Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/432767
28 December 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 2015 & EXECUTIVE PREDICTIONS YEAR IN REVIEW 2014 1 What is your message for accounting professionals as they approach the cloud? Cloud technology is here and the benefts are real. It's no longer something that accounting professionals should wait and see about. It's here today, and your peers and competitors are already experiencing the effciency, time savings, accuracy, and client communication benefts. Are you? 2 How is Intuit helping accountants embrace the cloud? For more than three decades, Intuit has successfully navigated many platform shifts, from DOS to Windows to the Web and now the cloud. In every instance, we reimagined our offerings and worked with customers to best meet their needs. The cloud is the latest shift, and we're seeing for the frst time, more new customers start on QuickBooks Online, not QuickBooks Desktop. While we won't ever turn our back on the desktop, we see where our customers are going and we're ready. We frst launched QuickBooks Online back in 2001, so we realized the benefts that the cloud could offer a long time ago! Inspired by our accounting partners, we're offering the new QuickBooks Online Accountant, which includes the ability to see all clients in one place, set employee roles and permissions and offers direct access to their Pro- Advisor membership. This product helps accounting professionals save time, grow their practice and shift their focus to becoming more strategic advisors to their clients rather than just cleaning up their books. 3 What are the key trends you're seeing in the profession? #1 is the rise of Mobile. The majority of accounting pros and small businesses entering the workforce today have been "connected" most of their lives. They inherently understand the benefts of the cloud. Accounting professionals and their clients see smart phones and tablets as necessary tools for managing the complex choreography of work and life. They want to leverage mobile devices to run their payroll, gain insights into their business' performance and manage customer requests from one device on the go. 4 What's in store for the accounting profession in the next few years? The power of data will fuel for the next wave of innovation in the industry. There is an opportunity for accounting professionals to capitalize on that data and provide their small business clients with valuable insights. For Intuit, we will deliver on the integration and sharing of data across multiple products – between tax, accounting and 3rd party Jim McGinnis is Vice President and leader of Intuit's Accountant and Advisor Group. Jim has led accountant teams since he joined Intuit in 2010 as Vice President of Marketing. His extensive marketing, general management and global experience will be invaluable as the Accountant and Advisor Group continues to serve as a center of excellence for Intuit's worldwide eforts with accountants. Before Intuit, Jim was EVP and GM of Activision's $400M Licensed Produc ts Division, where he wa s responsible for videogames associated with blockbuster movies franchises such as Shrek, Transformers, James Bond, and Spiderman. Prior to his time there, Jim led marketing for PepsiCo's Tropicana business, where he was responsible for the company's $3B juice and juice drink portfolio, including the acquisition of Naked Juice in 2009. Earlier in his time at PepsiCo, Jim led marketing for Smiths Snackfood in Australia. Before that, Jim introduced P&G;'s detergent portfolio into China and later into Argentina as they expanded globally in the 90's. Jim received his B.A. from Duke University and his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Yacht Club, and leads the Duke Alumni Association in Dallas, TX. Jim is married and has two young sons, James and Charlie. Intuit's Accountant & Advisor Group Intuit Inc. creates business and fnancial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals. Intuit's Accountant and Advisor Group (AAG) is dedicated to helping accounting professionals save time and grow their practice while confdently helping their clients succeed. Working with Intuit's Small Business Group, A AG supports accounting professionals use and recommendation of Intuit's fnancial and employee manage- ment solutions, including QuickBooks Online, the number-one cloud accounting solution used by 739,000 small businesses worldwide. Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.5 billion in its fscal year 2014. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major ofces in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com. apps – so our customers never have to enter data and can beneft from and share the insights from that data. Also, the accounting profession will continue to evolve from computation to consulting. The use of mobile devices and cloud technology will improve productivity and increase integration of data across platforms and products. This evolution will shift the focus of the accountant from simply managing the books to becoming a strategic advisor that helps unlock their clients' success. In fact, small businesses that work with an accountant are twice as likely to feel successful, which is why Intuit trains, educates, certifes, and partners with more than 350,000 accountant professionals each year to help them and their clients gain better insights into their business and identify opportunities for growth.