Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/40356
Brian Fox, CPA — 38 Founder, Confirmation.com Nashville, Tennessee Education: MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen Business School; BBA from Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business Professional Associations/Memberships: AICPA, Tenn. Society of CPAs, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Hobbies: Outdoor sports and Mountain climbing NOT including your current employer, what company do you most admire and why? TOMS. Blake Mycoskie is a fraternity brother of mine from SMU, and he has done an incredible job of proving his "One for One" business model, which is a unique blend of a private- philanthropic business venture where when one person buys, one person is helped. Unlike charities that always need donations to sustain themselves, this business model pays for itself while its core business is giving to those in need. To date, TOMS has given away more than 1 million pair of shoes to children in need. For those who don't already know, TOMS recently came out with a cool new line of sunglasses, and for each pair they sell they provide sight to a person in need. Incredible job Blake! What sports team/championship event do you absolutely refuse to miss? I always watch the NCAA College Wrestling tournament, as well as the Ironman Triathlon. I'm so drawn in to both of those because of the stories of people who participate in those events. To hear the stories of tremendous obstacles these athletes overcame to achieve what they are able to achieve is nothing short of amazing. The guy with one leg who became the best wrestler in the country in his weight class, or the women who overcame cancer two years ago and is now completing the Ironman — these are truly great portraits of the American will to succeed, and they are an inspiration to me as I put context around my life. Do you embrace cloud computing? Absolutely! And with the recent launch of our new iPhone mobile app, we continue to be on the leading edge of auditing solutions by providing our customers with fantastic mobile capabilities. When we started Confirmation. com more than 10 years ago, we began and have always offered our service in the cloud. We sometimes laugh that over the years, Confirmation.com has been called B2B, then ASP, then SaaS and now Cloud, but we've remained consistent in how we have delivered our patented service to our customers over the Internet. My partner, Chris Schellhorn, has always said that the Internet was the perfect delivery platform for a service like our Confirmation.com solution where a network/ secure clearinghouse model was needed. How is cloud computing changing the accounting profession, and how concerned are you with the security issues related to cloud computing? Cloud computing is now becoming mobile computing. Instant access to real-time information in the palm of your hand is becoming the standard, and we have positioned Confirmation.com to take advantage of that shift to mobile devices. We have always believed in the cloud as the ultimate delivery platform, and you have to operate in the cloud in order to provide your clients with a truly great mobile user experience. Do you foresee the majority of firms still implementing servers for the majority of their computing in their offices five years from now or do you think they will be outsourcing this component to vendors who specialize in this area? Any firm that wants to be competitive in the marketplace will operate 100% in the cloud in five years or they will face a competitive marketplace that they won't be able to keep pace with. The paradigm has shifted and for firms that lead the way, they will see better quality employees, they will win more clients, and the value of their firm will be positively impacted. Are you using social networking (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+) as a marketing tool for your business … or do you use such sites for personal use only? Have you gained any customers or seen other demonstrable benefits from the use of social networking? Social networking is a part of both my business use and personal use. It is a great way to keep up with contacts and to get introductions to people with whom you want to do business. I use social net- working as a way to do research on potential employees and business partners so that I can have a broader understanding of their background and their perspec- tive. What pitfalls or what unwritten rules of social networking etiquette exist, which are frequently missed by others in the profession? Most people have figured out the rules of proper social networking, though occasionally I still get those "friend requests" from people who are obviously trolling for sales leads because I have no idea who they are. What ONE piece of technology could you absolutely not live without? My iPhone, without a doubt. I now take it on trips instead of my laptop because I have instant access to so much informa- tion including my email. I can get my boarding pass and show my phone at the airport security gate, I can change my hotel reser- vation while in the taxi, or book a rental car while in the terminal. It's really incredible how much function- ality is available in the single piece of technology that fits in my pocket. What are some ways your business has gone "paper- less" and/or "green" in the last two years? As a part of our commitment to People, Planet and Profit, for the Planet, we took a very paper- and mail-based process and turned it into an efficient electronic process. In doing so, with the volume of paper we have removed from the confirmation process, Confirmation.com saves our planet more than 22,000 pounds of paper, 213,000 gallons of wastewater, 6,500 gallons of gasoline, 373,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses, and 65,000 square feet of deforestation per year. Additionally, almost without exception, every piece of office furniture, office equip- ment and our office supplies we bought used. What are some of your favorite books? I just finished reading two sets of historical novels by Conn Iggulden, and I couldn't recommend them more highly. One set was on the life of Genghis Kahn and the other was on Julius Caesar. The histories of these two men starting from childhood are fascinating, and Conn Iggulden does an incredible job of putting you right in the middle of what it was like to live back then. Cell phone: iPhone. What is your favorite smartphone or tablet app? I love the Southwest Airlines app because it is so simple to use. (I also love the Confirmation.com app, but I'm a little biased. Monitors on your desk? I have two, and my smartphone, as well, which makes three. Depending on what I'm trying to do, I've found that my smartphone is faster and easier than using my computer. Other than SMS on your cell phone, what is your favorite way to IM with your friends and family? I use text messages on my smartphone and have used Skype. Are those other things still around…? 32 Back to Contents Page 3