Innovation and creativity are traits associated with both risk and reward. This column is about an innovation, which can allow accounting firms to cut their labor costs by 75 percent, while having work done on an outsource basis by qualified accountants.

by Ted Needleman

by J. Carlton Collins

ePartners Makes Change At Top: Stanley D. Strifler has stepped down as president and chief executive of ePartners, the nation’s largest reseller of accounting software and enterprise solutions targeted at middle-market and small businesses.

by John M. Covaleski

By Peyton Burch

OHIO SOCIETY CHAIRMAN-ELECT BECOMES SYSTRUST CEO: Michael A. Dickson, chairman-elect of the Ohio Society of CPAs, has been elected president and chief executive of SysTrust Service Corp., the manager of a technology systems audit service developed by the American Institute of CPAs.Dickson is a founder of the Columbus, Ohio-based technology consulting company, Business Technology Group, and previously was partner-in-charge of Crowe Chizek’s Systems Consulting Group, also in Columbus.

by Wayne Schutz

by L. Gary Boomer

by Ted Needleman

Often people ask, "What are the key ingredients that distinguish the great firms from the good firms?" Annually, we work with hundreds of accounting firms ranging in size from small local firms to the largest national firms.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN DEMAND: In what may present new consulting opportunities for accounting firms, the content and document management services market will grow by about 40 percent per year, to $24.4 billion in 2006, according to technology industry analysts International Data Corp.

For years I had conducted my initial prospect interviews in the same way: by selling my firm Burch Consultants.

by Wayne Schulz, CPA

AUSTRALIAN VENDOR SEEKS U.S. RESELLERS: Accounting software developer Acctrak 21 is recruiting United States accounting professionals as resellers of its products, that are designed for small and midsized businesses. Acctrak is based in Melbourne, Australia, with a U.S. office in Santa Clara, Calif. Its flagship product is an online, real-time accounting and business intelligence software with 32-bit processing. The U.S. and Australia are among 15 countries where it is in use.

by L. Gary Boomer

Pleasanton, Calif. - Accounting Software vendor Accpac International has rolled out what it hopes will prove to be the ultimate front-office tool for accountants and make Internet-hosted software a little more palatable to its small and midsized business clients.

by Jennifer Lee Wilson

SMALL, MIDSIZED BUSINESSES TO FUEL ENTERPRISE MARKET: Small and midsized businesses of 100 to 500 employees will be a driving force in the growth of the enterprise software market in North America over the next two years, reports technology industry analysts Jupiter Media Metrix.

by Wayne Schulz