CPA Practice Advisor

NOV 2013

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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FROM THE TRENCHES By Randy Johnston Lose Some Weight — Carry Less Technology! M any of us spend the majority of our time in the office with a few meetings around town. Others are road warriors that spend much of their life on the road and in hotels. And a few of you just atend a few meetings a year remotely or go on vacation where you'd like a litle bit of access while you are out of the ofce. Whether you are atending a family event at a public venue, or meeting with a client, consider what you are taking with you. The right technology sends a message and the wrong technology, particularly too much of it, also sends a message that you might not want to have delivered. Over the last fve years we have encouraged you to use tablets and smar tphone technolog y, but has that trend shifed? Mr. Johnston is executive vice president and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc. He is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 30 years' experience. He can be contacted at randy.johnston@cpapracticeadvisor.com. 14 What Device Fits? Portable devices are getting both larger and smaller. For example, we are beginning to see smartphones that double as tablets, also called phablets, that have screen sizes from 5.5-6.3 inches. Some of the formats are so large, it almost takes two hands to hold the device up to your ear to make a call. Of course the assumption is that you'll use headsets or some other wearable technology with the phone, but why bother with such a large device? A beneft to a large smartphone/ phablet is that it has a very large, very easy to view screen. Phablets often have the ability to record handwriten notes. A disadvantage is that phablets don't conveniently ft in a pocket or purse. Is this device large enough to be the only thing you need for a meeting? Designers like Samsung and LG think so. On the other hand, small devices might have a place for you. You may be forced to carry more add-ons to m a k e t he m more u s a ble . For example, when I carried an iPhone and a large format iPad, I discovered that it was useful to have a headset, a MIFI unit, as well as my computer. Each product did a diferent job for November 2013 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com me, and I found the small screen size of the iPhone 5 restrictive. W hen I began carrying touch screen UltraBooks in late 2012, I realized that I less frequently used my iPad. Today, I only carry an Apple iPad mini for demonstration purposes. I rarely fnd a purpose to use the device, an apostasy to many, I'm sure. Te key to using mobile technology is not what I think works, but works for you and your team. Let's try a few examples to help. Different Ways to Work Determine What is Carried Some small to medium businesses (SMB) use mobile technologies extensively for their work. Tey can invoice, accept payments, make appointments, provide quotations and in general do their entire job from a few mobile applications. Even pay roll can be approved while mobile with applications like those from ADP. We see situations where the SMB team members live entirely off of phones or tablets and don't really have a lot of need for traditional computers. As long as there is not extensive data entry, mobile phones and tablets accomplish most tasks of SMB and home users. Note that very litle has to be taken with you to complete these tasks. As you see in separate articles in this issue, Doug Sleeter has awarded his Awesome Apps for QuickBooks. I enjoy following Doug's opinions in

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