40 Under 40 Honoree: Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP — 38

What’s the one piece of technology that MOST helps you get through
your normal workday?
“My favorite gadget is my PalmOne Treo 755P Smartphone from Sprint. I
use this phone for portable e-mail, telephone and on-the-go high-speed (EVDO)
Internet access. The applications on the phone make it possible for me to take
advantage of those two- to five-minute gaps when I’m waiting on someone
or something and away from my laptop. Apps I use include Google Maps for Palm,
Iambic’s Agendus Premier Edition, Palm’s Digital Camera, Stand Alone‘s
QuickNews RSS reader, TypePad’s Palm Blog Poster, Palm’s IM client,
BillQuick for PalmOS, Dataviz Documents to Go v.10, LauncherX, Roboform Password
Manager for Palm, the SkyTeam PalmOS Flight Timetable, and the ever-addictive
games (Sudoku and Solitaire). I’m always looking at alternatives, however,
and have been caught lingering a little too long at HTC’s Mogul PPC-6800
smartphone.
“A close second is the combination of my Sprint Pantech Px-500 Air Card
and my Kyocera KR-1 mobile router. These wonderful gadgets connect me to the
Internet with the speed of EVDO Rev. A (1000K downloads, 300K uploads) just
about everywhere I go. I can plug the card into my laptop directly in airports
(or even on the plane before the door is closed!), and can also use the router
to create a portable wireless network wherever I am so I can use my Skype phone
or share my portable wireless with other travelers who look like they need a
random act of kindness in the airport. I can also teach from two different laptops
during an all-day seminar without having to worry about which one has the Internet
connection.”

What will be the biggest change over the next five years in the ways
tax and accounting firms operate?
“I think the technology for automated input and processing of data will
mature and make it possible to automate much of the data input work, which is
currently being outsourced. This will force all of us (including the outsourcers)
to move up the value chain and provide more sophisticated services (e.g., less
busy work, more deliverables) to justify our revenue stream from a client. Some
examples of this software category include tax prep software applications like
CCH’s ProSystem fx Scan, SurePrep’s 1040SCAN system, and Intuit’s
Source Doc Auto-Entry. In addition to tax prep, I expect software publishers
to automate other routine tasks like payables invoice entry, expense report
preparation, payment application, entering checks from digitized copies from
the bank, automatic matching of entries to assist with reconciliations and other
areas of intensive clerical data entry and matching. Enhancements to optical
character recognition software and increases in computer processing power will
make it possible to finally have an application read and input data efficiently.
Many large companies began using tools to do this over 10 years ago, and I expect
these tools to make their way down to small and mid-sized accounting firms in
the near term.”

What Brian’s peers had to say about him:
He is sincerely concerned for the profession and has experience in both public
practice as well as industry. He is currently teaching CPE for three different
organizations, and was recently recognized for the quality of his CPA blog.
He is the best CPA under the age of 40 who has technology background and is
a CITP. There is no condition under which he should be missed on this list.
He speaks, he writes, he understands the industry, and he has a great sense
of humor.

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