CPA Practice Advisor

MAR 2015

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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4 March 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-In-Chief FROM THE EDITOR Thought Leader Symposium: The Annual Event that Keeps on Going 4 M a r c h 2 0 1 5 • w w w . C P A P r a c t i c e A 800-547-7377 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com The opinions given by contributing authors are their own and are not the opinions of our staff. All trademarks used are the property of their respective owner. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Practice Advisor, (ISSN #2160-8725 (print), ISSN #2160-8733 (digital); USPS #017-576) is published six times a year (February, April, June/July, August, October and December) by Cygnus Business Media, Inc., incorporating two editions known as CPA Practice Advisor and NSA Practice Advisor, 1233 Janesville Avenue, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and at additional mailing offces. Printed in the U.S.A. Send all subscription inquiries or change of address to: Practice Advisor, PO Box 3258, Northbrook, IL 60065-3258. Phone: (877) 382-9187 (toll free); (847) 559-7598 (local) Fax: (847) 564-9453 Email: Circ.CPA@omeda.com Subscription Rates: The basic annual rate is $3, based on qualifying associations of 10,000 or more public accountants that may also subscribe for all their public accountant members (certain restrictive covenants apply) for a basic subscription rate of $9 per member for a three-year subscription. One year subscription for all others: USA - $48; CAN $70 GST; INT'L $99 GST #842773848. POSTMASTER, please send address changes to: Practice Advisor, P.O. Box 3258, Northbrook, IL 60065-3258. Canadian address changes to: Canada Post PM40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Practice Advisor, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Publisher: Jim Baker Editor-in-Chief: Gail Perry, CPA Managing Editor: Isaac M. O'Bannon Assistant Editor: Taija Jenkins Columnists: David McClure Doug Sleeter Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP Kristy Short Randy Johnston Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP Art Director: Rhonda Cousin National Sales Manager: Barry Strobel Site Manager: Lester Craft Media Production Representative: Barb Evenson Audience Development Manager: Angela Kelty Editorial Advisory Board: Bob Cedergren, CPA.CITP, CISA, CISM, CISSP, CGEIT Chris Fraser, CPA.CITP, CISA, MCP Jason Lawhorn, CPA.CITP Gary A. Masino, CPA Ryan McCowan, CPA.CITP Linda O'Neal Troy Patton, CPA David Primes, CPA.CITP Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP Doug Sleeter Sandra L. Wiley CYGNUS BUSINESS MEDIA CEO: Paul Bonaiuto PRESIDENT: Chris Ferrell CFO: Ed Tearman VP, Human Resources: Ed Wood VP, Technology: Eric Kammerzelt CYGNUS PUBLISHING Executive Vice President: Gloria Cosby Vice President of Production Operations: Curt Pordes Director of Digital Business Development: Lester Craft VOLUME 25, NUMBER 2 Te event itself is well known and touted on various social media chan- nels with the hashtag #CPA PATLS. Te topics discussed are not immedi- ately available for public consumption because, in the spirit of a think tank, this group is tr ying on ideas for size and ft, testing and modeling them for each other in a secure environment, and then deciding what to send down the runway and bring out to the public in the year ahead. Members of the thought leaders group are extraordinarily visible in the profession, having the collective ear of millions of accountants through writing, speaking, social media, and participa- tion in associations and commitees. We will be digesting much of the information discussed at this year's meeting over the months ahead and sharing results of survey questions and concepts based on the conversations and events that occurred last month. Te vendors who participated in this year's event include Avalara, Intuit, Sage and Xero, four companies dedicated to innovation and improvement of the accounting profession. As sponsors of the event, they were able to collaborate w it h t he t hought leaders a nd ga in insights from the experiences of the leaders to apply to their own plans for innovation in the years ahead. March Madness - CPA Style Meanwhile, in addition to engaging in col lege basketba l l f renzy, March is k now n profession-w ide as the time when CPAs, particularly tax accoun- tants, start running out of steam as they head into the home stretch of busy season. Tings just got going in Feb- ruar y, early March moved methodi- cally enough, but late March hits and there are sti l l severa l week s of late nights and last minute changes. That was before we had extension season which turned busy season into an all-year event. March is still extra busy, with a bit of seasonal madness thrown in for good measure. Here are a few quick tips for smooth sailing from now until the April 15 deadline. • Use a "Me First" approach and schedule business around your per- sonal schedule. Tat means you need to stick to your scheduled times for meals and sleeping and required family events. Te busier you get with work, the more important this is. Skipping meals and sleep and missing events that are important to your family can cause stress and poor health, and that will impact your ability to do the best work possible. • Do at least one thing each day to ease the burden for a co-worker. From grabbing a beverage for someone who is stuck at the desk to ofering to help with part of an actual job, you'll most assuredly see positive results in the form of happier co-workers and a more pro- ductive environment. • Stop looking at email throughout the day. It's difcult to keep your eye of of the email box, especially if there are certain people (like your boss) who expect you to reply immediately. So use the sound feature to play a certain sound (like the music from Jaws) when mes- sages arrive from those people who demand quick atention, and then leave the rest of the messages for designated times you've set aside for replying to email messages. This will help you concentrate on the job(s) at hand. — Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief Follow me on Twiter at @gaperry For reprints and licensing please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright's Media 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com. Gail is the Editor-in-Chief of CPA Practice Advisor and a CPA. She is the author of over 30 books (including "Mint.com for Dummies" and "QuickBooks 2014 on Demand") and she maintains a small tax practice. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism fom Indiana University and studied accounting at Illinois State University before starting her professional career at Deloite. Gail is the former publisher and editor-in-chief at AccountingWEB and is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. O nce a year, CPA Practice Advisor and a group of key sofware ven- dors in the accounting space serve as host to the profession's think tank, the Tought Leader Sympo- sium (TLS). Approximately 30 participants from across the accounting profession gather in a two-day closed-door meeting to discuss and digest events that are occurring within the profession and afecting the way we do our jobs, with the goal trying to make a diference in this accounting world that we call home.

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