run, I think there is a place for cloud computing – especially where people need to collaborate who are not in the same physical location.  The on-premises software model has so many capitalized costs as well as hidden maintenance costs, SaaS makes it possible for people to add capacity (and drop capacity) seamlessly as it is needed.  The financial flexibility associated with SaaS alone is a reason to consider it – before you consider the redundant data centers, real time backup, access from anywhere, etc.  While there are still some user issues to be worked out with any SaaS deployment (security validation, your backup, exit strategy if you want to change products, vendor due diligence, etc.), I’m glad to see the AICPA move toward the future with a SaaS offering as strong as Intacct.

3. CODA announced a new version of CODA 2go based on the Force.com platform.  While this press release just came out yesterday, Dennis Howlett from across the pond has some good interview video with a CODA representative talking about the solution.

4. ThomsonReuters announced updates to their PlannerCS product related to the new tax legislation.  They’ve got a scan & organize solution this year with both UltraTax and GoSystem Tax, and I’m looking forward to hearing from firms how well things are going.  I’m not hearing anything from firms right now – which must mean that things are going reasonably well, and they are pretty busy.  (Normal for this time of year in the tax world.)

5. Fujitsu is coming out with the updated ScanSnap S1500(the desktop model), and has some cool things going on with touch-screen, network based scanners(the fi-6010N).  I’m anxiously awaiting my 30 days with a demo unit, as I have about 10 Banker’s Boxes of files which need to be put into my DMS, and I’m looking forward to having a device which doesn’t tie up a PC and can scan 50 pages a minute.  Very, very cool.

6. HP has some production scanners coming out soon with a new, jam-resistant sheet feeder on them.  I saw one work at the AIIM show, and it looked pretty good.  I’m optimistic here, but would like to play with a demo unit for 30 days or so before I pass judgement here.  A shoot-off between their unit and a Fujitsu would be very interesting here – kind of a reality show for paper farmers like me…  Hmmmm… that gives me an idea.

As a side note, I ran into a contact from ThomsonReuters at the AIIM Info360 show in Philadelphia.  It’s always nice when you see professional contacts from the CPA industry attending shows like AIIM which are targeted at general use of technology – it reminds me that we’re all competing for the best ideas and technique to increase our productivity and output.  I don’t know about you, but I’m doing my best to not participate in the recession.  The economic doldrums will have to drag me to the party kicking and screaming.  While I’m not delusional here, I have discoverered that worrying is a largely non-productive emotion.

I’m getting into podcasting with some different groups.  I have two podcasts in development, and the first episode of each is now posted to the web (although I don’t think either are on iTunes as of yet.  The podcasts are:

• Focus on Gadgets & Gizmos is a monthly podcast where Greg LaFollette and I talk about leading (and sometimes bleeding) edge gadgets & gizmos you can use to enhance your digital lifestyle (work and play).  We’re still working on the list of material we will cover in future episodes, but the first episode is on the Amazon Kindle2 device. 
• The Bit Brothers is a periodic podcast that I do with Dr. Bob Spencer and Randy Johnston on general technology topics.  We’re still working on our material for future episodes, etc., but you can learn more about what we’re doing and listen to our very rough episode #1 at www.bitbros.com.

We’re working on increasing the production quality of each podcast – both were recorded using Skype and/or telephone call recording devices, and I’m learning more than I ever imagined I would about reverb, signal to noise ratio, licensing rights for music, audio mixing (I may be reaching out to my namesake, the record producer for some help here).  If you have comments, ideas, recommendations, etc., please send them to bftcpa [att] gmail/dot/com

Two Articles, Two Podcasts, and a Trade Show

I’ve written a couple of articles for state CPA society magazines lately:

• Data Security: Are You Meeting Your Responsibilities
  Society of Louisiana CPAs Newsletter
  March 2009
• What to Watch for in Tax Software in 2009
  Kentucky Society of CPAs Newsletter
  January / February 2009

I’m also working with a couple of groups on podcasts.  One is going to be on gadgets over at TheProgressiveAccountant.com, and the other is very rough, but is going to be a round table with my friends Dr. Bob Spencer & Randy Johnston – first episode is at bitbros.com.

I’m heading to Philadelphia on Monday to attend the AIIM show again this year.  I will probably be doing some live blogging and lots of twittering from the trade show floor.  The AIIM Expo in Boston last year was really interesting, and although they don’t have The Barking Crab, I seem to recall a really snazzy Capital Grille there.

Got Tick Marks?

One of the more common things I am asked from people who are implementing a document management system is how they can include their “tick marks” in their documents.  My usual responses are to look at PDFlyer or Tick, Tie & Calculate in Acrobat (or alternatively, create your own stamps), and to either use graphics or a symbol font like wingdings in Word, Excel, and everything else. 

My wife and I recently started using SendOutCards to send some of her follow up correspondence as part of her work as a mortgage loan officer.  One of the things you get with SendOutCards is the ability to create a custom font based on your handwriting.  I have sent mine off, and am somewhat anxious about what it’s going to look like when it is complete (my handwriting really, really stinks).  This effort, however, has opened my eyes to how easy it is to create your own, personalized font to do things like tick marks and other symbols.  While you can purchase applications for $50 to do this, the geniuses over at LifeHacker had a great post in February which mentioned YourFonts, a web service which does this for you for free.  You fill out a form, scan it, and it encodes the stuff you wrote as images in a Windows-compatible TrueType font.

If you needed to create a font for tick marks, you could simply create your own font using this tool, and instead of making the letters correctly, you could assign a tick mark to each character on your keyboard.  And it’s free.  You will need to share your tick mark files with anyone who would print out your documents, and will probably want to render the final versions to PDF (and embed the tick mark font in the PDF files), but if you do this, it’s a fairly elegant solution to one of the more vexing problems associated with annotating documents.