Technology
New Jersey CPAs Gather for Technology Update and Education
Nearly 1,100 CPAs attended the 18th annual New Jersey Accounting, Business and Technology Show, held May 16-17 in Secaucus, New Jersey.
May. 17, 2012
Nearly 1,100 CPAs attended the 18th annual New Jersey Accounting, Business and Technology Show, held May 16-17 in Secaucus, New Jersey. The show featured keynote addresses from noted accounting technology speaker Rick Richardson, CPA.CITP, and Alexander Heil, Ph.D., of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The annual show is the largest gathering of CPAs, financial and business professionals and executives in New Jersey, providing educational tracks and sessions that allow these professionals to earn 20 or more CPE credits, in keeping with the new yearly continuing educational requirements in the state.
“Accounting professionals absolutely need to embrace the cloud,” said Richardson in his opening keynote. “Firms that do not understand and start utilizing the cloud for their firm management and client services, will soon find themselves fading or extinct.”
Richardson also offered his annual tech update, in which he addressed trends in technologies and how they affect the profession. The key areas he addressed this year were the major technology companies, platforms, software, hardware and communications, particularly the evolution and challenges faced by some of these organizations. Several, he noted, have changed CEOs this year, including Google, Apple, Yahoo and Amazon, and RIM, the maker of Blackberry, is nearing its demise, he said, if it can’t quickly figure out how to compete in the new market.
“It has always been important for CPAs to remain on top of changing laws and technologies,” said Gerard Abbattista, CPA, the incoming president-elect for the New Jersey Society of CPAs. “The Society’s goal for this annual show is to help offer education that not only meets the state’s requirements, but also let them learn about cutting edge technology issues, such as those that Rick Richardson addressed, and also have the ability to meet the companies that offer tax, accounting and financial solutions that can help them succeed and better service their clients and companies.”
More than 60 technology companies participated as exhibitors, with an increased number of cloud-based solutions, such as FreshBooks, Xero, ADP, Beyond415, Thomson Reuters’ Emochila, Office Tools Professional, SaaShr.com, Paychex, SurePayroll, ShareFile and Wave Accounting.