Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/528834
June/July 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 13 THE PROADVISOR SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED CONTENT Tat's the idea behind two recently announced initiatives at Intuit. Te provider of financial ser vices soft - ware wants to help bring the future to accountants and small businesses today w ith its Firm of the Future website and second annual Quick- Books Connect. QuickBooks Connect "We're kicking the summer season with lots of educational opportuni- ties for our customers. Accountants are busy until tax season ends and they have little time for any thing else. We know they look forward to summer to get together w ith each other, sharpen their skills and earn C PE . We w a nt to g ive t hem t he opportunities to do just that," said McGinnis. Last year Intuit held its inaugural Quick Books Connect, designed to bridge the gap between accountants, small business ow ners and devel- opers. Te conference featured guest spea kers such as Mar tha Stewar t and Magic Johnson and was well- received among the small business com mu n it y. Capita l izi ng of f t he s uc c e s s of l a s t ye a r 's e vent , t he company is bringing the conference back with an even bigger focus on connecting atendees. "We are at a unique position at the intersection of accountants, devel- opers and small businesses. Lever- ag i ng t h is posit ion, we i ntend to connect atendees with those who c a n help t hem s ucceed , educ ate t hem on how to g row t hei r busi- nesses, and inspire them to move into the future," said Jim McGinnis, Vice President, Leader Accountant and Advisor Group. Like the name suggests, Quick- Books Connect atendees can expect lots of opportunities to connect with each other. Sessions for accounting professiona ls w i l l be foc u sed on helping their frms become frms of the future and of more than 20 hours of C PE c red it . A ccou nt a nt s c a n ex pect to lear n best practices for numerous f rom industr y ex per ts. Tracks will focus on: • Cloud Adoption – Tracks will focus on how to get your frm and your cli- ents in the cloud. Professionals will see some of the "Best in Cloud" solutions as they learn how to transition to the trusted advisor role. • Growing Your Practice – Profes- sionals will learn how the cloud can help them transcend global borders and build their practice across national boundaries. • Leveraging Social Media – Speakers will show attendees how they can develop a great website and leverage social media sites to extend their reach. • Top 100 Firms – Larger firms will learn how they can implement 6 Sigma and streamline their talent acquisition process to successfully run a large practice. Quick Book s Connect w il l a lso feature many resources and tracks for the ever-grow ing self-employed a nd ent re preneu r s se c tor. W it h on-demand ser v ices continuing to ga in moment um, I nt uit has been investing in this group w ith recent partnerships. "Te self-employed and entrepre- neurs sector is quick ly increasing, and we have identifed a real need for help. We want to include them in Quick Books Connect and give t hem t he resou rces t hey need a s well," said McGinnis. R e g i s t r at ion for Q u ic k B ook s Connect ( w w w.Quick BooksCon- n e c t . c o m ) o p e n e d t h i s m o n t h . Quick Books Connect will run for t h ree days, November 2 t h rough November 4, w ith the main event tak ing place on November 3. The main stage speakers include Brad Smith, Scot Cook and Bill Rancic. Te complete speaker lineup will be announced at a later date. Firm of the Future A f e w y e a r s a g o, l e a d e r s i n t he accounting profession were trying to educate firms on the Cloud, Now, professionals and small businesses are embracing cloud technology and integrating it into their businesses. "Te past few years, the industry has spent a lot of time talking about 'the future of accounting.' We have come to believe that the f uture is here, but it's not distributed equally. Tere are accountants and their small bu si ness cl ient s t hat a re a l ready operating in the future. We want to learn from those frms of the future so we can bring the future here in the present for all accountants and small businesses," said McGinnis. Intuit believes in the idea of future f irms so much that it has built an entire curriculum around it. QBC atendees can expect a few sessions dedicated to this topic. In addition, Intuit has launched a new website, FirmOf TeFuture.com . Visitors to the Firm of the Future website can expect an online resource a nd content center to help t hem n av igate t h roug h g row i ng t hei r practice and their clients' businesses. It will focus on helping professionals leverage technology to become the trusted advisor for their clients. Visi- tors can also learn best practices from highlighted "Firms of the Future." In July, frms will also be able to self- identif y themselves for embracing future technolog y. One lucky frm w i l l b e c h o s e n a n d f e a t u r e d a t QuickBooks Connect. " We are in the pr iv i leged posi- tion to talk to accountants and help move t he accou nt i ng profession i n t o t h i s f u t u r e w e s e e , " s a i d Mc Gi n n i s . " We k now t he c loud revolution is not bound by national boundaries. It's a global phenom- enon, a nd a nyone t hat i s not on b o a r d i s m i s s i n g a n i m p o r t a n t o p p o r t u n i t y f o r g r o w i n g t h e i r business." T ime travel is an interesting concept and you'll probably be hard-pressed to fnd someone that wouldn't want to travel to the future. Or beter yet, bring the future here. The Future Is Here…Now QUICKBOOKS CONNECT ATTENDEES CAN EXPECT LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER.