Twenty-five years ago, a magazine called Computers in Accounting hit the market with information about technology products for the professional tax and accounting market.

Along the way, its name became Accounting Technology. But in that first edition, other than containing the name of a lot of products that are no longer on the market, many of the stories had headlines that could fit articles in any technology publication today.

OK, "16-Bit Vs. 8-Bit: What are the advantages of each" is not an article that would be written today any more than an audio magazine would review gramophones.

But compare "Free Software: It's Yours for the Asking" with "Tech Tools For Peanuts" in this issue of Accounting Technology. The review of eight general ledger programs for small business isn't all that different from this issue's "Products with Staying Power", except that small business software is much more powerful, less expensive and there are a lot fewer of them on the market.

Well, an article in that first year explaining what email is shows that some things but changed. But certainly "How to Protect Data from Accidental Destruction", and "Some Tips for Selecting Software for an Accounting Practice" show that firms still face many of the same basic issues today.

And they are not going away anytime soon.

But there has been change, although some of the industry veterans asked there view of what has been the major impact of technology in tax and accounting firms in the last 25 years produced some very people-oriented topics.

The things that have most changed the face of CPA firms have been the use of "technology to talk to clients at a very low level. Previously, client discussion was with partners," says Robert Spencer of Louisville, Ky., of Twenty Seconds into the Future.

Known as "Dr. Bob," Spencer, started in 1984 at the CPA firm, Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, CPAs, based in Pensacola, Fla., where he was principal, management and technology consulting, selection and implementation of account of accounting software solutions, technology audits and reviews. He worked there until 1995.

And that trend is continuing with the growth of social networking, a topic that causes clients to ask Spencer for advice on dealing with the phenomenon.

"It's about developing internal controls over what you can see and cannot say," says Spencer, who said that the basic premise for public statements is "do your company no harm."

Ken Garen, CEO of Universal Business Computing, agrees with that assessment.

"Today, you now have the work being done by the clients instead of accountants. It's a major force multiplier in terms what accountants get done, be it QuickBooks, be it an online portal," says Garen. "If all you have to do is click the magic wand (the mouse), you become attorney status in billable hours."

• 1
• |
• 2
• |
• 3
• |
• 4
• |
• 5
• |
• 6
• |
• next