Books, software, hardware and services for accountants.
Anticipation over!
The Anticipatory Organization, Accounting & Finance Edition
Daniel Burrus, MACPA and BLI
Some months back in this space we told you about a cool new learning system that the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute were creating in conjunction with futurist Daniel Burrus called “The Anticipatory Organization,” and we’re happy to say that it’s finally available. It uses short videos that explain single concepts tied to follow-up activities to teach you an entirely new way to — and we mean this literally — predict the future. Not in a winning-lottery-number/when-will-I-die kind of way, but in a “Which trends will affect my business and my clients’ business?” kind of way, so that you can pivot from a backward-looking, historically focused practice to one that is future-focused.
Itch scratched
CCH Tangible Property Regulations Certificate Program
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
If you came out of tax season scratching your head over the new tangible property regulations, you’re not alone — and that explains Wolters Kluwer’s new e-learning programs on the subject, which aim to make the extremely complicated regs clearer and more comprehensible. The programs include on-demand video series on fundamental concepts and on advanced issues, with slides, detailed outlines, and real-world examples, all culminating in a certificate of educational achievement that should allow you to stop scratching your scalp.
Welcoming committee
Relocation help
Accountingfly
It is a truism that Americans are more willing than citizens of other countries to up stakes and light out for the territories in search of new opportunities — but that truism ignores the fact that it’s often an awkward, painful process. If you’re looking to move to a new city, for instance, getting on top of the local job market can be particularly frustrating, which is why accounting career center Accountingfly is offering a new free service that will help you find appropriate employers and introduce you to key influencers in your new market. Think of them as a savvy friend who knows all the cool places, but won’t ask to borrow all of your stuff.
Sad, but necessary
SPEED
Whitman Business Advisors
It’s a gloomy scenario, but imagine the sole practitioner who dies without a succession plan: In the days and weeks immediately after, while their survivors deal with their grief and the funeral, the practice is losing value — and when the survivors do get around to dealing with it, they may have no idea what to do. Enter Whitman Business Advisors’ Sole Practitioner Emergency Exit Document, a formalized, structured way to put your affairs in order, with all the necessary information gathered in one place and updated annually so that your executors can make the most of your legacy.
Deeper roots
Rootworks Grow
Rootworks
Training, coaching and networking membership organization Rootworks has deepened its offerings with a new online hub where member firms can interact with each other and the company itself. Through their own personalized dashboard, member firms can access Rootworks’ resource library, schedule coaching sessions, stay up to date on events, workshops and conferences, and, perhaps most important, share ideas, insights and best practices with their fellow firms.
Others’ mistakes
The Industry Accountant’s Intelligence Briefing: Helpful Hints from the Trenches
Two Harbors Press; $39.25
Other people’s mistakes are valuable in two ways: First off, they’re funny. And second, they allow us to learn without pain. Since 2010, Joseph Rotman has compiled a list of every accounting mistake he observed in corporate America, and eventually gathered them into this book, which includes the 25 most common spreadsheet errors, the 15 most preparation/review errors, five common awareness errors and more.
Won’t leave marks
50 Shades of Sales: Unlock the Handcuffs of Fear & Ignorance to Stoke Massive Growth at Your CPA Firm!
CPA Growth Partners; $28.95
Despite the title, this book is entirely safe for work, and won’t leave you explaining strange bruises to friends and co-workers. What it will do is provide you with a host of new ways to think about sales and your role in developing a successful practice. Author Patrick Malayter is not just a CPA, but one with a proven track record of building very profitable service lines within accounting firms; his war stories alone are worth the price of admission, but there are also a host of useful tips and strategies for overcoming accountants’ traditional aversion to sales, and for turbo-charging your growth.
You might like it
Bill.com iOS mobile app
Bill.com
There’s only one problem with Bill.com’s new mobile app for Apple iOS devices: It might make you like paying bills. Sure, it makes it easier for business owners to manage their payments on the go, with a dashboard that lets them sort bills by due date, vendor, amount or time pending, and it lets them adjust payment amounts and dates, and originate payments from multiple bank accounts, but all that efficiency and ease of use comes with the risk that you’ll mind paying bills less. On the other hand, if you can convince clients and customers to use it ... .
Historic enemies
Friggin’ Bean Counters: Navigating the BS-Infested Cubicles of the Accounting Department
KSasser PL; $14.99
The title of this book should tell you everything you need to know about what IT departments think of the accountants they so often work with; the rest of the book aims to elevate the discussion, by giving all involved the insights and knowledge they need to create corporate systems that are both compliant and effective. The author, Karla Sasser, is a CPA with deep internal audit, corporate governance and Sarbanes-Oxley expertise, so she knows whereof she speaks, and the book aims to bring two historically antagonistic departments together to help make sure no one goes to jail.
Dream? Delusion?
Accounting Dreams & Delusions
Caper Artisanal Publishing; $14.99
How to describe CPA and consultant Kristen Rampe’s new book? Is it a collection of accounting-related memes in print form? A slender selection of delicate, slightly bittersweet haiku? A stream-of-consciousness tour of the inner mind of the profession? A fever dream of financial paradise, where the clients are on time and the instructions are always followed to the letter? In fact, it is all these things and more, including very funny, and an excellent gift for any accountant you know, starting with yourself.
A new school
Advanced online course platform
Roger CPA Review
CPA Exam review provider Roger CPA Review has launched a new e-learning platform that includes a Student Dashboard where users can view diagnostic charts on their course progress, get access to all major course components, and use a quick link to take them to wherever they left off in their studies. The course player now allows students to use closed captioning with lectures, and adjust the speed of their lectures.
You do care, don’t you?
Disasters and Financial Planning: A Guide for Preparedness and Recovery, and audit guide updates
AICPA
Most accounting firms aren’t really prepared for a major disaster, so it’s a safe bet that everyone else (including their clients) is even less ready to handle the consequences of a major storm, fire or other event. To help, the American Institute of CPAs has worked with the American Red Cross and the National Endowment for Financial Education to release an interactive guide to minimizing the potential impact of a disaster on their lives and their financial well-being. It’s the kind of thing that everyone’s most trusted advisor should give them, to prove how much they care.
Separately, the institute released revised versions of two key audit guides, Government Auditing Standards and Single Audits, and State and Local Governments, that are updated to account for recent regulatory changes.
Save their vacation!
Transfermate Global Payments
Transfermate
If you haven’t already gotten an e-mail from a distant acquaintance or friend of a friend describing how their international vacation is teetering on the edge of disaster, and can only be saved by a quick infusion of cash from you, you soon will — and, if you’re anything like us, your first thought will be, “How can I send this distant acquaintance or friend of a friend my life savings as quickly as possible?” Not so fast! Making cross-border payments can be expensive, with banks charging significant fees and imposing inconvenient restraints. You might consider TransferMate instead — it’s an online payment platform that lets you send and receive money around the clock, track payments online, and even set up transactions in advance to lock in exchange rates. Payments are processed instantly, and best of all, fees are low. That will mean you have that much more money to send to your distant acquaintance/friend of a friend.
New and improved!
The Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs has created a new “blended learning” CPE workshop that uses online, on-demand lectures in advance of an in-person seminar. For more information, visit www.picpa.org/blendedlearning. … Xero has released a new version of its Xero Touch app for Android devices. … Thomson Reuters has integrated its ONESOURCE Indirect Tax solution with hybris’ Commerce Suite. Separately, the company launched its Corporate CPE Network, a video-based program offering training through DVDs and streaming video. … Infinitely Virtual has added TSPrint and TSScan to its Virtual Terminal Server and Virtual Office Network Plans. … Ariba announced the latest release of its Ariba Network business-to-business trading platform.
