April 2019 - CPA Practice Advisor

Skip to main content

In this issue

EideBailly Phishing Tournament foam stress ball

Technology

Let’s All Go Phishing: Accounting Firm Security Awareness Training

E-mail based malware and phishing attacks are frighteningly simple to create. Last fall, an international CPA firm association commissioned me to create some materials and resources for their firms.

dollar money pixabay geralt -499481_960_720

Payroll

5 Industries with Sneaky Payroll Tax Requirements

Every year, small businesses spend countless hours trying to figure out payroll – and they often get it wrong. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, approximately 45 percent of businesses incur IRS penalties each year ...

thought vision light bulb pixabay TeroVesalainen -2123971_1280

Advisory

Do Your Best Vision Management

April 2019 Issue Many of you have put off reading this issue and article until after a hectic tax season that changed your processes and rhythm because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). One of the advantages of being a consultant to the ...

apps

Firm Management

Apps We Love April 2019 – Shipping & Mailing

Do you ship packages? Do you struggle with verifying zip codes? Do you need tracking information? Do you fret over delivery delays or lack of real people to answer questions? We’ve surveyed the CPA Practice Advisor community as well as various shipping options on the internet and have found some tools that you might find […]

cyber security data_10816596

8 Steps to Increase Data Security in Your Tax Practice

Many tax practitioners are familiar with how to assist their clients who have been a victim of tax identity theft, but how many tax professionals know how to safeguard their clients from the risks that are lurking in their own offices?

human resources_1_.5564e30dcd283

Payroll

The Importance of New Hire Training

It doesn’t take much work on your part to get a warm body into an empty seat. It does take your attention to keep them there. Give your new hire their best possible shot at staying. Give them the training they need, the way they need it, with ...

trucks

Firm Management

The 3-Month Marketing Guide to Gain Transportation Industry Clients

If you’re targeting transportation companies in your firm’s growth strategy, this Ultimate Guide was developed for you. Before marketing, research the target market – define who you want to work with; identify specific transportation industries; develop a buyer persona of your perfect client; and pin point the geographic market. Once those items have been developed, […]

Labor_Employment_Law_Alaniz

Payroll

“Just Cause” Employee Termination

You’re fired! Those are words that no employee ever wants to hear and that employers’ hope they rarely have to utter. In a period of more-than-full employment such as we are currently in, with a slightly under ...

Automation_technology _.5558c5b706074

Firm Management

Creating Structure Around Innovation

The innovation process within firms is often chaotic and uncoordinated if it exists at all. While it’s true that innovation is messy, leaders cannot expect to merely tell people the goal is to be innovative and expect amazing things.

stopwatch optimize-3699322_1280

Firm Management

Optimization vs. Transformation

Bringing in technology to optimize what your firm already does will not somehow transform your business model. So let’s take a look at the differences between optimization and transformation.

technology pixabay ltdatehu -1095751_960_720

Digital Currency

Loving to Learn

If the way millennials view learning wasn’t enough to get you to rethink your focus on learning, a study in 2017 by Deloitte revealed that learning and development is the #2 topic on the minds of CEO and HR leaders, so clearly these millennials are ...

Accounting

2019 Review of QuickBooks Online – Nonprofit Edition

The QuickBooks Online Nonprofit Edition is best suited for smaller nonprofit organizations that don’t require complex fund accounting capability. QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits is available in four versions; Simple Start, Essentials, Plus ...

semi_your_truck_1_.57a8986e765e7[1]

Small Business

6 Basic Bookkeeping Tips for Truckers

Bookkeeping is one of the most important activities that successful owner-operators should be using to their advantage. The receipts and records you keep are often in areas of your business — income tax reporting and minimization, warranty issues ...

Meeting

Firm Management

Accounting Thought Leader Symposium – An Annual ThinkFest

The retreat/think tank was given a name and a purpose almost a dozen years ago by a handful of members of and consultants to the accounting profession who were getting together anyway to share ideas, discuss trends, try to figure out where the ...

Finance tablet Lindex_Statistics_34965_1_.55d62086ab656

Accounting

2019 Review of Non Profit Accounting Systems

Many smaller nonprofit organizations make the mistake of thinking that regular accounting software is adequate. And while it’s possible to make it work, the more a nonprofit grows, the greater the need for a system that is designed to track the ...

cat sleep pixabay birgl-3599255_1280

Firm Management

How to Energize Your Tired Employees

Just about every manager has seen it around the office at various times: a symphony of yawns, stretches and unfocused gazes on employees’ faces. Some of your staff likely aren’t getting enough sleep.

change1_10723106[1]

Artificial Intelligence

Embracing Change and Adapting to Our Future in Tech

Nobody ever tells you change is easy. In fact, facing change takes a whole lot of courage, and it can still be a messy, challenging experience. But in the long run, the consequences of denying change are much more detrimental to our well being.

AICPA_new 2019_1_.5b1fd9ff31925

Accounting

AICPA News: April 2019

AICPA announces hiring of Kathy King as Senior Director Public Affairs, Advocacy & Media The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) recently announced the hiring of Kathy King as senior director public affairs, advocacy and media. Kathy will work with the advocacy team in Washington D.C. to promote and defend the public and management accounting profession’s global public […]